Contextualization: Child Labor Event Cards
WORLDHISTORYPROJECT1750/LESSON4.5ACTIVITYCONTEXTUALIZATION: CHILD LABOR EVENTCARDSNew technology was createdduringtheIndustrial Revolution including machinespoweredbysteam enginesthatwerehousedin factories to produce goods.Working conditions in factoriesandmineswere horrible,withwomenand childrenpaidafractionof men’s wages.Manyadult factoryand mine workers became upset that industrial capitalists were hiring more children to fill positionsbecausetheycould be paid less than adults.Industrial accidents happened frequently and many workers, including children, were seriously injured.Industrialization began in Great Britain in the mid-eighteenth century and quickly spread to other areasofEuropeandNorth America.Familiesbeganmoving near factories to find employment.Factories were open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week inordertomaximizeprofits. Workers,includingchildren, oftenworked12to13hours a day.Reformers, many of whom werewomendisgustedwith the working conditions, low pay, and health concerns associated with factoryand mining work, began organizingtodemandchanges to labor laws.Children often went toworkinfactoriesandmines wheretheywereseparated from their families.Factorieswerebuiltacross Europe and along the northeast coast of North America.Reporters and reformers beganusingnewtechnology like photography to show the deplorable conditions in which children worked.Miningwasessentialto procurethefossilfuels necessarytopowerthe factories and industrial machines.For centuries, children worked alongside their families either on farms or inthehomecraftingartisan goods.Industrial capitalists paid factoryworkerslowwages to operate the machines in order to maximize profits.