Stolen Childhood

For this project, we got into groups and each group had a different subject of industrialization that they had to analyze documents on and curate a museum exhibit on it. Our group had child labor as our subject. We had to analyze documents on child labor and observations of the Lowell mills. 

Analyzing the sources was a very important part of our exhibit. We were able to figure out what the conditions were and what child labor laws were in effect at the time. The Factory Act of 1833 prevented children under the age of 21 from working at night. In "Observations of Young Bobbin Girls", it was said that it was risky for young girls to work there without female supervision; however, parents had no choice but to send their girls. In the three pictures with placards, extremely young children are shown performing ridiculous and dangerous tasks like pulling carts underground, sometimes with leather belts around their waists. Finding out the age distribution of children in the cotton mills was interesting as well as important because we used that to decide on our title. The majority of children started work when they were under ten years old. They had no time to enjoy the things that kids should be doing at that age, like playing catch or spending time with their friends. I hope people understand how truly cruel children were treated and what they had to endure during the Industrial Revolution when they see our exhibit.

From one group, I learned that without slaves there would not have been any mass production during the Industrial Revolution. They were like a crew backstage during a play; the unseen players that were an important factor to industrialization. I learned that industrialization seriously impacted families from another group. With factories now mass producing with machines that outpaced families' production, they were forced to move closer to factories in order to have a source of income, which resulted in a population boom in London in the late 1800s to early 1900s. I also learned that transportation evolved drastically during the Industrial Revolution. Traveling by sea became easier with the introduction of the steam boat, and eventually transportation was available for use by everyday people. However, many people were forced to live in slums after over-industrialization caused a housing problem. Rivers were also polluted by the sudden addition of factory waste to them. Industrialization is an important part of where we are today, but it caused some serious issues during the Industrial Revolution.