Child Labor in the Cotton Factories
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Child Labour in Cotton Factories, 1807
A conversation between Southey and a Manchester gentleman who is showing him over the cotton factories.
Mr. -------- remarked that nothing could be so beneficial to a country as manufacture. 'You see these children, sir,' said he. 'In most parts of England poor children are a burthen to their parents and to the parish; here the parish, which would else have to support them, is rid of all expense; they get their bread almost as soon as they can run about, and by the time they are seven or eight years old bring in money. There is no idleness among us: they come at five in the morning; we allow them half an hour for breakfast, and an hour for dinner; they leave work at six, and another set relieves them for the night; the wheels never stand still.'
I was looking, while he spoke, at the unnatural dexterity with which the fingers of these little creatures were playing in the machinery, half giddy myself with the noise and the endless motion; and when he told me there was no rest in these walls, day or night, I thought that if Dante had peopled one of his hells with children, here was a scene worthy to have supplied him with new images of torment.
'These children then,' said I, 'have no time to receive instruction.' 'That, sir,' he replied 'is the evil which we have found. Girls are employed here from the age you see them till they marry, and then they know nothing about domestic work, not even how to mend a stocking or boil a potato. But we are remedying this now, and send the children to school for an hour after they have done work.' I asked if so much confinement did not injure their health. 'No' he replied, 'they are as healthy as any children in the world could be. To be sure, many of them as they grew up went off in consumptions, but consumption was the disease of the English. ...'
'We are well off for hands in Manchester,' said Mr. ------; 'manufacturers are favourable to population, the poor are not afraid of having a family here, the parishes therefore have always plenty to apprentice, and we take them as fast as they can supply us. In new manufacturing towns they find it difficult to get a supply. Their only method is to send people round the country to get children from their parents. Women usually undertake this business; they promise the parents to provide for the children; one party is glad to be eased of a burden; and it answers well to the other to find the young ones in food, lodging and clothes, and receive their wages.' 'But if these children should be ill-used', said I. 'Sir,' he replied, 'it never can be the interest of the women to use them ill, nor of the manufacturers to permit it.'
It would have been in vain to argue had I been disposed to it. Mr. ------- was a man of humane and kindly nature, who would not himself use any thing cruelly, and judged of others by his own feelings. I thought of the cities in Arabian romance, where all the inhabitants were enchanted: here Commerce is the Queen witch, and I had no talisman strong enough to disenchant those who were daily drinking of the golden cup of her charms
Robert Southey, Letters from England (1807).
Citation: { Dr. Marjorie Bloy. Child Labor in Cotton Factory, 1807. Last Modified on April 13,2010. Retrieved on October, 2010 from http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/factmine/southey.htm}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Vivian and Kyning
OPVL
Child Labor
Origins, Purpose, Value, Limitations
Origins:
1.??? Who created it?
a.??? The web creator, Dr. Marjie Bloy
2.??? Who is the author?
a.??? Robert Southey, an English poet and writer is.
3.??? When was it created?
a.??? It was created during 1807
4.??? When is it published?
a.??? It was also published in 1807 under his [Robert Southey] pseudonym Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella.
5.??? Where is it published?
a.??? It was published it England, UK.
6.??? Who is publishing it?
a.??? Many of his poems and books, including Letters from England were published by his son in law, J W Warter.
7.??? Is there anything we know about the author that is pertinent to our evaluation?
a.??? He considers Mr.----- to be a, and I quote “a man of humane and kindly nature, who would not himself use any thing cruelly, and judged of others by his own feelings. ”
Purpose:
1.??? Why does this document exist?
a.??? This document existed to present the conflicts and concerns with children employment as well as their lack of education and long hours of work.
2.??? When did the author create this work?? What is the intent?
a.??? The author created this during the Industrial Revolution (1801). It’s intent is to show the concerns of the children having to work long hours in factories in poor situations.
