industrial revolution Essay

Submitted By dark57king
Words: 808
Pages: 4

Leo Vargas
World themes
11/14/13
The Curse of the Industrial Revolution

Would you like working 18 hours a day, 7 days a week? How about in 80 degree weather doing dangerous hand-on work? Would you like your own kids working next to you in these conditions? You would probably be tired and hungry and still get paid 1 cent per day. This was how the working class in the 18th century lived, in horrible conditions, starving, exhausted from work, and even their own children had to live though these conditions. This was and still going on because of the curse of industrial revolution. The industrial revolution was a time period in the18th-19th century where there was a change from agricultural nation to a more industrial nation. The revolution began when the inventors introduced creations to improve the way people were producing goods. But the consequences that came were brutal. People lost their jobs needed. The industrial revolution cursed the working men.
The living conditions were bad during the 18th century; mostly everyone that worked in the farm lands had to work in the factories for their new jobs. The working hours were long. Shifts last 12-14 hours per day, 7 days per week. There was no safety or any law that protected them from danger. The man that worked in the mines were exposed to coal and that caused lung damage. They were often sick and lost their jobs. They might lose a finger, an arm, and even their life. Mostly everyone starved because of the greed of the factory owners, the bourgeoisie, the workers were paid as low as 20s per week (I.R. packet) and they did not have enough money for their families. “Formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of bourgeois supremacy, conquest of the political power by the proletariat” this is how the proletariat felt at the time, they wanted the working class to rule. Since the man wage was low woman began working because the owners saw that they were able to pay less to the woman. They worked as hard as the man under the same conditions but their wages were an average of 8s per week! (I.R. packet) they did not have time for their kids. This was how families lived during the curse of the industrial revolution. Would you like your own kids to work for you? The men and women didn’t just suffer, it was also the children. Since machines were introduced, child labor was introduced also. They went through the same conditions as the men and women did. They were traded badly by the greedy owners. The children were often whipped and forced to work in dangerous machines. Machinery often ran so quickly that little fingers, arms and legs could easily get caught. Beyond the equipment, the environment was a threat to children as well as factories put out fumes and toxins. When inhaled by children these most certainly could result in illness, chronic conditions or disease. These children were like slaves to the machines. They were worked and still get paid 2s and 3d (I.R. packet) and they started working since they turn 6 years old! Would you like that? Would you like your child separated from you? No education to