LESSON PLANS
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN BRITAIN
Kenneth A. Poppe
Hall High School
West Hartford Public Schools
West Hartford, Connecticut 06117
NEH Summer Seminar 2000
Historical Interpretations of the Industrial Revolution in Britain
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at the University of Nottingham
Lesson Plans:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
Analyzing a Textbook
Child Labor
Southey v. Macaulay
Cities and factories
Idleness as a Vice
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LESSON PLAN FORMAT: The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Lesson topic: # 1 Analyzing a textbook
Main Unit Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students understand the early industrialization and the importance of
developments in England.
Specific Lesson Objective(s): (from the National Standards for History)
The students (1) will be able to compare different historical narratives of the
Industrial Revolution and analyze the different portrayals and perspectives they
present and (2) will be able to interrogate historical data to detect and evaluate
bias, distortion, and propaganda by omission, suppression or invention of facts.
Lesson Design: (This exercise might be utilized at the beginning or at the end of a
unit on the Industrialization.)
Initiation: In preparation for this lesson, students were given the 'textbook
critique' sheet of questions. To begin this class, the teacher might focus on one or
two of the key questions on the study sheet to determine whether the students
were able to analyze the text. (5-10 minutes)
Main Lesson Activities: Students can then be organized into groups of 2
or 3 for the purpose of sharing answers to their worksheets. (10 minutes) Then
the teacher can distribute copies of other textbooks to each group. The task for
students would be to briefly review those texts for answers to specific questions.
For example, what pictures are included? What resources are mentioned in the
bibliography? What is the overall message of the text? (15-20 minutes)
Closure: Each group should select a spokesperson to share its group
findings. Are the textbooks different? Why do you think that is? Which seems
the most accurate?
(5-8 minutes)
Resources: (1) copies of the 'textbook critique' and (2) copies of additional
textbooks for the purpose of reviewing.
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Resource sheet for Lesson # 1: Textbook Critique Sheet on the Industrial
Revolution
(1) List the title, author, publisher and date of publication. How many pages are
devoted to the subject?
(2) Does the text have a specific bibliography for the section on the Industrial
Revolution? If so, list several of the authors/historians.
(3) What pictures are included? What do they show? List title and artist.
(4) What inventors/inventions are mentioned? Does the text go into detail about
how the inventions or machines actually worked?
(5) What specific industries are emphasized in the text? (coal, silk, cotton, wool,
lace, etc)
(6) How does the author explain the causes of the Industrial Revolution in
Britain? Is there a list of causes? Is there a clear statement of what the author
believes is the main cause?
(7) Does the section only mention Britain or does it deal with other European
nations?
(8) Are specific cities mentioned in the text?
(9) Does the text paint a 'pessimistic and dark side' or an 'optimistic and cheerful
side' of the Industrial Revolution? Does the text state that workers' earnings,
standard of living and housing conditions improved, stayed the same or
declined?
(10) Does the text mention poetry, art or fiction dealing with the Industrial
Revolution?
(11) How does the text describe the factory owners? Favorably or unfavorably?
Are any mentioned by name?
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(12) What does the text say about the impact of the Revolution on the family, the
role of women and the development of cities?
(13) Does the text say anything about the role of Nonconformist or Dissenter
religious groups?
(14) Does the text include excerpts from primary sources? If so, which ones?
(15) Does the text include the topic of reform and Parliamentary legislation, such
as the Chartists, the Luddites, the 1833 Factory Act, the Ten Hours Act, and the
New Poor law?
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LESSON PLAN FORMAT: The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Lesson Topic: # 2 Child Labor in England
Main Unit Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students understand the early industrialization and the importance of
developments in England.
Specific Lesson Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students will be able to (1) explain how industrialization affected the daily
lives of children and (2) compare primary sources about a problem and analyze
the different perspectives they present.
