VT 688: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: WORKING LIVES  WHAT LED TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION? FARMING IMPROVED – MORE FOOD AVAILABLE CROP ROTATION  CHANGES RESULTED IN MORE ANIMALS BEING RAISED.  MORE ANIMALS MEANT MORE MANURE, WHICH MEANT MORE FERTILE SOIL/ FERTILIZER.

ENCLOSURE MOVEMENT  GAVE PRIVATE OWNERSHIP TO PREVIOUSLY PUBLIC LAND  LED TO MORE LAND BEING USED AS PASTURE & FOR AGRICULTURAL USE.  MOST DAY LABORERS WORKED 8 MONTHS A YEAR.  A WINTER JOB WAS TO THRASH/ FLAIL GRAIN & RELEASE GRAIN FROM THE CORN.  THE INVENTION OF THE THRASHER ENDED THE NEED TO FLAIL GRAIN.  IN 1830, FARMERS REBELLED AGAINST THE USE OF THE THRASHER AND OTHER NEW MACHINES.

FEWER PEOPLE WERE NEEDED ON THE FARM AS NEW INVENTIONS HELPED PRODUCE MORE FOOD.  FACTORY WORK IN THE CITY DREW ENTIRE FAMILIES TO THE CITIES.  SOME OF THE FIRST FACTORIES IN ENGLAND PRODUCED POTTERY. POTTERY WORK WAS VERY DUSTY. CHILDREN WORKED THE HARDEST IN THESE POTTERY FACTORIES GOING BETWEEN HOT AND COLD ROOMS.  WORK WAS PAID BY HOW MUCH WAS PRODUCED EACH DAY. THIS IS CALLED PIECE WORK. FROM THESE POTTERY FACTORIES SMOKE AND CLAY DUST POLLUTED THE AIR.  YOUNG GIRLS OFTEN LEFT THE FARM & WENT TO WORK IN THE CITY AS A SERVANT IN A LARGE HOUSE.  FACTORIES WERE BUILDINGS FULL OF MACHINES BUT MANY WORKERS WERE NEEDED TO RUN THEM.  MOST MILLS WERE POWERED BY FLOWING WATER.

CHILDREN  Children as young as 5 worked in these factories. They faced long hours and poor living conditions.  In 1833, the Factory Act was passed (only for kids) but it had little real impact as it was rarely enforced.  In the coalmines, women and children were used for hard labor instead of animals.

PROBLEMS  Legislation was passed to help these women and children who worked in the coal mines but these laws were not enforced. *only four inspectors hired for the whole country with over 4,000 mills  Adult workers in factories and mines hoped to get a 10 hour working day but instead continued to work an average of 14 hours a day.

Working Conditions  Workers tried to improve their poor working conditions by violence, forming trade unions, and winning the right to vote.  Improvement in the lives of workers during the Industrial Revolution came very slowly.