As children in this time period, we consider school as our job. We go there for 8 hours every day and do classwork. Imagine our school was rarely cleaned and has no heat or air conditioning. We would be miserable. This is how women and children felt during the Industrial Revolution. They also had to struggle with how the workplace owners treated them. Everything was unsanitary and unsafe for everyone. After all that happened during the Industrial Revolution, factories horrible conditions and affected women and children in many ways. To begin, factory conditions during the Industrial Revolution were not pretty.
The environment was dark, dirty, full of smoke from many machines, and not safe. Since the rooms were so small, with so many people in it, diseases spread rapidly. This also caused many deaths due to their lack of medicine (Poddar). This was a problem to workplace owners because they would rather pay people wages than pay their medical bills. Many workers developed deformities, such as lung diseases and eye problem, due to the lack of sunlight, physical activity, lack of education, and an excessive amount of dirt and dust from the machines (Hon). The air wasnt good for the workers, but neither was the temperature. Factories did not have heating or cooling, so they had to deal with the temperatures outside.
If it was cold outside, the workers would freeze. If it was hot outside, the workers would melt. They couldnt even open windows due to the fact that the threads didnt work well when the wind blew (Female Worker of Lowell). This means that no matter what it was like, the workers had to deal with it if they wanted a job and to get paid. Although these conditions seem very bad, women had it worse. Secondly, women working in factories during the Industrial Revolution struggled with how they were treated.
For example, women got paid …“ sometimes even of what men got. The reason women were even hired in the first place is because factory owners wanted cheap labor and working machines (Hon). As explained in the previous paragraph, factory conditions were not the best. Since women were replaceable, owners didnt care about the workplace conditions. As for their actual jobs, young women pulled sleds or carts full of coal. This caused lots of childbirth deaths due to the reforming of pelvic bones (Hon). So, not only do they make girls lives miserable, they also mess with the population. Some jobs women took on were watchmaking, candy manufacturing, carpet weaving, rope making, spinning, carding, and weaving (Manual Labor).
After doing these jobs during a long day at work, most girls were very fatigued. Besides how they were treated, women were considered to be a big part of the factory labor forces (Manual Labor). Without them, factories wouldnt have been producing as many products as they were. Although women have it tough, imagine what the children have to go through. Lastly, the factory conditions, during the industrial revolution, affected children in America. Children 4 years and older were forced to work long hours in order to support their family (Child Labor). Because of the small wages, it was required in that time period for children to work alongside their parents. Its very wrong for children to live that lifestyle.
It should be playing first, then working next (Child Labor). Not the other way around. During these forced work hours, children filled boxes and pans full of beans, berries, and tomatoes. Even that seemed too hard for them (Child Labor). When they were too small to sit up, workers would put them on their lap or stow them away in boxes. (Child Labor). Thats not even the worst of it. If children working in mines fell asleep on the job, theyd be excessively beaten by the owners of the workplace.
The factories conditions also played a factor in the childrens lives. Unguarded belts and wheels from machines were very unsafe for them. Some even compared how they were treated to slavery (Child Labor). In conclusion, The industrial revolution factory conditions affected both women and children in the United States. Factory conditions were very bad during the industrial revolution. This caused Women and children to suffer during work hours. They struggled through the heat, cold, and disgusting environment in factories. Each little thing affected women and children in large ways. Think about how you would feel if these things still applied today? Would you be happy or miserable?