Lesson Design:
Initiation: In preparation for this lesson, students were given excerpts
from EIGHT documents on child labor, three describing positive conditions and
three describing negative conditions. They were to complete a worksheet on
which they could compare the documents. At the beginning of class, the
students would be organized into groups of 2 or 3 for the purpose of sharing
their homework charts. (10 minutes)
Main Lesson Activities: The teacher would then distribute two additional
documents for the students in groups to discuss and add to their chart. (10
minutes) The teacher would lead a large group discussion about the differences
that the documents show about child labor and about possible reasons for those
differences OR allow the students to role play the authors of those documents
and simulate a Parliamentary debate. (15 minutes)
Closure: The teacher would briefly introduce the main provisions of the
Factory Act (1832), the Coal Mine Act (1842) and the Ten Hours Act (1847) and
ask students to explain the connection between those provisions and the
documents.
Resources: (1) homework chart and (2) copies of primary sources
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Lesson Plan # 2 Homework Chart
AUTHOR OF THE DOCUMENT
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
DATE DESCRIPTION OF CHILD LABOR
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I
J
Lesson Plan # 2 Primary Sources on Child Labor
Document A Michael Sadler, member of Parliament, "A Factory Girl's Last
Day", 1832
'Twas on a winter's morning,
The weather wet and wild,
Three hours before the dawning
The father roused his child;
Her daily morsel bringing,
The darksome room he paced,
And cried, 'The bell is ringing,
My hapless darling, haste!'
'Father, I'm up, but weary,
I scarce can reach the door,
And long the way and dreary,-O carry me once more!
To help us we've no mother;
And you have no employ;
They killed my little brother,-Like him I'll work and die!'
Her wasted form seemed nothing,-The load was at his heart;
The sufferer he kept soothing
Till at the mill they part.
The overlooker met her,
As to her frame she crept,
And with his thong he beat her,
And cursed her as she wept.
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Alas! What hours of horror
Made up her last day;
In toil, and pain, and sorrow,
They slowly passed away:
It seemed, as she grew weaker,
The threads they oftener broke,
The rapid wheels ran quicker,
And heavier fell the stroke.
The sun had long descended,
But night brought no repose;
Her day began and ended
As cruel tyrants chose.
At length a little neighbor
Her halfpenny she paid,
To take her last hour's labour,
While by her frame she laid.
At last, the engine ceasing,
The captives homeward rushed;
She thought her strength increasing-'Twas hope her spirits flushed:
She left, but oft she tarried;
She fell and rose no more,
Till, by her comrades carried,
She reached her father's door.
All night, with tortured feeling,
He watched his speechless child;
While, close behind her kneeling,
She knew him not, nor smiled.
Again the factory's ringing
Her last perceptions tried;
When, from her straw-bed springing,
'Tis time!' she shrieked, and died!
That night a chariot passed her,
While on the ground she lay;
The daughters of her master
An evening visit pay;
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Their tender hearts were sighing,
As negro wrongs were told,
While the white slave lay dying
Who gained their father's gold!
Document B James Pattison, silk manufacturer, 1816, testimony in Parliament
Q--What is the state of health of the children in your manufactory? A--I may say,
from my own experience of nearly forty years, unexceptionally good.
Q--Could any system of inspection of the mills be established without
inconvenience? A--The visits are inconvenient as the attention of the children
was always drawn from their duty by the appearance of any new faces.…
Q--Why do you take the children so young? A--Partly to oblige their parents and
because at that early age their fingers are more supple, and they are more easily
led into the habit of performing the duties of their situation.
Q--Are we to understand that children of six or seven are employed ten hours
and a half? A--yesQ--Have you ever observed any inconvenience to the health of
these very young children? A--I can only state that they enjoy very excellent
health.
Q--Do you conceive that working in the factories is favourable to the morals of
young people? A--It keeps them out of mischief. They are less likely to contract
evil habits than if they are idling their time away.
Document C C. T. Thackrah, "The Effects of Arts, Trades and Professions, and of
Civic States Habits of Living, on Health and Longevity.", 1844
No man of humanity can reflect without distress on the state of thousands
of children roused from their beds at any early hour, hurried to the mills, and
kept there till a late hour of night…kept in an atmosphere impure loaded with
noxious dust. Recreation is out of the question. There is scarcely time for
meals…I stood in Oxford-row, Manchester, and observed the streams of
operatives as they left the mills. The children were almost universally illlooking, small, sickly, barefoot, and ill-clad.
