Introduction
The Victorian era is often depicted as being one of the greatest periods in British history where the combination of a burgeoning industrial base and multiple colonial holdings resulted in an unprecedented level of wealth and affluence within Great Britain. However, as seen through books like Oliver Twist and recent games like Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, the Victorian Era was known to have a dark underbelly that resulted in numerous instances of what today is known as human rights violations with one of the most poignant examples being the abuses of children at the time.
Life for the Masses during the Victorian Era
While the upper class of society during this time period had estates in the countryside, opulent homes in London, and had pastimes like the London Season, the fact remains that this popular depiction of Victorian Era society was far from what the masses lived like at the time. While it is true that rapid industrialization and the creation of mass production resulted in many individuals receiving the opportunity to rise into new social classes, the fact remains that many of them had to settle for sub-par wages. This was due to a distinct lack of control by the government to apply the minimum wage standards that can be seen today. Many of the breadwinners at the time could barely make enough to feed themselves, let alone their families. This created the need for children to help support their parents and siblings by taking jobs at local factories where children as young as six years of age could find employment. However, the lack of government oversight combined with cheap labor and apathetic owners was a perfect recipe for disaster with an untold number of children during this era suffering and even at times dying due to negligence, if not outright abusive, labor practices.
Children and Coal Mining
Coal mining was a lucrative business during this period of time due to the sheer amount of coal reserves the UK had as well as the insatiable demand for coal from factories and the general population. Due to their small size and low wages, children were used extensively in coal mines for a wide variety of different jobs. Since they did not have the strength to actively mine coal, they were instead used to push carts, let air into the tunnels via wooden doors, and sorted coal into different bins. While these jobs may not seem to be overly difficult, what you need to understand is that the carts children pushed often weighed several hundred pounds, those responsible for letting in the air into the tunnels were forced to sit in the dark for hours alone with only the light of candles to keep them company and those sorting coal were expected to do so quickly or receive harsh punishments (Fletcher, 2014).
In fact, it was perfectly normal at the time for children to work 18-hour shifts in the coal mine with relatively few periods of rest in between. Another issue that became apparent after a few years was the constant inhalation of coal dust and its connection to respiratory problems. Due to constant exposure to free-floating coal dust, children who worked in the mines often developed respiratory issues that resulted in their early deaths. This was due to a lack of general understanding at the time regarding the need for proper protection. The end result was thousands of children dying due to a wide array of respiratory issues with these incidences being considered as “normal”.
Children in Factories
As mentioned earlier, children were employed in numerous factories during the Victorian Era for a wide array of different jobs, some of these jobs though, while appearing relatively benign in nature, were actually quite dangerous and often resulted in numerous instances of physical injury or even death. Children were a popular addition to many factories during the Victorian Era due to their relatively small size and nimble fingers. This enabled them to crawl into different spaces within a factory’s extensive array of machines in order to remove blockages, get fallen materials, or perform light maintenance by adding oil. While this may seem to be a relatively safe and normal job, children were required to perform these tasks while the machines were still activated.
The reason why this haphazard practice was in place was due to a drop in product output from the factories if the machines were turned off. This was unacceptable in the eyes of the factory owners resulting in the implementation of the practice of children being sent into the mechanisms of machines while they were still operating since they were supposedly small enough and nimble enough to not get caught by the moving parts. Unfortunately, there is a huge difference between conceiving a plan and its actual implementation. Literally, hundreds of children experienced cases where their hair or even arms and legs were ripped off by moving machine parts and many cases resulted in their outright deaths (Williams, 2014).
Children as Chimney Sweeps
The movie Mary Poppins glamorized the concept of being a Chimney Sweep when in reality the job was harsh, brutal, and sometimes caused the deaths of the children involved in it. Children were the favored workers for this type of job due to their relatively small size. However, the cramped confines of a chimney resulted in numerous instances of a child’s elbows and knees scraping along the side of the chimney resulting in the skin often being rubbed raw due to the constant up and down motion of the tether holding them in place. There was also the very real danger of them falling down the chimney or even getting stuck resulting in their deaths. Worst of all was the soot that they inhaled on a daily basis which manifested in long-term breathing ailments. In some cases, orphans were taken in by chimney sweep companies and underfed in order for them to fit into the chimneys. When they outgrew the job, they were subsequently tossed out of the company and left out in the streets.
Conclusion
While laws were eventually implemented in order to curtail the sheer amount of horrific deaths and accidents that occurred to children, they were severely lacking since they merely created an age requirement (10 years old) before children were allowed to work in the same jobs. This still resulted in the abuse of thousands of children during the Victorian Era with many members of the upper class being blissfully unaware that their wealth and stature were supported by the bodies and blood of children. Though some social groups did attempt to intervene, their actions were severely lacking when it came to actually causing sufficient change.
Reference List
Fletcher, A. (2014). Childhood and Child Labour in Industrial England: Diversity and Agency, 1750-1914 Child Workers and Industrial Health in Britain, 1780-1850. History, 99(337), 701-704.
Williams, S. (2014). Child Workers and Industrial Health in Britain, 1780-1850. Canadian Journal Of History, 49(3), 451-453.