Child Labor in the Textile Industry in the Early Nineteenth Century

Child Labor in the Textile Industry in the Early Nineteenth Century

In article C the use of language and style indicate its origins as an

official document in many ways. In the title it states that it is an

'act', this is a term used for a legislative law that has been passed

by parliamentary. Further confirmation of this can be found by the use

of the words 'regulation', (control by rule) and 'enacted', (a law),

and in the final sentence it states that this is 'law'. The style of

writing is Old English and very formal this also indicates that it is

an official document. It is addressed to the 'Masters' who were the

owners of the cotton mills and factories and informed, them that they

would be 'fined' if they broke the 'law'. In 1819, the date of the

article, it would only have been the government that would have had

the power to enforce such a regulation and punishment for

non-compliance, confirming that this document would have originated

from an official source.

Each of the sources in A and B provide different views and

perspectives on children working in factories. The extracts were taken

from evidence given before a Select Committee in 1816 and a debate in

the House of Commons on the Factory Bill in 1818. This act was

concerned with the health of young people employed in the cotton mills

and factories and whether legislation was necessary for the protection

of those children. The extracts given confirm that the people

concerned all agreed on the necessity of children to work in the

factories. They did however disagree on many other issues including

whether the young age of the children and the number of hours worked

affecte...

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...uring. The reduction in the accepted age of a child worker,

the number of hours worked and compulsory food breaks were a step in

the right direction. However these improvements did not provide an

effective solution to the problem of child labour in the 19th century,

as many issues essential to the well being of children were not

addressed. These included a safe working environment that protected

the children from danger and provided them with necessary sanitary

provisions. Time off for holidays, with out requiring to pay back this

time and proprietors' often dictatorship attitudes and ill treatment

of children. Therefore 'The Factory Act of 1819' only provided a

starting point for tackling the problems associated with child labour,

effective long-term solutions would only be resolved with further

extensive legislation.