The development of the cotton industry throughout the industrial revolution marked an extremely important time in history. It altered forever the way products are manufactured through mechanization, changed the labour process and its management through the capitalist created factory system, and affected monumental social changes for families and working people. One can only speculate the ways in which the industrial revolution would have changed the world we live in today without the development of the cotton industry in England because its effects were far reaching including the development and influence of “engineers, builders, chemists, bankers, financiers… workers ' houses, for gas (and later electric) lighting…the chemical industry…mining,
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Although many working class people had to overcome hardships, exploitation, unsafe living and working conditions, and a new way of life, with these trials came new social changes that would with time give voice to the many upon whose backs the cotton industry was formed and flourished. “The urbanisation of the cotton districts gave rise to an astonishing number of political, religious, educational and social movements, in which the working classes took an active and often a leading part.” (Aspin 31) In regards to health of the working class a critical report was written in 1784 which condemned the unsafe conditions of cotton factories such as the polluted air and the deteriorating health effects upon the workers. It was reports like these that lead to parliamentary inquiries which occurred between 1816 and the 1840s that revealed the deteriorating health effects on employees and mostly child workers. Specifically the Acts of 1802 and 1816 covered apprentices in cotton mills and mandated that they be educated in reading, writing and arithmetic for some portion of the work day. The Act of 1833 extended education to all children employed within textile mills. The 1844 Factory Act shortened the hours which all workers could be employed. In the 1846 Act, children employed within cotton prints were required to produce a certificate of full time attendance prior to employment. Extending education to factory children allowed them to work less hours in unsafe conditions in addition to gaining knowledge. Some of these acts came from religious influences because the thought of controlling these children who would one day be an uneducated burden on society by providing a Christian based education would make them better people. Regardless of the influence, education for children and removing them from harm for more hours throughout the day was an amazing social movement that came about throughout the
Although many working class people had to overcome hardships, exploitation, unsafe living and working conditions, and a new way of life, with these trials came new social changes that would with time give voice to the many upon whose backs the cotton industry was formed and flourished. “The urbanisation of the cotton districts gave rise to an astonishing number of political, religious, educational and social movements, in which the working classes took an active and often a leading part.” (Aspin 31) In regards to health of the working class a critical report was written in 1784 which condemned the unsafe conditions of cotton factories such as the polluted air and the deteriorating health effects upon the workers. It was reports like these that lead to parliamentary inquiries which occurred between 1816 and the 1840s that revealed the deteriorating health effects on employees and mostly child workers. Specifically the Acts of 1802 and 1816 covered apprentices in cotton mills and mandated that they be educated in reading, writing and arithmetic for some portion of the work day. The Act of 1833 extended education to all children employed within textile mills. The 1844 Factory Act shortened the hours which all workers could be employed. In the 1846 Act, children employed within cotton prints were required to produce a certificate of full time attendance prior to employment. Extending education to factory children allowed them to work less hours in unsafe conditions in addition to gaining knowledge. Some of these acts came from religious influences because the thought of controlling these children who would one day be an uneducated burden on society by providing a Christian based education would make them better people. Regardless of the influence, education for children and removing them from harm for more hours throughout the day was an amazing social movement that came about throughout the