Transcript The Factory System - Wayne County School District

The Factory System
Developed during the Industrial Revolution.
Harsh new way of life for workers.
Rigid Discipline
Workers faced a rigid schedule set by the factory whistle.
Working hours were long (12-16 hours)
Unsafe Environment
Exhausted workers suffered accidents from machines
that had no safety devices – might lose a finger, a
limb, or even their lives.
Workers were exposed to other dangers as well.
Coal dust destroyed the lungs of miners, and textile
workers constantly breathed air filled with lint.
Women Workers
Employees actually preferred to hire women workers.
Thought that women could adapt more easily to
machines and were easier to manage than men.
Factories were also able to pay women less than men.
Problems for Women?
Factory work actually created problem for
women.
New jobs took them out of their home for 12
hours a day.
Child Labor
Factories and mines also hired many boys and girls.
Because children had helped with farmwork, parents
accepted the idea of child labor.
Also, the wages children earned were needed to
keep their families from starving.
Child Labor
Employers often hired orphans.
Overseers beat children accused of idling.
A few factory owners did provide basic
education and a decent life for child workers.