Working Conditions in the Industrial Revolution

Working conditions in the Industrial Revolution were awful. In both England and America, many people, including children, suffered from these horrible conditions. Whether these conditions were inevitable or not is a different question, but there is no disputing how terrible the workers had it in factories in both countries. Although there were differences in the two countries, hours became longer and longer as pay became smaller and smaller. It just gets worse from there.

First of all, food in the factories and mills was very bad. In addition to not being nutritious at all, it was distributed in very small amounts. It was full of fat and did not taste like food at all. Oatcake, boiled bacon, and potato pie were common dishes. If you thought they couldn't get worse, they do. Since the workers had no time to spend away from their stations, they had to eat their food at their workplaces, and often cotton or dirt would get blown into the food. There were very little amounts given to each worker because there were so many of them and the overseers were cheap. This caused fights and disputes over the little extra that was left.

Secondly, punishment was common in the workplace. Overseers were typically mean and horribly greedy, and if they didn't meet their quota, they would be punished. To prevent this, they made their inferiors work harder. The easiest way in their eyes was to punish them, and this was common. Common punishments in England included being beat and having your hair cut off, which was devastating for girls. In America, you were blacklisted and prevented from getting another job. Both of these punishments were common for children, because they were inexperienced and didn't usually work as fast.

Another horrible part of working in these factories and mills was deformities in workers. Working so long and hard can cause not only short term injuries, but also long term illnesses too. Standing for so long every day eventually led to many cases of knock knees. In addition to this, some workers lost the arches in their feet. Many cases of repetitive motion injuries were reported. In a couple extreme cases, workers were found to have no bone marrow, leaving very fragile and weak bodies.

Finally, the worst of all were workplace accidents. Many people died in horrible, gruesome accidents. Fast moving machinery could easily pull hair and people into it, and once you were in you weren't getting out. If you were lucky enough to survive, most times you wouldn't be for long. Limbs and hair were common losses, and the lack of medical attention caused many cases of bleeding out. Many kids, because of their small size and lack of strength, would get pulled into machines. The gears were relentless, and many died.

Working in conditions such as above would not be pleasant, to say the least. People dying and getting there bones crushed in machinery is not good, no matter the other conditions. Overseers would not change anything, and the industry only got worse because greed and power corrupted people. On whether England or America had it worse, England is the victor. There were more people, less food, and harsher punishments. I personally would never work in such a factory unless my life depended on it, but even then it is pretty gruesome. Working like that with very little food and extremely long work hours takes a toll on a person.