Document D Andrew Ure, THE PHILOSOPHY OF MANUFACTURES, 1835
Ill-usage of any kind is a very rare occurrence. I have visited many
factories, both in Manchester and in the surrounding districts…and I never saw a
single instance of corporal chastisement inflicted on a child, nor indeed did I ever
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see children in ill-humour. They seemed to be always cheerful and alert, taking
pleasure in the light play of their muscles. The scene of industry was always
exhilarating. It was delightful to observe the nimbleness with which they pieced
the broken ends. The work of these lively elves seemed to resemble a sport, in
which habit gave them a pleasing dexterity. As to exhaustion by the day's work,
they evinced no trace of it on emerging from the mill in the evening. They
immediately began to skip about any neighbouring playground and to
commence their little amusements with the same alacrity as boys issuing from a
school. They thrive better when employed in our modern factories than if left at
home in apartments too often ill-aired, damp, and cold.
Document E James Myles, "Dundee Republic of Letters", 1850
About a week after I became a mill boy, I was seized with a strong, heavy
sickness, that few escape on first becoming factory workers. The cause of this
sickness which is known by the name of 'mill fever', is the pestiferous
atmosphere produced by so many breathing in a confined place, together with
the heat and exhalations of grease and oil. All these causes are aggravated in the
winter time by the immense destruction of pure air by the gas that is needed to
light the establishment. This fever does not often lay the patient up. It is slow,
dull, and painfully wearisome in its operation. It produces a sallow and
debilitated look, destroys rosy cheeks, and unless the constitution be very strong,
leaves its pale impress for life.
Document F Nassau Senior, Letters on the Factory Act , 1830
The factory work-people in the country districts are the plumpest, best clothed,
and healthiest looking persons of the labouring class that I have ever seen. The
girls, especially, are far more good-looking (and good looks are fair evidence of
health and spirits) than the daughters of agricultural labourers. The wages
earned per family are more than double those of the south….Parliament got up a
frightful and an utterly unfounded picture of the ill-treatment of the children.
Document G John Fielden , THE CURSE OF THE FACTORY SYSTEM, 1836
I well remember being set to work in my father's mill when I was little
more than ten years old; my associates, too, in the labour and in recreation are
fresh in my memory. Only a few of them are now alive; some dying very young,
others living to become men and women; but many of those who live have died
off before they attained the age of fifty, having the appearance of being much
older, a premature appearance of age which I verily believe was caused by the
nature of the employment in which they had been brought up. For several years
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after I began to work in the mill, the hours of labour in our works did not exceed
ten hours.
Document H Peter Gaskell, 1833
So long as home education is not found for them, they are to some extent
better situated when engaged in light labour, and the labour generally is light
which falls to their share. However, the bringing together numbers of the young
of both sexes in factories has been a prolific source of moral delinquency. The
stimulus of a heated atmosphere, the contact of opposite exes, the example of
license upon the animal passions--all have conspired to produce a very early
development of sexual appetencies.
Document I Abraham Whitehead, clothier, Testimony to Parliament, 1832
I can tell you what a neighbour told me six weeks ago; she is the wife of
Jonas Barrowcliffe, near Scholes; her child works at a mill nearly two miles from
home, and I have seen that child coming from its work this winter between 10
and 11 in the evening; and the mother told me that one morning this winter the
child had been up by two o'clock in the morning, when it had only arrived from
work at eleven; it had then to go nearly two miles to the mill, where it had to stay
at the door till the overlooker came to open it…They had no clock; and she
believed, from what she afterwards learnt from the neighbours, that it was only 2
o'clock when the child was called up and went to work; but this has only
generally happened when it has been moonlight, thinking the morning was
approaching.
