Industrialization The Good, Bad and Ugly

The Industrial Age in America: Sweatshops, Steel Mills, and Factories

Objective: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the students to the Industrial Revolution’s problem of child labor.

• Students will be able to describe advances in machinery during the Industrial Revolution 

• The students will be able to identify reasons for the use of child laborers during the 

Industrial Revolution 

• The students will be able to describe how child laborers lived during the Industrial 

Revolution 

Here's some neat ideas to engage your students as you introduce the topic:

**Desk lamp with burned out light bulb. Attempt to turn on lamp. “What is wrong?” Replace with working light bulb. Explain the invention of interchangeable parts.
- Industrial Revolution Lesson Plan (easy to read printable lesson plan)



A new era of mass production arose in the United States because of technological innovations, a favorable patent system, new forms of factory organization, an abundant supply of natural resources, and foreign investment. The labor force came from millions of immigrants from around the world seeking a better way of life, and aided a society that needed to massproduce consumer goods. The changes brought about by industrialization and immigration gave rise to the labor movement and the emergence of women's organizations advocating industrial reforms.
-America's History

Sweatshops and Child Labor

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here are the pictures by schoolteacher turned photographer activitist Lewis Hines. Read the descriptions, the children's ages to help your students better relate to the working conditions that existed in the age of Industrialization.

"After the Civil War, the availability of natural resources, new inventions, and a receptive market combined to fuel an industrial boom. The demand for labor grew, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many children were drawn into the labor force. Factory wages were so low that children often had to work to help support their families. The number of children under the age of 15 who worked in industrial jobs for wages climbed from 1.5 million in 1890 to 2 million in 1910.

 Businesses liked to hire children because they worked in unskilled jobs for lower wages than adults, and their small hands made them more adept at handling small parts and tools. Children were seen as part of the family economy. Immigrants and rural migrants often sent their children to work, or worked alongside them. However, child laborers barely experienced their youth. Going to school to prepare for a better future was an opportunity these underage workers rarely enjoyed. As children worked in industrial settings, they began to develop serious health problems. Many child laborers were underweight. Some suffered from stunted growth and curvature of the spine. They developed diseases related to their work environment, such as tuberculosis and bronchitis for those who worked in coal mines or cotton mills. They faced high accident rates due to physical and mental fatigue caused by hard work and long hours." - www.Archives.Gov

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SITE: The History Place. Featuring the original photo captions by Lewis W. Hine

After viewing the photos and reading their descriptions ...have each select one of the four roles: Factory Worker, Miner, Seafood & Farm Hand, or Newsboy. The students will then begin the WebQuest

Women and children were often abused in pay and work hours. Women like Jane Addams and Lillian  Wald decided to help them as well as they could. In 1889 Jane Addams opened the Hull House in Chicago. 

It was a place where immigrants could come to receive aid and learn what they could about how to survive  in America. A few years later, in 1895, Lillian Wald opened the Henry Street Settlement in New York, where  widows and the uneducated could come learn properly what rights they had and how to cook, sew, or even basic English lessons.