EUROPEAN FACTORY WORKERS:
1800-1930
BY: SYDNIE CHAVEZ
PERIOD 3
FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
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late 1700’s to 1830’s
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steam power
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textile industry boomed
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introduction of chemical dyes
the use of machine tools such as the
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utilized effectively by James Watt in 1778
milling machine: used to cut wood,
developed in 1829
CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW A MILLING MACHINE WORKS
the employment of factory workers made
all of this possible
FACTORY WORKERS
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men, women, and young children from the
lower class were employed
LEARN MORE ABOUT WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
factory workers often worked for 16 or more
hours with little breaks
READ MORE ABOUT THE LIVES OF INDUSTRIAL WORKERS
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wages were around 1 or 2 dollars a day
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the standard of living was extremely low,
most families had around 8 or more
children, many of whom did not survive to
adult hood
CONDITIONS OF FACTORY
WORKERS
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the conditions in factories during the First Industrial Revolution were
horrible
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workers were beaten if they were late, fell asleep on the job, or if
they did not do the job right
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there are some accounts of children who are late having ropes
with heavy weights tied around their necks and paraded around
the factory to set an example
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people were overworked and often physically injured themselves
working
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child workers often died or hurt themselves while attempting to work
heavy machinery
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many women also lost children while working in the factories due to
the harsh conditions and inadequate pay, making it impossible to get
enough nutritious food
SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
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1850’s to 1914
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also known as the Technological Revolution
MORE ABOUT THE BESSEMER PROCESS
new ways to organize factories were introduced, such as the production line
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1855: the Bessemer process which contributed to the mass production of
steel products
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applied chemistry and thermodynamics to new inventions
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engines and turbines were improved upon
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1876: internal combustion engine, also known as the Otto engine
MORE ABOUT THE OTTO ENGINE
LABOR LAWS
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Labor Laws were more greatly enforced during the later half of the First
Industrial Revolution, and for the majority of the Second Industrial Revolution
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child labor laws
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Factory Act of 1833read more about the Factory act of 1833
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children 9 to 13 years old could only work 8 hours
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children under 9 years old could not work
Ten Hours Bill of 1847
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women and children could work no more than 10 hours a day
MORE ABOUT THE TEN HOURS BILL OF 1847
WOMEN WORKERS
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most women worked in the textile industry and in coal
mines
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families depended on the extra wages earned by women
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women became more independent and had more of a
chance at mobility because they were able to make their
LEARN MORE ABOUT WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
own money
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however, it was hardly enough, though by the late 19th
century the standard of living for women did go up due to
the increased enforcement of Labor Laws
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working women also did not have access to an extended
education, they were taught through churches or through
people at the factories they worked at
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most people agree, though, that the Industrial Revolution
helped advance views towards women in the long run
FACTORY WORKERS IN THE FIRST
WORLD WAR
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the majority of factory workers during the
First World War were women
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World War I completely changed European
society and the views it once held
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the sanitation in factories improved and
complex production lines were
implemented to produce as much as
possible
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many women who were factory workers
left to become nurses, greatly increasing
the demand for workers
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with men off at war women were able to
dominate the industries of mass production
VIEWS TOWARDS WOMEN
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women often shamed men into going to war
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they decided to join the workforce not only to change their lives, but to show patriotism towards their country
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in Britain and France many women joined the workforce
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the women had to take on roles they had never been in before
Germany: less women joined the workforce because they were seen by men as unable to do the same
jobs
some men still opposed to women in the workforce, still claiming that they belonged doing only domestic
things
A letter from the president of the London and Provincial Union of Licensed Vehicle Workers protesting women workers
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women were given more respect and had more self-respect as they were able to provide for themselves and
provide for their country as well
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after the end of World War I women found more jobs available to them, however, they were often replaced
by men who returned back from the war
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in 1920 the women labor force was 2% less than it had been before the war
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women's suffrage movements and feminist movements were more popular, and successful, after the war,
when women were more independent and seen as no longer just domestic figures
SUMMARY
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conditions at the beginning of the industrial period in Europe were horrible
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wages were low and people often died very young due to accidents in the factories
with the enactment of Labor Laws conditions began to improve
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Child Labor Laws limited the amount of time children could work, and the treatment
towards them
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by the late 1800’s the standard of living for factory workers had greatly improved
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during the First World War women were the primary industrial workers
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the conditions in factories had greatly improved and factories were better organized
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views towards women in society and women in the work force were liberated as the work
women did for the cause of the war was respectable
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these views eventually led to women’s suffrage movements and movements towards
equality
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES PLUS
WORKS CITED
READ A REPORT OF A FACTORY VISIT IN
BRITAIN
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ABOUT SEAMSTRESSES
IN THE 1800’S
FULL WORKS CITED:
on this public google
docs (direct link
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ABOUT COAL MINERS IN
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1
EgNWuu8pfr9SUDiLEtbZgAjSj4cU3lYW
UFXCPNPvP3U/edit?pli=1)
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS ABOUT TEXTILE WORKERS IN THE
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
DOCUMENTARY ON THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN BRITAIN