During the Industrial Revolution, there were hundreds, even thousands of children sent off to work in factories as a majority of people were so poor, they could not get by on just the wages of two adults.
Cheap
A lot of factory owners employed children because they were cheap to keep. They were not paid much and had to work long hours operating heavy machinery which could sometimes result in accidents.
Small
Children were also employed because of how small they were. Their employers needed them to be small to fit in the gaps in the machinery to sort out certain things. They also took up less space and so, more could be working in a factory at once.
Health
During the Industrial Revolution, there was a lot of talk about the conditions children and people in general had to work under. The conditions were often tightly cramped and these terrible conditions caused many children to become crippled and deformed. Also, children were often worked to hard, given too long hours and beaten for not working well enough. These issues were occasionally brought to light by inspectors and newspaper articles.
Accidents
In factories, children would be expected to work heavy machinery which would usually cause them to become tired a lot. There would also, in a few cases, accidents. These accidents would often be caused by the heavy machinery and the horrendous health and safety regulations. These accidents could end in the brutal death of a child.
Cramped Conditions and Bad Treatment
In the factories, the children were expected to stand and work heavy machinery for long periods of time, without breaks. They would be given a bucket to share, for the toilet, and if that overflowed, then they would be expected to urinate where they stood. If the factory owner didn't believe a child to be working at a good enough standard, then the child would be punished as the owner saw fit.
The Fighting Temeraire
The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, 1838 is an oil painting by the English artist J. M. W. Turner. HMS Temeraire was one of the last second-rate ships of the line to have played a distinguished role in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. [more]
Liberty Leading the People
Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France. [more]
Ophelia
Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed between 1851 and 1852. It depicts Ophelia, a character from Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in Denmark. [more]
The Music Lesson
The Music Lesson or Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman by Jan Vermeer, is a painting of young female pupil receiving the titular music lesson. [more]