Document J: anonymous, A Letter to Parliament on the Factories Bill, 1832
The first and immediate consequence of limiting the ages of children
employed, to under 9 years will be to throw out of employment all that class of
hands. This is perhaps the most cruel stroke to the poor man which could have
been inflicted…this threatened invasion of the rights of the parent over the child
is an infringement of the liberty of the subject, and a direct violation of the homes
of Englishmen…and the quantity of goods produced in mills and factories will
be diminished in direct proportion to the curtailment of the hours of labour.
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LESSON PLAN FORMAT: The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Lesson Topic: # 3
intervention
Southey v. Macaulay on the wisdom of government
Main Unit Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students understand the early industrialization and the importance of
developments in England.
Specific Lesson Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students will be able to (1) analyze connections between industrialization
and movements of reform, (2) understand the arguments of those who believed
in laissez-faire principles, and (3) compare and contrast differing sets of ideas
and values.
Lesson Design:
Initiation: In preparation for this lesson, students would be assigned the
task of defining the term 'laissez-faire' in their notebook. The teacher would
begin class by making sure students understood the concept (3-5 minutes) and
then introduce the three student participants for the debate.
Main Lesson Activities: Three students would be assigned to roles for this
activity. One would be the host of a radio/TV show, one would role-play Robert
Southey, and one would role-play Thomas Macaulay. The students would
'perform' in their roles (15-20 minutes), followed by questions and discussion.
Closure: The teacher would conclude the class by asking which of the two
points of view (Southey or Macaulay) the students most agreed with and why. It
might also be appropriate to ask how the points of view were also evident in
American political debates today. (10-15 minutes)
Resources: Role-play materials.
ROLE-PLAY # 1 The host of the radio/TV show: Script
Hello--and welcome to England's favorite morning talk show,
GOOD MORNING, NOTTINGHAM !
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My name is Macro Economics, and I will serve as your host in another of
our series of topics on the Industrial Revolution. Other topics we have explored
in past shows have been child labor, standard of living controversies, famous
inventors and the connection of industrialization with imperialism.
Today's discussion will focus on the Role of Government during the
Industrial Revolution. That is, should the government by playing a greater role
in the affairs of the country by regulating or controlling the economy. Our guests
are Robert Southey and Thomas Babington Macaulay, two citizens of Britain who
symbolize the on-going debate about the Industrial Revolution.
Here is our format:
--Each of our guests will make a brief introductory statement.
--Each will then present a more detailed statement about their position on the
topic.
--Finally, we will give each of them the opportunity to exchange views in a more
informal manner and to entertain questions from the audience.
ROLE-PLAY # 2 Robert Southey
OPENING STATEMENT: Good morning. I am Robert Southey, poet laureate of
England since 1813. I am proud to be one of the so-called 'lake poets' along with
my friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. I have written an article
on the negative aspects of the Industrial Revolution entitled "Sir Thomas More:
Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society." (1829)
In this work, I used the literary device of a conversation between a real historical
figure from England's past, Sir Thomas More, and a fictional character called
Montesino. More, as you will recall, was executed by Henry VIII in the 1530s for
defending his religious beliefs. Like More, I have been savagely attacked by Mr.
Macaulay, whose ego and narrow-mindedness is like that our obstinate former
king.
I am here today to respond to Macaulay's charges, although, frankly, I would
rather by walking the moors or tending to my roses.
POSITION STATEMENT:
I strongly believe that our people are worse off than ever before. Our cities are
crowded and filthy. The exploitation of children is a national shame. It is,
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therefore, my belief that our government has a responsibility to do more to help
the needy and working poor. It should, for example, provided public work jobs
for the unemployed, establish a national system of education under the guidance
of the Anglican Church, and assist those who wish to emigrate from England.
We cannot presume that progress is evitable. Misery is often the cause of
wickedness. Ignorance, vice, crime and poverty are flourishing in what was once
the garden of civilization. Many people wake up every morning without
knowing how they are to eat or where they will lay their heads at night. Some of
our leaders cry about Negro slavery in the colonies but yet are blind to problems
here at home. Our problems are such that we must be wary of revolution. The
masses of people could appear in the streets. Lava floods from a volcano would
be less destructive than the hordes that our great cities and manufacturing
districts would vomit forth. Our morals have declined. The desire to gain has
eaten into the core of the nation. All men are oppressing their neighbors, preying
like wild beasts upon their fellow creatures. Surely, a degree of wholesome
restraint and regulation is needed.