3.??? Why did the author chose this particular format?
a.??? The format was in dialogue form and is probably used to visualize the people’s way of thinking during that time.
4.??? Who is the intended audience? Who did the author expect his/her audience to be?
a.??? The intended audience was probably the general public, since this wasn’t a letter, but part of a collection of many poems and stories. His ideas of his stories’ audience were probably just the people during the 19th century, particularly the wealthy; for they were literate while the remaining population probably weren’t.
5.??? What does the document say?
a.??? It describes the author’s conversation between a Manchester gentlemen, who is currently (in the dialogue) showing him around in the cotton factory. It seems to be implying that the person works there, since he is so familiar with the schedule of the workers and the factory itself. There could be many ways of interpreting the passage, but mainly I think it is talking about how the children go to work for more than 13 hours, but it seemed all so natural. Parents weren’t at least one bit concerned about their children, apart from making money to survive.?
6.??? Can you tell it more than its surface?
a.??? Yes,? this isn’t just some ordinary conversation. Though it’s possible that it was made up, but the purpose of it is too show the people the truth of things. It’s a major problem , but they seem to not notice it.
Value:
1.??? What can we tell about the author from the piece?
a.??? The author seemed to be a middle class person, able to get by living pretty well, but not luxurious, judged by the tone and dialect he spoke. He is a critic, in this case for Child Labor. He is concerned about it and is rather disappointed by the reaction of the people.
2.??? What can we tell about the time period about the piece?
a.??? It was probably held during the Industrial Revolution, hence, child employment, cotton factories, etc.
3.??? Under what circumstances was the piece created and how does the piece reflect those circumstances?
a.??? The circumstances were probably tight for many families, for the article stated that, children are a burden to families, as well as now families aren’t afraid to expand because of the wages children bring in, so families’ economies probably were hand to mouth every single day.
4.??? What can we tell about any controversies from the piece?
a.??? We can infer that the controversy is between whether or not child labor should be implied.
5.??? Does the author represent a particular ‘side’ in the event?
a.??? The author seems to think that he can’t do too much about the children labor occurring then, even if he tried. He regarded himself to have ‘no talisman strong enough to disenchant those who [business men] were daily drinking of the golden cup of her[Commerce] charms.’ He’s stance about the controversy seems to be somewhere in between.
6.??? What can we tell about the author’s perspective from the piece?
a.??? The author’s perspective, as previously stated, is a neutral stance, he isn’t against child labor nor is he advocating and supporting child labor. We can know this because at first, Mr. Southey asked a lot of questions regarding the children’s health, working conditions, sleep, and education, yet he was persuade by Mr.------ that the children in labor not only is no longer a burden to parents, but is also making money and getting educated at the same time. The last line of the document also shows how powerless Mr. Southey considers himself to be.
7.??? What was going in history when the piece was created and how does the piece accurately reflect it?
a.??? This piece was written and published during the early 19th century, which was when factories were just beginning to ‘form,’ marking the start of the Industrial Revolution. This document gives away many hints that reflect that time period; the cotton factories, child labor, the machinery and wheels; all foreshadow the time period in which it was written in.
Limitations:
1.??? What part of the story can we not tell from the document?
a.??? First of all, we couldn’t actually ‘see’ any of the children work and how the workers in the factory treat them, all our information about child labor comes from what Mr.---- says, which isn’t exactly the most reliable source. Second of all, we don’t know much about the history of the Mr.----, except for he currently lives in Manchester, which doesn’t help us judge whether or not he is telling the complete truth. Last, we don’t know how the parents feel about their children being forced to work at such a young age.
