Textile Mills: A Different Kind of Change
Imagine children as young as seven years old working long, excruciating hours in extremely harsh conditions, and getting paid next to nothing. Child labor was just one of the many problems in textile mills during the industrial revolution, and much of the problems within the factories also leaked out into the surrounding world.
The conditions inside the textile mills were pitiful; small particles of cotton and wool fibers would float through the air, making it extremely difficult to breath. Respiratory diseases and deaths were very common in these mills, and children were largely at risk. The textile mills of the 18-1900s not only impacted the physical geography of the North by taking up large stretches of land and producing harmful pollution, but also destroyed some of the social geography of the nation. Social geography in terms of a plummet in safety and health in the workplace and a boom in industrialization and corporate greed. Also, many children lost their futures to these mills simply to help pay bills and put food on the table. In one Rhode Island mill, 55% of workers were children by 1830. This meant that these children were not getting an education, therefore weakening the progress towards a better, cleaner future. Of course, child labor laws were soon passed, and children were sent back to school.
The conditions inside the textile mills were pitiful; small particles of cotton and wool fibers would float through the air, making it extremely difficult to breath. Respiratory diseases and deaths were very common in these mills, and children were largely at risk. The textile mills of the 18-1900s not only impacted the physical geography of the North by taking up large stretches of land and producing harmful pollution, but also destroyed some of the social geography of the nation. Social geography in terms of a plummet in safety and health in the workplace and a boom in industrialization and corporate greed. Also, many children lost their futures to these mills simply to help pay bills and put food on the table. In one Rhode Island mill, 55% of workers were children by 1830. This meant that these children were not getting an education, therefore weakening the progress towards a better, cleaner future. Of course, child labor laws were soon passed, and children were sent back to school.