In conclusion, I feel that a more peaceful and a more beautiful England existed at
one time. Weren't people happier and better provided for when the land was
open before enclosure? Can we not do something to restore that time--a time of
rose bushes and weather-stained cottages, of unspoiled lakes and of a happy and
healthy people? I think we can and must, but not with the leaders of the ilk of
Mr. Macaulay who is unable or unwilling to see what is happening to dear old
England.
ROLE-PLAY # 3: Thomas Macaulay
OPENING STATEMENT: My name is Thomas Babington Macaulay. I am a
lawyer, writer for THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, member of Parliament, colonial
official in India, and author of the famous HISTORY OF ENGLAND, which
focuses on the Glorious Revolution of 1688. I did indeed write a 37-page review
of Mr. Southey's COLLOQUIES in 1830 and found it to be pathetic and
laughable. Southey may be a good poet, but he is surely not a good economist or
historian. He has no right to lecture the public on economic and political matters
of which he has still the very alphabet to learn.
I have no idea why Mr. Southey brings Sir Thomas More back to life in his
COLLOQUIES. Perhaps this device would be appropriate in a traditional epic
poem, but it makes for lousy economics. What I want, Mr. Southey, is facts! In
my review and again today, I charge that you do not bring forward a single fact
in support of your view. I challenge you to prove that the great and beneficial
Industrial Revolution has been a disaster. To my way of thinking, it has brought
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wonderful progress and prosperity. So, I look forward to our debate this
morning.
POSITION STATEMENT: As I stated in my introductory comments, I question
the source of Mr. Southey's opinion. He surely has not studied bills of mortality
or statistical tables. He obviously does not stoop to study the history of the
system he abuses or to compare districts or generations. Rather, it seems that
Mr. Southey's methodology is this: he stands on a hill to look at a cottage and a
factory to decide which is prettier. Does he really think that the English people
ever lived in substantial and ornamental cottages with box-hedges, flower
gardens, bee-hives and orchards?
He believes that a government nears perfection as it interferes more and more
with the habits of individuals. I, for one, do not want an omnipresent and
omniscient state. I believe that nothing is worse than a meddling government,
one that tells people what to read, say, eat, drink and wear. Mr. Southey is a
pessimist. He fears revolution instigated by the poor masses, who will invade
the streets like volcanic lava. I look, however, on the state of England with much
greater hope and satisfaction.
Southey asserts that people were better off than before. Perhaps he would have
been better suited for the first twenty years of the sixteenth century when More
lived. But people are better off now and certainly better off that people in Russia
and Poland. The fact is that medicine and medical care is better, that life
expectancy is longer, and that we are making more products at lower cost. The
serving man, the artisan, and the farmer have more food and better clothing and
furniture than their ancestors. Merchants and shopkeepers are richer. We are
not, in a word, sir, the wretched of the earth.
I am not a prophet, but can anyone deny that in a hundred years--say by 1930-we will be even better fed, clothed and houses? And it is clear that the prudence
and energy of our people will continue to carry us forward.
In conclusion, in contrast to Mr. Southey, our government should confine itself to
its legitimate duties, which are:
--leave capital to find its most lucrative course.
--leave commodities to find their fair price.
--leave industry and intelligence to find their natural reward.
--leave idleness and folly to find their natural punishment.
--maintain the peace and defend property.
--observe strict economy in every department
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AND THEN, LET THE PEOPLE DO THE REST. Thank you.
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LESSON PLAN FORMAT: The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Lesson Topic: # 4 Descriptions of cities and factories in the Industrial
Revolution
Main Unit Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students understand the early industrialization and the importance of
developments in England.
Specific Lesson Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students will be able to (1) compare primary sources about a problem and
analyze the different perspectives they present and (2) evaluate the quality of life
in cities and factories in early 19th century England.
