Factories and urbanisation
Manchester, England ("Cottonopolis"), pictured in 1840, showing the mass of factory chimneys
Industrialisation led to the creation of the factory. Arguably the first highly mechanised was John Lombe's water-powered silk mill at Derby, operational by 1721. Lombe learned silk thread manufacturing by taking a job in Italy and acting as an industrial spy; however, since the silk industry there was a closely guarded secret, the state of the industry there is unknown. Because Lombe's factory was not successful and there was no follow through, the rise of the modern factory dates to somewhat later when cotton spinning was mechanised.
The factory system contributed to the growth of urban areas, as large numbers of workers migrated into the cities in search of work in the factories. Nowhere was this better illustrated than the mills and associated industries of Manchester, nicknamed "Cottonopolis", and the world's first industrial city.[81] Manchester experienced a six-times increase in its population between 1771 and 1831. Bradford grew by 50% every ten years between 1811 and 1851 and by 1851 only 50% of the population of Bradford was actually born there.[82]
For much of the 19th century, production was done in small mills, which were typically water-powered and built to serve local needs. Later, each factory would have its own steam engine and a chimney to give an efficient draft through its boiler.
The transition to industrialisation was not without difficulty. For example, a group of English workers known as Luddites formed to protest against industrialisation and sometimessabotaged factories.
In other industries the transition to factory production was not so divisive. Some industrialists themselves tried to improve factory and living conditions for their workers. One of the earliest such reformers was Robert Owen, known for his pioneering efforts in improving conditions for workers at the New Lanark mills, and often regarded as one of the key thinkers of the early socialist movement.
By 1746, an integrated brass mill was working at Warmley near Bristol. Raw material went in at one end, was smelted into brass and was turned into pans, pins, wire, and other goods. Housing was provided for workers on site. Josiah Wedgwood and Matthew Boulton (whose Soho Manufactory was completed in 1766) were other prominent early industrialists, who employed the factory system.
Child labour
A young "drawer" pulling a coal tub along a mine gallery.[83] In Britain laws passed in 1842 and 1844 improved mine working conditions.
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Wheaton Glass Works, November 1909. Photographed by Lewis Hine.
The Industrial Revolution led to a population increase but the chances of surviving childhood did not improve throughout the Industrial Revolution, although infant mortality rates were reduced markedly.[84][85] There was still limited opportunity for education and children were expected to work. Employers could pay a child less than an adult even though their productivity was comparable; there was no need for strength to operate an industrial machine, and since the industrial system was completely new, there were no experienced adult labourers. This made child labour the labour of choice for manufacturing in the early phases of the Industrial Revolution between the 18th and 19th centuries. In England and Scotland in 1788, two-thirds of the workers in 143 water-powered cotton mills were described as children.[86]
Child labour existed before the Industrial Revolution but with the increase in population and education it became more visible. Many children were forced to work in relatively bad conditions for much lower pay than their elders,[87] 10–20% of an adult male's wage.[88] Children as young as four were employed.[88] Beatings and long hours were common, with some child coal miners and hurriers working from 4 am until 5 pm.[88] Conditions were dangerous, with some children killed when they dozed off and fell into the path of the carts, while others died from gas explosions.[88] Many children developed lung cancer and other diseases and died before the age of 25.[88] Workhouses would sell orphans and abandoned children as "pauper apprentices", working without wages for board and lodging.[88] Those who ran away would be whipped and returned to their masters, with some mastersshackling them to prevent escape.[88] Children employed as mule scavengers by cotton mills would crawl under machinery to pick up cotton, working 14 hours a day, six days a week. Some lost hands or limbs, others were crushed under the machines, and some were decapitated.[88] Young girls worked at match factories, where phosphorus fumes would cause many to develop phossy jaw.[88] Children employed at glassworks were regularly burned and blinded, and those working at potteries were vulnerable to poisonous clay dust.[88]
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Reports were written detailing some of the abuses, particularly in the coal mines[89] and textile factories,[90] and these helped to popularise the children's plight. The public outcry, especially among the upper and middle classes, helped stir change in the young workers' welfare.
Politicians and the government tried to limit child labour by law but factory owners resisted; some felt that they were aiding the poor by giving their children money to buy food to avoid starvation, and others simply welcomed the cheap labour. In 1833 and 1844, the first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain: Children younger than nine were not allowed to work, children were not permitted to work at night, and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours. Factory inspectors supervised the execution of the law, however, their scarcity made enforcement difficult.[88] About ten years later, the employment of children and women in mining was forbidden. These laws decreased the number of child labourers, however child labour remained in Europe and the United States up to the 20th century.[91]
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