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Slavery through the ages. Final Chapter.
As we wrap things up, this chapter may seem a bit convoluted. I am somewhat rusty in my writing. It has been many years since I have written or published anything. A writer’s block had hit me for years, especially after the passing of my husband. So bear with me.
Also, it is a very long chapter. Hang in there.
So, let’s continue.
I last left off discussing the critical thinking of the Native Americans/Indigenous people. They were enslaved in the past. They still face forms of enslavement today.
I will continue here about the white children. Some say this is propaganda–I assure you it is not. These children were enslaved in child labor. Many of whom, if not all, were never paid. They were ”compensated” with food. They were children of the poor and working class during the industrial age.
For centuries, children were used for labor. They learned to milk cows, churn butter, and farm animals. This particular type of labor was accepted by society. It was not seen as exploitative or abusive. Instead, it was viewed as a necessary practice that ensured the family’s survival. Even the smallest children helped with tasks like winding yarn, carding wool, and gleaning. They also fed chickens and assisted with other chores to help their mothers.
“What distinguishes child labor in the Industrial Revolution from the pre-industrial work was the situation of the work. Work in the Pre-Industrial society involved work in family units usually in the home. Work in the Industrial society took the children out of their homes and into mines, factories, and unfamiliar towns. The hours and conditions were no longer determined by family or friends but by complete strangers”. Quote taken from the Museum of Childhood.
This is the definition I found concerning child labor.
“Definition of Child labor
“Child labor” generally refers to the practice of employing children. These children work to produce a good or service that can be sold for money in the marketplace. This definition applies regardless of whether they are paid for their work. Child labor was a widespread means of providing mass labor at little expense to employers during the Industrial Revolution”. (A partial quote was taken from the Museum of Childhood).
While that seems to downplay the brutality the children endured, we shall continue forth on their miserable life treatment.
When the Industrial Revolution first came to Britain and the U.S, there was a high demand for labor. The jobs available required long hours and offered little pay. In most situations, every able family member was needed to work including those as young as 3.
During this time children were drastically affected. Children were called to work in factories and mills in order for the family to keep afloat. This demanded long hours, longer than what they would work on the farm.
Children were often forced to work hard, long hours in dangerous or difficult conditions. The reason they were sought after was because they were easily trained and paid minimally, or non-existent pay. They were also useful as laborers because they were small. Their size allowed them to move to places where adults couldn’t fit, like factories or mines. And they were easier to manage and control. Most importantly, children could be paid less than adults.
The “Parish apprentice children” were some of the first children to be brought into the factory setting. These children had been taken in by the government and placed in orphanages. Rich factory owners approached these leaders and proposed the idea of taking in children. This idea included feeding, housing, and providing for those children in exchange for the children’s work in their factories. These children were paid no wage for the work they did. Their compensation was for basic needs and it was considered enough. In many cases, it was just barely enough to survive on. These children were subject to unhealthy working conditions, long hours, and harsh punishment. It has been estimated, as much one-third of the workers in the country mills during 1784 were these children. The employers gained cheap labor and the children received a basic education. * These are excerpts taken from the Museum of Childhood.
The invention of the steam engine led to the relocation of mills to larger towns. This shift created new employment opportunities for workers. These opportunities included positions for children from the lower class. These families were struggling to make ends meet and could benefit from any additional income. Factory owners began employing these children for extremely low wages, in some cases as little as a penny a day. This group of workers was referred to as “free labor children.”
Children were considered ideal employees in the workforce as they were young and easily taught new tasks. Often, they were obedient and respectful of authority. Factory owners needed a large number of workers at a very low cost. They considered children to be of minimal maintenance. This made child labor appealing. Unfortunately, children were not treated well. They were overworked and underpaid for a long time. Efforts to improve their conditions were long in coming. This harsh treatment led to fewer rewards. It also caused increased instances of sickness, injury, and death due to poorly regulated child labor. Children were paid only 10% to 20% of an adult man’s wage, making them an inexpensive labor source.
Families, trapped by poverty, were forced to send their children to work in poor conditions for equally poor pay.
Some of the jobs and ages (if available) of children workers are as follows:
Children worked in various roles. They were domestic servants, apprentices, and assistants. Some children worked in agriculture. Others worked in coal mines. Most children who worked in coal mines and iron mines died before they reached the age of 25. Others worked as match girls (4-16), in nail factories, and as breaker boys. Many were farmers or worked on construction sites, in shipyards, and as chimney sweeps.
Child chimney sweeps often had to crawl through holes only 18 inches wide. Master sweeps commonly lit fires under them to make them climb faster. Many boys and girls fell to their deaths. These children were young and small. Generally around the age of 3 or 4. Working in chimneys was both dangerous and unhealthy. Often, chimney sweeps had to work without clothes because the flues were so narrow that clothing could become caught. The risks associated with this job included cancer, suffocation, burns, stunted growth, and deformed joints. Most of the time, workers were not paid or even provided with food. They were also not permitted to wash the soot from their bodies or clothes.
In coal mines small boys and girls lead ponies up the tunnels. Some tunnels were too small for ponies. Children pulled the carts filled with coal over long distances. They moved through very small tunnels. Girls were often used for this work. The chain around their waist caused damage to their pelvic bones, distorting them and making them smaller. This often proved fatal in later life when many of them died in childbirth.