Lesson Design:
Initiation: In preparation for this lesson, students were assigned four
primary sources. (poems by E. Jones and J. Jones, readings by Taylor and
Trollope) They were to read and compare the points of view. At the beginning of
class, the teacher will organize the students into groups of 2 or 3 to share their
work. (10 minutes)
Main Lesson Activities: The teacher will then distribute copies of
Wordsworth's poem "The Excursion" and ask the groups to compare it with the
four sources they already have. Spokespersons from each group will share their
reactions. (20 minutes)
Closure: The teacher will distribute copies of Blake's poem , ask one
student to read it aloud, and then ask students how Blake fits in with the other
sources.
Resources: copies of primary sources
Lesson Plan # 4 Primary sources
Document A "The Cotton Mill", John Jones, 1821
Now see the Cotton from the town convey'd
To Manchester, that glorious mart of trade:
Hail splendid scene! The Nurse of every art,
That glads the widow's and the orphan's heart!
Thy mills, like gorgeous palaces, arise,
And lift their useful turrets to the skies!
See Kennedy's stupendous structure join'd
To thine M'Connell--friends of human kind!
Whose ready doors for ever wide expand
To give employment to a numerous band,
Murray's behold! That well deserves a name,-And Lee's and Houldsworth's our attention claim,-And numerous others, scattered up and down,
The sole supporters of this ample town.
Document B "The Factory Town", Ernest Jones, 1847
The night had sunk along the city,
It was a bleak and cheerless hour;
The wild winds sang their solemn ditty
To cold grey wall and blackened tower.
The factories gave forth lurid fires
From pent-up hells within their breast;
E'en Etna's burning wrath expires,
But man's volcanoes never rest.
Women, children, men were toiling,
Locked in dungeons close and black,
Life's fast-failing thread uncoiling
Round the wheel, the modern rack!
E'en the very stars seemed troubled
With the mingled fume and roar;
The city like a cauldron bubbled,
With its poison boiling o'er.
For the reeking walls environ
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Mingled groups of death and life:
Fellow-workmen, flesh and iron,
Side by side in deadly strife.
There, amid the wheels' dull droning
And the heavy, choking air,
Strength's repining, labour's groaning,
And the throttling of despair…
Stood the half-naked infants shivering
With heart-frost amid the heat;
Manhood's shrunken sinews quivering
To the engine's horrid beat!…
Yet their lord bids proudly wander
Stranger eyes thro' factory scenes;
'Here are men, and engines yonder'.
'I see nothing but the machines!'…
Thinner wanes the rural village,
Smokier lies the fallow plain-Shrinks the cornfields' pleasant tillage,
Fades the orchard's rich domain;
And a banished population
Festers in the fetid street:-Give us, God, to save our nation,
Less of cotton, more of wheat.
Take us back to lea and wild wood,
Back to nature and to Thee!
To the child restore the childhood-To the man his dignity.
Document C excerpt from THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MICHAEL
ARMSTRONG, THE FACTORY BOY, Francis Trollope, 1840
The party entered the building…The ceaseless whirring of a million
hissing wheels seizes on the tortured ear; and while threatening to destroy the
delicate sense, seems bent on proving first, with a sort of mocking mercy, of how
much suffering it can be the cause. The scents that reek around, from oil, tainted
water, and human filth, with that last worst nausea, arising from the host refuse
of atmospheric air, left by some hundred pairs of labouring lungs, render the act
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of breathing a process of difficulty, disgust and pain. But what the eye brings
home to the heart of those, who look round upon the horrid earthly hell, is
enough to make it all forgotten; for who can think of villainous smells, or heed
the suffering of the ear-racking sounds, while they look upon
hundreds of helpless children, divested of every trace of health, of joyousness,
and even of youth! Assuredly there is no exaggeration in this: for except only in
their diminutive size, these suffering infants have no trace of it. Lean an
distorted limbs--sallow and sunken cheeks--dim hollow eyes, that speak unrest
and most unnatural carefulness, give to each tiny trembling, unelastic form, a
look of hideous premature old age.
