THE INDUSTRIAL REVELUTION

Hira Zafar 23/11/87

The Concerns About The Conditions in Bradford

The disadvantages of the Industrial Revolution were:  Working conditions were bad as you worked long hours for a low wage   Children were forced to work with mothers Housing was cramped and living conditions were tight   Pollution increased in Bradford due to the smoke from the factories Bradford was all like a waste bin as rubbish was piled everywhere    There was no running water Toilets were holes in the ground that had to be emptied regularly Cholera, a disease spreading from India killed more than half the population.

The Advantages Of The Industrial Revolution

The advantages on the industrial revolution are:  Bradford became the centre in trading wool and textiles  Population increased   More industrial machines to do the work More wealth coming from woolcombing  Factory owners had built houses for the workers to live in  Bradford was connected to the canal from Leeds to Liverpool

The Disadvantages Of The Industrial Revolution

The disadvantages of the Industrial Revolution are firstly, the conditions in the houses that the the mill owners built. There were big families in the time of the Revolution and as the houses were quite small the rooms were cramped .

Wool combing was a filthy job and those who had it worked at home. The women and children would work at the local mill and would come home each evening to thick fumes of charcoal and the stench of oil in the wool.

Pollution was also increasing as there were now machines and because the work was done much quicker.

Child Labour

Children in the Industrial Revolution went from being workers in homes and farms, to working in textile factories, coal mines and brick yards.

Families couldn’t afford food and so the children were much more weaker and unhealthy. They were also more susceptible from getting sick from the dusty air. A family simply couldn’t afford to feed itself if all the family members were not working, this included the children. Children worked as long as their elders and this meant sometimes having to work 16 hours a day. Children as young as the age of three were being put to work. At the age of five children were being put to work in iron and coal mines.

Child Labour

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The employers paid extremely low wages. These would get even lower if the business was bad. Men got 15 shillings per week, women got 5 shillings and children got a measly 1 shilling. In Britain in 1830’s and 1840’s workers could earn anywhere from 15 shillings to two pounds.

In 1841, 15 shillings bought exactly four pound loaves of bread. This fed A family of two adults and three children.

This left absolutely no money for tea or rent.

Working Conditions

A common workday for people in the 1840’s was usually 12-14 hours with very short breaks. The labourers worked 6 hours a day in scorching 80 degrees weather, with machinery that needed constant attention. The managers were very strict and fired or fined workers who didn’t pay attention at all times.

The working conditions were dreadful. The factory was extremely dangerous, dirty, had a low ceiling, poor lighting, and locked windows and doors. The adult family worker died of starvation, although it was definitely a factory. They mostly died of housing, bed food and no sanitation. Water came from a poor supply, it was usually drawn from wells or rivers, there were also bad sewer systems and no drains either.