Children in glassworks were regularly burned by the intense heat. The heat blinded them as well. Meanwhile, the poisonous clay dust in potteries caused them to vomit. It also made them faint.
Children who worked in the mills faced these atrocities: Eye inflammation, lung disease, deafness, tuberculosis, mule-spinners’ cancer, and body deformities.
During the labor shortage factory owners had to find other ways of obtaining workers. One solution was to buy children from orphanages and workhouses. This selling of children involved the children signing contracts that virtually made them the property of the factory owner. Large textile mill owners bought many children from orphanages and workhouses. This happened in all the large towns and cities. By the late 1790s, about a third of the workers in the cotton industry were these poor children.
Wages and work hours:
Children as young as six worked hard hours for little or no pay. Workdays would often be 10 to 14 hours with minimal breaks during the shift.
The conditions that children worked under during the Industrial Revolution were morbid. They had long and inflexible work hours. According to many studies, these hours ranged from 14 hours a day or 70 hours per week.
As early as 1798, cotton mill owners in New England employed young children. They were aged 7-12. The children worked around 12 hours a day. These children also picked cotton out in the fields. Some claim that the official age for children to begin working was 6, but church records reveal that children actually started at ages 4 or 5.
Many children worked 16-hour days under atrocious conditions. Children sometimes worked up to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour total break. The treatment of children in factories was often cruel and unusual, and the children’s safety was generally neglected. Factory owners justified their lack of wages by claiming they provided orphans with food, shelter, and clothing. However, these offerings were of very poor quality. For those children who did receive payment, the amounts were minimal.
Children working in factories had very little time to eat, usually only about half an hour for breakfast and lunch. Therefore, their meals needed to be quick to consume and nutritious. Unfortunately, the diet of child factory workers provided very little nourishment. It offered barely enough energy to sustain them through their long hours of work. At that time, there were no supermarkets, refrigerators, or freezers. People had to shop daily from various stores such as butchers, greengrocers, and grocers. Often, food was delivered to homes by traveling milkmen, grocers, or pedlars.
It was common for children who worked in factories to work 12-14 hours with minimal breaks. Oftentimes, children were so tired they would fall asleep while toiling. The master in charge held a long metal pole. He would hit them or verbally abuse them if they fell asleep. This often resulted in broken limbs, shoulders, backs, and pelvises. Sometimes they were hit in the head cracking it open or killing them.
Additionally, “the children worked in environments that were unhealthy and dangerous to their physical well-being. Many lost limbs, were killed in gas explosions, crushed in or under the machinery, and burned. Some were even decapitated*”. *Quote from the Museum of Childhood.
Not until the Factory Act of 1833 did conditions begin to improve. Children were often paid only a small fraction of what adults earned. In some cases, factory owners did not pay them at all. Many of these children were orphans subjected to labor that resembled slavery. Most children were malnourished. They were susceptible to disease. Their life expectancy fell to just 29 years in the 1830s.
During the Industrial Revolution, diseases caused many deaths in cities. A chronic lack of hygiene, limited knowledge of sanitation, and a misunderstanding of the causes and treatments of diseases led to the devastating spread of illnesses such as cholera, typhoid, and typhus. As urban populations grew, the situation became increasingly dire.
From the inception of the first cotton mills, efforts were made to eliminate child labor. Various factors contributed to the change in child labor practices. Some notable public figures strongly advocated the use of child labor. Others pushed for its abolishment. At the very least, many sought improvement of conditions.
As a result, there came, The Factory Act. It began in 1802. Though it was to limit the hours children of certain ages could work. However, these changes to did not seem to help much.
Following is a list of these changes in 1802 taken from the Museum of Childhood.
- The working day was to start at 5:30 a.m. and cease at 8:30 p.m.
- A person aged 13-18 are only permitted to work a maximum of 12 hours per day
- A child aged 9-13 may not be employed beyond any period of nine hours
- Children under 9 were not allowed to work at all (children as young as 3 had been put to work previously)
- From 8:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. (that is, during the night) the employment of persons was altogether prohibited
- Children were to attend school for no less that 2 hours during the day
- The government appointed paid factory inspectors to enforce the law. They ensured that people were following child work guidelines. The inspectors made sure acts were carried out and complied with.
Since 1802, The Factory Act has undergone many changes. These changes led to the child labor laws we have today. This began with the legislation in 1916 and continued through the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Child labor laws are continually being reformed. Currently, children aged 14 to 16 can work in specific occupations, but only during restricted hours. In contrast, those aged 16 to 17 may work unlimited hours, provided they are in non-hazardous jobs.
Time for critical thinking:
Now if all of this is propaganda, why then are there facts from many sources? Is child slavery still ongoing today? Are children still made to work to help the family? If you have children, would you want them to work because you need them to or because they want to? Touchy subject here indeed. But think over the history of child slaves. Were they more or less forced into slavery than any other slaves throughout history? Much to think about. Up to you.
On a personal note. I was made to go to work at 12 years old after my parents divorced. I had to hunt for our food, work as a maid, deliver papers on a paper route, and more. Did this cause me any ill harm physically or mentally? Not at all. I rather enjoyed doing this.
Now let me give a couple of my resources:
- The Museum of Childhood
- The Orphans Trains ( a movie/documentary).
- Certain friends from when they were put into an orphanage and the abuse they endured.
- And so many more through the years.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND FOR BEING A CRITICAL THINKER!
FREE RANGE THINKER 