Document D "Notes of a Tour in the Manufacturing Districts of Lancashire",
W.C. Taylor, 1842
How a painter would have enjoyed the sight which broke upon my
waking eyes this morning!…The valley is studded with factories and bleachworks. Thank God, smoke is rising from the loftey chimneys of most of them!
For I have not traveled thus far without learning that the absence of smoke from
the factory-chimney indicates the quenching of the fire on many a domestic
hearth, want of employment to many a willing labourer, and want of bread to
many an honest family. The smoke too creates no nuisance here--the chimneys
are too far apart; and it produces variations in the atmosphere and sky which, to
me at least, have a pleasing and picturesque effect.
I visited the interior of Mr. Ashworth's Turton Mill, which does not differ
materially from that of many other well-regulated mills which I have visited. I
was pleased to find that great care
had been bestowed upon the 'boxing up'
of dangerous machinery. I learned that accidents were very rare, and that, when
they did occur, they were the result of the grossest negligence or of absolute
willfulness. I mention this circumstance because the burst of sentimental
sympathy for the condition of the factory-operatives which, a few years ago,
frightened the isle from its propriety, appealed largely to the number of
accidents which happened from machinery, and I was myself for a time fool
enough to believe that mills were places in which young children were, by some
inexplicable process, ground--bones, flesh, and blood together--into yarn and
printed calicoes. I remember very well when first I visited a cotton-mill feeling
something like disappointment at not discovering the hoppers into which the
infants were thrown.
The conditions in the mill are exceedingly favourable. The working rooms
are lofty, spacious, and well ventilated, kept at an equable temperature, and
scrupulously clean. There is nothing in sight, sound, or smell to offend the most
fastidious sense. I should be very well contented to have as large a proportion of
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room and air in my own study as a cotton-spinner in any of the mills of
Lancashire. The toil is not very great, nor is it incessant. The heaviest part of the
labour is executed by the steam-engine or water-wheel; and there are so many
intervals of rest, that I am under the mark when I assert than an operative in a
cotton-factory is at rest one minute out of every three during the period of his
nominal employment.
Document E excerpt from "The Excursion", William Wordsworth, 1814
Meanwhile, at social Industry's command
How quick, how vast an increase. From the germ
Of some poor hamlet, rapidly produced
Here a huge town, continuous and compact
Hiding the face of earth for leagues-and there,
Where not a habitation stood before,
Abodes of men irregularly massed
Like trees in forests,-spread through spacious tracts.
O'er which the smoke of unremitting fires
Hangs permanent, and plentiful as wreaths
Of vapour glittering in the morning sun.
And, wheresoe'er the traveler turns his steps
He sees the barren wilderness erased,
Or disappearing; triumph that proclaims
How much the mild Directress of the plough
Owes to alliance with these new-born arts!
-Hence is the wide sea peopled,-hence the shores
Of Britain are resorted to by ships
Freighted from every climate of the world
With the world's choicest produce. Hence that sum
Of keels that rest within her crowded ports
Or ride at anchor in her sounds and bays;
That animating spectacle of sails
That, through her inland regions, to and fro
Pass with the respirations of the tide,
Perpetual, multitudinous!…
…I grieve, when on the darker side
Of this great change I look; and there behold
Such outrage done to nature as compels
The indignant power to justify herself;
Yea, to avenge her violated rights.
For England's bane.
Document F "And Did Those Feet In Ancient Time", William Blake, 1808
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And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire.
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.
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LESSON PLAN FORMAT: The Industrial Revolution in Britain
Lesson Topic: # 5 Idleness as a Vice: Values during the Industrial Revolution
Main Unit Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students understand the early industrialization and the importance of
developments in England.
Specific Lesson Objective: (from the National Standards for History)
The students will be able to (1) explain how industrialization affected the daily
live of men, women and children, (2) describe the attitudes towards the concept
of 'idleness', and (3) analyze primary sources for the information they reveal.