2.??? How could we verify the content of the piece?
a.??? The content of the piece can be verified through the constant reiteration of child labor during the 19th century, many books, articles and movies regarding this situation all show many similar points, the long work hours, the low wages, and the little children working day and night, nonstop. For example the article “Industrial Child Labor in Britain” by Dabin?Chung and Mr. Alexander?Ganse states that ‘Also, it was profitable for the owners to employ children, for they cost little compared to adult, male workers.’, ‘Many [child labors] started working as early as at the age of five and generally died before they were eighteen.’, ‘The child laborers were from poor working families who could not afford to feed themselves without the children contributing financially.’ and ‘The laborers usually worked for more than twelve hours without breaks.??Consequently, child laborers suffered lack of sleep and were more vulnerable to mistakes and injuries.’ These excerpts verify the content of the primary source.
3.??? Does this piece inaccurately reflect anything about the time period?
a.??? There is a minor detail about the family part of the story, although Mr.---- stated that ‘the poor are not afraid of having a family here, the parishes therefore have always plenty to apprentice, and we take them [children] as fast as they can supply us;’ however, according to multiple websites such as, http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/tuttle.labor.child.britain and http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist8.html families only sent out children, because they desperately needed money, disabling them to have a large family, since even with the children’s contribution to the family many families still were unable to sustain themselves.
4.??? What does the author leave out and why does he/she leave it out?
a.??? The author didn’t seem to purposely leave out any details about the conversation, except for the name of the Manchester gentlemen, and that was probably only because of privacy reasons.
5.??? What is purposely not addressed?
a.??? The only thing purposely not addressed literally in the dialogue is, as previously stated the Manchester gentlemen’s name.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPVL
Child Labor
Origins, Purpose, Value, Limitations
Origins:
1.??? Who created it?
a.??? The web creator, Dr. Marjie Bloy
2.??? Who is the author?
a.??? Robert Southey, an English poet and writer is.
3.??? When was it created?
a.??? It was created during 1807
4.??? When is it published?
a.??? It was also published in 1807 under his [Robert Southey] pseudonym Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella.
5.??? Where is it published?
a.??? It was published it England, UK.
6.??? Who is publishing it?
a.??? Many of his poems and books, including Letters from England were published by his son in law, J W Warter.
7.??? Is there anything we know about the author that is pertinent to our evaluation?
a.??? He considers Mr.----- to be a, and I quote “a man of humane and kindly nature, who would not himself use any thing cruelly, and judged of others by his own feelings. ”
Purpose:
1.??? Why does this document exist?
a.??? This document existed to present the conflicts and concerns with children employment as well as their lack of education and long hours of work.
2.??? When did the author create this work?? What is the intent?
a.??? The author created this during the Industrial Revolution (1801). It’s intent is to show the concerns of the children having to work long hours in factories in poor situations.
3.??? Why did the author chose this particular format?
a.??? The format was in dialogue form and is probably used to visualize the people’s way of thinking during that time.
4.??? Who is the intended audience? Who did the author expect his/her audience to be?
a.??? The intended audience was probably the general public, since this wasn’t a letter, but part of a collection of many poems and stories. His ideas of his stories’ audience were probably just the people during the 19th century, particularly the wealthy; for they were literate while the remaining population probably weren’t.
5.??? What does the document say?
a.??? It describes the author’s conversation between a Manchester gentlemen, who is currently (in the dialogue) showing him around in the cotton factory. It seems to be implying that the person works there, since he is so familiar with the schedule of the workers and the factory itself. There could be many ways of interpreting the passage, but mainly I think it is talking about how the children go to work for more than 13 hours, but it seemed all so natural. Parents weren’t at least one bit concerned about their children, apart from making money to survive.?
6.??? Can you tell it more than its surface?
a.??? Yes,? this isn’t just some ordinary conversation. Though it’s possible that it was made up, but the purpose of it is too show the people the truth of things. It’s a major problem , but they seem to not notice it.
Value:
1.??? What can we tell about the author from the piece?
a.??? The author seemed to be a middle class person, able to get by living pretty well, but not luxurious, judged by the tone and dialect he spoke. He is a critic, in this case for Child Labor. He is concerned about it and is rather disappointed by the reaction of the people.
