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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.

  1. Understand and evaluate the arguments people used to fight for the abolition of slavery.
  2. Analyze how industrial life led to calls for reform to eliminate child labor and to achieve women’s suffrage.
  3. Practice informal writing skills by answering the Unit Problem questions.
  4. Use a graphic biography as a microhistory to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives from this time period.
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Extension Materials
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The Life of Nailers

We often learn about the children who worked in the textile and mining industries of the industrial age, but the life of nailers in Victorian England can also tell us a great deal about child labor and how industrialists treated the working classes.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
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Victorian washing machines

Washing clothes in Victorian England can tell us a lot about how people lived in this era. But learning about Victorian washing machines can also shed light on class and gender differences.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.