Topics covered in Ms. Montague's Social Studies Class.
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Samuel Slater began the American
Industrial Revolution when he constructed the first successful textile mill in
Pawtucket in 1793.
| | The most far-reaching, influential transformation of human culture since the advent of agriculture eight or ten thousand years ago, was the industrial revolution of eighteenth century Europe. The consequences of this revolution would change irrevocably human labor, consumption, family structure, social structure, and even the very soul and thoughts of the individual. This revolution involved more than technology; to be sure, there had been industrial "revolutions" throughout European history and non-European history. |
The coal mines were dangerous
places where roofs sometimes caved in, explosions happened and workers
got all sorts of injuries. There were very few safety rules. Cutting and
moving coal which machines do nowadays was done by men, women and children.
The
younger children often worked as "trappers" who worked trap doors.
They sat in a hole hollowed out for them and held a string which was fastened
to the door. When they heard the coal wagons coming they had to open the
door by pulling a string. This job was one of the easiest down the mine
but it was very lonely and the place were they sat was usually damp and
draughty.
Older
children might be employed as "coal bearers" carrying loads of coal
on their backs in big baskets.
The Mines Act was
passed by the Government in 1842 forbidding the employment of women and
girls and all boys under the age of teen down mines. Later it became illegal
for a boy under 12 to work down a mine.
