Abolitionism, Child Labor and Women’s Suffrage
Driving Question: How did industrialization lead to calls for reform?
Industrialization was only made possible through centuries of enslaved labor on plantations. Enslaved people grew the cotton, mined the minerals, and harvested the sugar and other raw materials that fueled industrial empires. During the long nineteenth century, some people—many of them formerly enslaved people themselves—started movements aimed at ending the injustice of the slave trade and the institution of slavery itself. Many of these reformers also championed other causes like ending child labor in factories and mines and demanding the vote for women.
- Understand and evaluate the arguments people used to fight for the abolition of slavery.
- Analyze how industrial life led to calls for reform to eliminate child labor and to achieve women’s suffrage.
- Practice informal writing skills by answering the Unit Problem questions.
- Use a graphic biography as a microhistory to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Which countries in the Atlantic abolished the slave trade early? Which countries abolished slavery early? Which countries abolished it late?
- How might capitalism have helped end slavery? How did this connect to production and distribution during the Industrial Revolution?
- How might changing morality have helped end slavery? How did this connect to the transformations in human communities caused by the Enlightenment and changes in religious and political communities?
- How might networks of Africans and descendants of Africans have helped end slavery?
- Did slavery end when it became illegal? Use evidence from the text to back up your answer.
Evaluate
- This article presents you with political, economic, and reform arguments for why slavery ended. Which argument seems most convincing? Which is the least convincing?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- Where was the first large-scale post-abolition society created and how did it come about?
- When the British abolished slavery in their Caribbean colonies, to whom did the government pay compensation?
- How did societies in the British Caribbean continue to repress formerly enslaved people?
- After abolition in the US, how did the government treat African Americans? How was inequality enforced?
- Why did European companies abolish slavery in their African colonies?
Evaluate
- How does this article support, extend, or challenge the narratives you have already studied about reform movements in the long nineteenth century?
- Can you think of any ways in which your own society is still impacted by the history reviewed in this article? What are they?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How did views about children change in this period in some places?
- What limitations does the Matthew Crabtree source have?
- What economic factors made some child labor regulations effective?
- How did children’s work change over time in industrialized societies, as a result of these changes?
Evaluate
- Today, over a hundred million children still have to work, but child labor is less common than it once was. Based on evidence from this article and other material in this lesson, do you think labor conditions today are better for children—and adults—than they were a hundred years ago? For whom are they better? Explain your reasoning?
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads – Introduction activity.
Skim
Before you read, you should quickly skim the article, by looking at the headings of each section and the charts. Read the questions below as well, so you know what to look for when you read!
Key Ideas
- How did women’s suffrage differ between New Zealand and Australia?
- How did the Enlightenment contribute to the growth of the women’s suffrage movement?
- Why did many Central Asian states grant women suffrage at a similar time in the early twentieth century?
- What derailed women’s suffrage in China and Japan for a period?
- What groups of women were excluded from voting in North America? Why?
- What did the struggles for women’s suffrage in Latin America and Africa have in common?
Evaluate
- How did other reform movements and changes in labor affect the course of women’s suffrage? Use evidence from this article and other material in this lesson to defend your claim.
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Guiding Questions
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Note: For more detailed directions on completing the three close reads below, refer to the Three Close Reads for Graphic Bios – Introduction activity.
Observe
Skim the full comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who is the focus of the comic? What big questions do you have?
Understand
- What was Harriet Forten Purvis’ family and community like as a child?
- What was the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery society, and what happened when they organized a national conference in 1838?
- How else did Purvis and her husband fight against slavery and discrimination?
- What other reform movement did Purvis work for, and what were the results of their struggle?
- The first letter of Purvis’ name in the title is formed by two women, one African American, one white, holding hands. These same women are shown in the last panel but separated. What is the artist trying to tell us?
Connect
- How does this biography of Harriet Forten Purvis support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about social transformations and their limits during the long nineteenth century?
The Life of Nailers
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- Why would you begin work as a nailer at five years of age?
- How many nails would an eight-year-old girl be expected to make in one hour and how many hours did they work?
- How did the nail masters cheat the nailers and how much did the nail master usually pay the nailers in wages per week?
- Who was Mary-Ann Bird?
After you watch
- How does learning about Victorian nailers help you understand the perils of child labor and the power dynamics between the working and industrial classes?
Victorian washing machines
Key Ideas
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Before you watch the video, it’s a good idea to open and skim the video transcript. And always read the questions below so you know what to look and listen for as you watch!
While you watch
- Why was it important to soak and beat your clothes for at least 30 minutes?
- Why were household chores like the washing done by women and girls?
After you watch
- How does learning about Victorian washing machines help you understand class and gender roles in this era?