“The Chimney Sweeper” from “Songs of Innocence” by William Blake features the difficult situation that common people were going through. The title of this poem shows that it is happening during The Romantic Period in the 1800’s whenever the kids were forced to do backbreaking labor. In the late 1700’s, prices increased sharply and work became scarce (“Chimney Sweeper Background” 541 ). The poem presents how a child was sold and what his life was after that day that will scar him for the rest of his life. This illustrates how children were abused and didn't have the chance to live their childhood. A report to the employment of child sweeps in 1817 noted that the climbing boys, as young as four were sold by their parents to master sweeps,
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Many children suffered from deformity of the spine, or contracted testicular cancer. The practice was not abolished until 1875, nearly 50 years after Blake’s death ( Blake and Lincoln 6 ). Not only are the sweeps innocent victims of the cruellest exploitation, but they are associated with the smoke of industrialisation. The things that the children had to do during this time was cruel because many things were taken away from them. Also being away from their families because their parents thought they were going to be living a better life. During this time period the children had no rights that could protect them from the situation that they were in. The buildings were heated by coal or wood burning fireplaces, so every house had at least one chimney that had to be cleaned regularly. Poor children were often used to do this dirty work because they could fit into the narrow chimney passages. Kids were often sold to “ masters” who managed crews of young sweepers. The work was dangerous and the children were badly treated by masters concerned only with profits. There were starving people rooting through garbage, homeless families sleeping in doorways and children begging on the streets or working at terrible jobs. Most people from the upper class believed that they deserved their comfortable stations in life and that the poor must be innately evil (“ Chimney Sweeper Background” 541
Many children suffered from deformity of the spine, or contracted testicular cancer. The practice was not abolished until 1875, nearly 50 years after Blake’s death ( Blake and Lincoln 6 ). Not only are the sweeps innocent victims of the cruellest exploitation, but they are associated with the smoke of industrialisation. The things that the children had to do during this time was cruel because many things were taken away from them. Also being away from their families because their parents thought they were going to be living a better life. During this time period the children had no rights that could protect them from the situation that they were in. The buildings were heated by coal or wood burning fireplaces, so every house had at least one chimney that had to be cleaned regularly. Poor children were often used to do this dirty work because they could fit into the narrow chimney passages. Kids were often sold to “ masters” who managed crews of young sweepers. The work was dangerous and the children were badly treated by masters concerned only with profits. There were starving people rooting through garbage, homeless families sleeping in doorways and children begging on the streets or working at terrible jobs. Most people from the upper class believed that they deserved their comfortable stations in life and that the poor must be innately evil (“ Chimney Sweeper Background” 541