Britain As the First Industrial Nation - PowerPoint Presentation

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Britain As the First Industrial Nation

Child Labour in Factories

To explain what child labour is and how it played a part in the Industrial Revolution.

To analyse the effects of the Factory Act of 1833.

To write a diary based on child labour during the 1880s.

To explain how child labour changed in factories during the Industrial Revolution.

Learning Objective

Success Criteria

Imagine you are the person taking this photograph. What can you see, hear and what do you feel about this scene?

I See, I Hear, I Feel

A small girl in an American cotton mill, 1908. This is a scene that could have been witnessed in many factories in Britain in the 19th century.

Factories changed the shape of Britain in many ways. From mills that produced textiles, to metal works that produced wrought-iron goods, they changed where people lived, the way people lived and the way people worked.

For each of the headings on your Activity Sheet, draw an image to show what these changes were.

Changing the Face of Britain

Study these two sources, both taken from a Parliamentary Report from 1831-2.

What can these accounts tell us about what life was like for children working in mills at this time?

It’s a Hard-Knock Life

Source A

‘My boy, Edwin, was well known for being lively and straight before he went to the mill, but after three years he was weak in his knees and it was so bad that he could hardly walk. Many people told me to take him away but I was a poor man with a large family and needed his wages.’

A father from Keighley, Yorkshire

Source B

‘I saw her shoulders and asked what the matter was. She said “the

overlooker

has strapped me, but do not complain for we will be sacked.” The

overlooker

had strapped her because she hadn’t done as she was told immediately. Her back was beat nearly to a jelly…’

Samuel Coulson talking about his daughter, who worked 18 hours a day in a mill in Leeds.

After many terrible years of poor conditions for children in factories, the government decided something must be done to make things better.

Shown here are the main points of the Factory Act, 1833; a new law that came into place to protect children:

1) No child workers under nine years of age.

2) Employers must have an age certificate for their child workers.

3) Children of 9-13 years to work no more than nine hours a day.4) Children of 13-18 years to work no more than 12 hours a day.5) Children are not to work at night.6) Two hours schooling each day for children.7) Four factory inspectors appointed to enforce the law. (in the whole of Britain!)With a partner, select two things that were improvements and two things that were still not satisfactory, in your opinion.

The Factory Act of 1833

Write a diary from the point of view of a child worker in a mill in 1833. Be creative, but use your knowledge to be as accurate as possible.

Use the section on your Activity Sheet to write your diary – it needs to include the following five things:

State where you are working.

State the number of hours you work.

Describe how you are treated.

Explain why you have to go to work.Explain how things have changed with the new Act.The new Act has just come in to power, but has it changed things for you?

Dear Diary

Swap your diary work with a partner and mark their diary following these success criteria.

For each point that they have included, give them a mark. This should give you a score out of 5.

They have stated where they are working.

They have states the number of hours they work.

They have described how they are treated.They have explained why they have to go to work.They have explained how things have changed since the Act.When you have finished marking their diary, give them a positive comment (something that impressed you), and a tip for improvement (is there anything that they could add? Can they make anything more clear?).Write these in the spaces at the bottom of their diary sheet.

Peer Assessment