Hey guys! It’s Mallory with jskstories.com and I’m here to help you see the stories in history. I teach you about historical moments so you can write about them in a way that’s fun and engaging, helping all of us to explore history at a deeper level, and discover and tell untold stories!
Historical Context
Today we are going to be talking about the Industrial Revolution in Britain- specifically, how child labor played a huge part in the industrial revolution and what was so upsetting about it.
I assume many of you have heard of the musical Newsies, a story about young orphan boys who sell newspapers on the streets to make enough money to eat.
The Industrial revolution was happening right around this time and the Newsies weren’t the only children working.
The workers we are going to talk about today are the children who were working in Cotton factories.
Other countries started mass producing cotton using new machines which were a huge part of the industrial revolution because they sped up the cotton making process A LOT.
Cotton is important because it’s used in many clothes and fabric.
Since this machine was so new and this entire thing was risky, people running the cotton factories wanted to keep costs as low as possible. They did that by cutting labor costs- pretty much entirely.
By using child workers they could pay them the bare minimum, grossly overworking them and mistreating them.
Not only that but the machines were extremely dangerous if not used properly. Many children were injured or died when using these machines.
Basically, it was not a good situation.
Luckily, the campaign against child labour began to take place when they realized there were regulations that needed to be put into place.
In 1883 the Factory Act was passed, which prohibited children younger than 9 years old from working in factories and limited the number of hours children between 9 and 13 can work.
Characters
So that’s a basic background of what was taking place at the time.
Now, let’s talk about characters.
There are not many children explicitly named throughout this period of history, so this is where YOU get to be creative.
You get to imagine people or characters that may have existed at the time, like the children working in the factories, their families, their friends.
If you feel like you need more help coming up with characters, I will link some other videos and insights from JSK stories in the description below!
Story Ideas
Let’s talk about story ideas.
You can go so many places with this.
Maybe you traditionally stick with a sad story, maybe about a boy named John who lost his friend Mary in a cotton machine accident.
Maybe you decide to write about the shenanigans that children had in the factory when they were supposed to be working. Perhaps they made jokes to one another to make the day more fun.
Or maybe it’s a story of revolution, kind of like Newsies. Maybe they have a boss who treats them poorly, so the children decide to band together and stand up to him.
You can go so many directions with this and I’m certain you have even more ideas than I do.
Writing Prompt
In case you are stuck on where to start, I’m going to give you a prompt to begin with. Basically, a writing prompt is just the start of a story. It gives you an idea, and you get to continue the story or finish it!
Here’s your prompt:
“John, an 8 year old boy, wakes up for a typical day working at the factory. Write about what takes place throughout his day.”
You can go anywhere with this! Maybe it’s a script, maybe it’s a short story, or maybe it’s a description that will spark your imagination for another scene or story. Let your imagination run wild!
Have an amazing week my friends. Send us what you come up with with the link in the description! We can’t wait to hear from you. See you later!
Additional Sources:
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/child-labour