2.??? What can we tell about the time period about the piece?
a.??? It was probably held during the Industrial Revolution, hence, child employment, cotton factories, etc.
3.??? Under what circumstances was the piece created and how does the piece reflect those circumstances?
a.??? The circumstances were probably tight for many families, for the article stated that, children are a burden to families, as well as now families aren’t afraid to expand because of the wages children bring in, so families’ economies probably were hand to mouth every single day.
4.??? What can we tell about any controversies from the piece?
a.??? We can infer that the controversy is between whether or not child labor should be implied.
5.??? Does the author represent a particular ‘side’ in the event?
a.??? The author seems to think that he can’t do too much about the children labor occurring then, even if he tried. He regarded himself to have ‘no talisman strong enough to disenchant those who [business men] were daily drinking of the golden cup of her[Commerce] charms.’ He’s stance about the controversy seems to be somewhere in between.
6.??? What can we tell about the author’s perspective from the piece?
a.??? The author’s perspective, as previously stated, is a neutral stance, he isn’t against child labor nor is he advocating and supporting child labor. We can know this because at first, Mr. Southey asked a lot of questions regarding the children’s health, working conditions, sleep, and education, yet he was persuade by Mr.------ that the children in labor not only is no longer a burden to parents, but is also making money and getting educated at the same time. The last line of the document also shows how powerless Mr. Southey considers himself to be.
7.??? What was going in history when the piece was created and how does the piece accurately reflect it?
a.??? This piece was written and published during the early 19th century, which was when factories were just beginning to ‘form,’ marking the start of the Industrial Revolution. This document gives away many hints that reflect that time period; the cotton factories, child labor, the machinery and wheels; all foreshadow the time period in which it was written in.
Limitations:
1.??? What part of the story can we not tell from the document?
a.??? First of all, we couldn’t actually ‘see’ any of the children work and how the workers in the factory treat them, all our information about child labor comes from what Mr.---- says, which isn’t exactly the most reliable source. Second of all, we don’t know much about the history of the Mr.----, except for he currently lives in Manchester, which doesn’t help us judge whether or not he is telling the complete truth. Last, we don’t know how the parents feel about their children being forced to work at such a young age.
2.??? How could we verify the content of the piece?
a.??? The content of the piece can be verified through the constant reiteration of child labor during the 19th century, many books, articles and movies regarding this situation all show many similar points, the long work hours, the low wages, and the little children working day and night, nonstop. For example the article “Industrial Child Labor in Britain” by Dabin?Chung and Mr. Alexander?Ganse states that ‘Also, it was profitable for the owners to employ children, for they cost little compared to adult, male workers.’, ‘Many [child labors] started working as early as at the age of five and generally died before they were eighteen.’, ‘The child laborers were from poor working families who could not afford to feed themselves without the children contributing financially.’ and ‘The laborers usually worked for more than twelve hours without breaks.??Consequently, child laborers suffered lack of sleep and were more vulnerable to mistakes and injuries.’ These excerpts verify the content of the primary source.
3.??? Does this piece inaccurately reflect anything about the time period?
a.??? There is a minor detail about the family part of the story, although Mr.---- stated that ‘the poor are not afraid of having a family here, the parishes therefore have always plenty to apprentice, and we take them [children] as fast as they can supply us;’ however, according to multiple websites such as, http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/tuttle.labor.child.britain and http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist8.html families only sent out children, because they desperately needed money, disabling them to have a large family, since even with the children’s contribution to the family many families still were unable to sustain themselves.
4.??? What does the author leave out and why does he/she leave it out?
a.??? The author didn’t seem to purposely leave out any details about the conversation, except for the name of the Manchester gentlemen, and that was probably only because of privacy reasons.
5.??? What is purposely not addressed?
a.??? The only thing purposely not addressed literally in the dialogue is, as previously stated the Manchester gentlemen’s name.
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Reflection~
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