Child Labor in the U.S.

and
Britain during the Industrial
Revolution
Parallels and Contrasts

In the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries, child labor was used
throughout the world, particularly in
industrializing countries.
Britain was the first country to be industrialized. Child labor
there was primarily used in the textile industry.
The U.S. borrowed many ideas from the British during the
Industrial Revolution.

Britain
USA

1769
1793

1816

1833

1878

1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

In Britain, the first rural

textile mills were built, and
children were a major part
of the workforce.

http://www.michellehenry.fr/childlabour.jpg

Manchester and Lancashire were the first towns to establish a factory system.

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2009

Britain
USA

1769

1816
1793

1833

1878

1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

2009
2009

In the U.S., Samuel Slater

opened the first mill in
Pawtucket, RI

www.ou.edu/.../ Old%20slater%20mill.jpg

Samuel Slater, a British immigrant, is considered the Father of American Industrial Revolution,
because he built the first water powered textile mill in the U.S.. He modeled his factory system on
the British system.

Britain
USA

1769
1793

1816

1833

1878

2009

1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

2009

In Britain, 51.2% of children

under the age of eighteen worked
in the textile mills and 20% of
children under the age of thirteen.

Photographed by Lewis Hine: http://www.galenet.com/servlet/SRC/

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

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2009

In the U.S., in 1830, 55 % of mill

workers in Rhode Island
were children.

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1778376-mill_town_on_the_river-Lowell.jpg

The Lowell mills employed mostly young women with an average age of fifteen to eighteen.

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

In the U.S., people started to
question child labor, but laws
were not established until
much later.

4.bp.blogspot.com/.../ Child+Labor+Coal+Mines.jpg

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2009

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

In Britain:
1.
Until the Factory Act of
1833, the factory owners
decided how long the
children had to work.
2.

The Act prohibited the

employment of children
under nine in all textile
mills powered by steam
and water.

3.

It also limited the working

hours to nine hours per
day and mandated
schooling.

Parliament passed five Labour Laws between 1802 and 1833, but was
shrewd enough not to vote a penny for their carrying out. . .
(Karl Marx)

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2009

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

In the U.S., the first state child
labor law was established in
Massachusetts.

Photographed by Lewis Hine:

http://www.archives.gov/press/press-kits/picturing-the-century-photos/sweeperand-doffer-in-cotton-mill.jpg

Children in Massachusetts under the age of fifteen had to attend school for three months.

2009
2009

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

In the U.S., states began
limiting children to a tenhour workday. . .

. . . but the laws were not

always enforced!

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2009

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843

1878
1892 1904 1916 1937
The British Factory Acts
were applied to all trades.

The Acts prohibited the employment of children under ten,

and children aged ten to fourteen could only be employed
half days.

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2009

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

2009
2009

In the U.S., the American

Federation of Labor recommended
banning factory employment for
children under fifteen years of age
but not banning it altogether. The
AFL also recommended a law limiting
women and children to a maximum
eight-hour workday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AFL-CIO.png

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

2009

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

2009

In the U.S. the National Labor

Law Committee forms, and
child labor law reform
begins.

Photographed by Lewis Hine:

www.ymca.org.au/ about/Pages/History.aspx

Child working as a spinner.

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

2009

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

2009

In the U.S., a new federal

child labor law sets a
minimum age for
employment . . .

Photograph by Lewis Hine:

online-history.org/ Wc2.htm

. . . but it was declared

unconstitutional after just two years.

Britain

1769

USA

1816

1833

1878

2009

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

Opinions of Child Labor

2009

In the U.S., minimum

ages of employment and
hours for children
laborers are regulated by
federal law.

Economy?

Free Choice?

Skill for Trade?

They [factory
reformers] believed
that families could not
give up the wages of
children.
. . . Observers
believed that textile
factories could not run
without child labor
(Clark Nardinelli,
Historian, 1990).

No one, not parents,

employers, or government
should be able to coerce
children into or prohibit
them from entering work
situations. Children old
enough to be supporting
themselves are old
enough to make their own
decisions (Wendy
McElroy, Feminist, 2001).

Critics argue that

children who work in
the factories learn
valuable skills such as
a trade and endurance.

Domestic work same as

factory work?
The work was often more
difficult because [of] pressure . . .
and the oppressive conditions of
the factories. . . . Tasks were
harder and required
concentration and strength.
. . . Children were [watched] by
an overseer which created fear
(Carolyn Tuttle, Historian, 1999).

Factory Conditions for Children in Britain

and the U.S. in the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries
Factory owners preferred using children for some tasks because of their small size.
It was more profitable for factory owners to employ children than skilled adults. British factory owners profited by purchasing orphans
who worked for very low wages.
Lack of sleep and an averaged eighteen-hour work day in Britain and in the U.S. contributed to mistakes and injuries.
Some children in Britain and in the U.S. were mentally and physically abused by their supervisors, and their safety was neglected by
factory owners who cared more about profit than well-being.

Britain
USA

1769

1816

1833

1878

2009

1793 1830 1832 1837 1843 1892 1904 1916 1937

2009

Child labor still exists today.

http://thisteensweightlossplan.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/dri
ve-thru1231521992.jpg

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/08/15/timestopics/2childlabor_395.jpg

Do you know any children who work?

Do you think there is any difference between child labor today and during the Industrial
Revolution?

Works Cited
Cruickshank, Marjorie. Children and Industry. Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1981.
Marx, Karl. Das Kapital. Vol. I. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr &
Company, 1909.
Nardinelli, Clark. Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
---."Were Children Exploited During the Industrial Revolution?"
Research in Economic History 2 (1988): 243-276.
Rule, John. The Experience of Labour in Eighteenth Century
English Industry. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981.
Tuttle, Carolyn. "A Revival of the Pessimist View: Child Labor
and the Industrial Revolution." Research in Economic
History 18 (1998): 53-82.