Factories, Labor, Laissez-faire
Global History and Geography II Name: ______
E. Napp Date: ______
Questions:
1: Who was Adam Smith?
______
2: What book did he publish in 1776?
______
3: According to Smith, why does the baker
bake bread?
______
4: According to Smith, what does every individual want? ______
5: According to Smith, why should government not intervene in the market? ______
6: What is Laissez-faire? ______
7: Smith believed that the principles of self-interest, competition, supply, and demand created an “invisible hand” that led to the most efficient use of resources which inevitably benefited the most people. How do you think these principles combined to benefit all people? ______
8: Do you agree with Smith that the government should not interfere in the market? Explain your answer but before you answer, consider this: Warning labels are on dangerous products because of government legislation and child labor laws are also a result of government intervention. ______
At the start of the Industrial Revolution, the ideas of Adam Smith were very popular. Entrepreneurs (people who combine resources, labor, and capital to create new businesses) did not want government officials to regulate their business activities. Instead, entrepreneurs wanted to increase production and efficiency to maximize profits. They wanted to make money. Frequently, in a drive to increase profits, capitalists (the owners of the factors of production) mistreated workers. Workers worked long hours for low wages in unsafe conditions. Children were even employed. Of course, Adam Smith did not address these issues. If the government did not intervene in the market, the mistreatment of workers and the exploitation of children would have continued.
The following excerpt has been adapted from victorianweb.org
“In 1832, Michael Sadler secured a parliamentary investigation of conditions in the textile factories and he sat as chairman on the committee. The evidence printed here is taken from the large body published in the committee's report and is representative rather than exceptional.”
The following interview occurred when a Ms. Elizabeth Bentley was called in and examined:
“What age are you? — Twenty-three.
Where do you live? — At Leeds.
What time did you begin to work at a factory? — When I was six years old…
What kind of mill is it? — Flax-mill.
What were your hours of labour in that mill? — From 5 in the morning till 9 at night, when they were thronged.
What time was allowed for your meals? — Forty minutes at noon.
Had you any time to get your breakfast or drinking? — No, we got it as we could.
And when your work was bad, you had hardly any time to eat it at all? — No; we were obliged to leave it or take it home, and when we did not take it, the overlooker took it, and gave it to his pigs…
Does that (the work) keep you constantly on your feet? — Yes, there are so many frames, and they run so quick.
Suppose you flagged a little, or were too late, what would they do? — Strap us.
Could you eat your food well in that factory? — No, indeed I had not much to eat, and the little I had I could not eat it, my appetite was so poor, and being covered with dust; and it was no use to take it home, I could not eat it, and the overlooker took it, and gave it to the pigs…
Did you live far from the mill? — Yes, two miles.
Had you a clock? — No, we had not.
Supposing you had not been in time enough in the morning at these mills, what would have been the consequence? — We should have been quartered.
What do you mean by that? — If we were a quarter of an hour too late, they would take off half an hour; we only got a penny an hour, and they would take a halfpenny more.
The fine was much more considerable than the loss of time? — Yes.
Were you also beaten for being too late? — No, I was never beaten myself, I have seen the boys beaten for being too late.
Questions:
1. What did capitalists want? ______
2. How did the goals of capitalists lead to the mistreatment of workers? ______
3. At what age did Elizabeth Bentley begin working? ______
4. List four examples of her mistreatment as a worker:
· ______
· ______
· ______
· ______
Submission from Manchester's Factory Children Committee sent to the House of Commons in 1836.
“We respect our masters, and are willing to work for our support, and that of our parents, but we want time for more rest, a little play, and to learn to read and write. We do not think it right that we should know nothing but work and suffering, from Monday morning to Saturday night, to make others rich. Do, good gentlemen, inquire carefully into our concern.”
Questions:
1. What did the children want? ______
2. What did the children experience? ______
Hannah Goode: "I work at Mr. Wilson's mill. I think the youngest child is about 7. I daresay there are 20 under 9 years. It is about half past five by our clock at home when we go in....We come out at seven by the mill. We never stop to take our meals, except at dinner. William Crookes is overlooker in our room. He is cross-tempered sometimes. He does not beat me; he beats the little children if they do not do their work right....I have sometimes seen the little children drop asleep or so, but not lately. If they are catched asleep they get the strap. They are always very tired at night....I can read a little; I can't write. I used to go to school before I went to the mill; I have since I am sixteen."
[Source; Factory Inquiry Commission, Great Britain, Parliamentary Papers, 1833. Found in Hellerstein, Hume & Offen, Victorian Women: A Documentary Accounts of Women's Lives in Nineteenth-Century England, France and the United States, Stanford University Press]
Questions:
1. Describe the treatment of the mill’s child laborers? ______
2. Why do the little children fall asleep? ______