Lesson Design:
Initiation: In preparation for this lesson, students will be assigned three
primary sources (A, B, C) that deal with the concept of 'idleness'. They are to
compare the three sources by writing similarities and differences in their
notebooks. At the beginning of class, the teacher will organize the students in
groups of 2 or 3 for the purpose of sharing homework comparisons. (10 minutes)
Main Lesson Activities: The teacher will distribute copies of Hogarth's
entitled "Industry and Idleness". In groups, students will be instructed to (1) list
all the details in the picture and (2) explain what Hogarth is trying to show. (15
minutes)
Closure: The teacher will (1) ask students to compare Hogarth's print
with the articles that they read and (2) read a brief selection of Smiles' SELFHELP--and ask: What is the similarity between Smiles and Hogarth? How
would factory owners feel about these two sources? (10-15 minutes)
Resources: primary sources
Lesson # 5: Primary Sources
Document A: "The Farmer's Tour Through the East of England", Arthur Young,
1771
The weaving man and his boy, who now earn in general 7s. a week, could
earn with ease 11s. if industrious. But it is remarkable, that those men and their
families who earn but 6s. a week, are much happier and better off than those
who earn 2s. or 3s. extraordinary; such extra earnings are mostly spent at the
alehouse, or in idleness, which prejudice their work. This is precisely the same
effect as they have found when the prices of provisions have been very cheap; it
results from the same cause. And this city (Norwich) has been very often
pestered with mobs and insurrections under the pretence of an high price of
provisions, merely because such dearness would not allow the men that portion
of idleness and other indulgence which the low rates throw them into.
Document B: "A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain", Daniel Defoe,
1724
The whole country is full of people near Halifax. Those people all full of
business; not a beggar, not an idle person to be seen, except here and there an
alms-house, where people antient, decrepid and past labour, might perhaps be
found; for it is observable, that the people here, however labourious, generally
live to a great age, a certain testimony to the goodness and wholesomeness of the
country…Among the manufacturers houses are likewise scattered an infinite
number of cottages in which dwell the workmen who are employed, the women
and children of whom, are always busy carding, spinning, etc. so that no hands
being unemploy'd, all can gain their bread. This is the reason also why we saw
so few people without doors; but if we knock'd at the door of any of the master
manufacturers, we presently saw a house full of lusty fellows, some at the dyefact, some dressing the cloths, some in the loom, some one thing, some another,
all hard at work, and full employed upon the manufacture, and all seeming to
have sufficient business.
Document C: "The Weaver's Pocket- Book", 1766, anonymous
Once more, methinks I cannot but observe, how the wisdom of divine
providence hath made work for all the children of men…That we are full of
scandalous beggars, is not because the providence of God hath not laid out work
enough…but because parents are suffered to bring up children in idleness. O
England! Spit out they flegm, shake off thy sloth, honour God in the substance
and increase which he hath given thee. It is nothing but lust and sloth that fills
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thee with such prodigious wickedness and beggary…an advantage of work is the
little time it giveth for idleness. Idleness (especially in youth) is the source and
fountain of almost all the debauchery that polluteth the world, and all the
beggary with which we abound…It is the idle person that proves the gamester,
the drunkard…the lesser the time for idleness any trade allows, the better it is.
Document D: see Hogarth's print
Document E: SELF-HELP, Samuel Smiles, 1859
[This book sold 20,000 copies in the first year, 55,000 by 1864, 150,000 by
1889, and about a quarter of a million by the time of Smile's death in 1904.]
'Heaven helps those who help themselves' is a well-tried maxim,
embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience. The spirit
of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and it constitutes
the true source of national vigour and strength. Help from without is often
enfeebling in its effects, but help from within invariably invigorates. Whatever is
done for men or classes, to a certain extent takes away the stimulus and necessity
of doing for themselves; and where men are subjected to over-guidance and
over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively
helpless…the value of legislation as an agent in human advancement has always
been greatly over-estimated…[legislation] can exercise but little active influence
upon any man's life and character…the function of government is the protection
of life, liberty and property…But there is no power of law that can make the idle
man industrious, the thriftless provident, or the drunken sober; though every
individual can be each and all of these if he will, by the exercise of his own free
powers of action and self-denial.
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