Child Labour in 19th Century England

For our presentation we have chosen to do it on Child Labour in England during the 19th century. Within this post we are going to present our interpretation on the poem "The Steam Loom Weaver" and also share with you a video that summarizes child labour during the Industrial Revolution in England.

This is our interpretation of the poem “The Steam Loom Weaver” (c. 1830) (author Unknown)

This poem seems to be a lot more upbeat and happier when regarding the working world of England in the 19th century. The speakers talks about the loom being out of order like it is just another general problem and does not seem to worried about the consequences of not working when things are broken. Like we heard from Elizabeth Bentley when she was talking about her working life, if you did not do your job fast enough or did not do it to the level that your boss wanted it then you were given the strap and that really hurt. The speaker does not seem to concerned and a lot happier then what would be expected from workers of mills in England in the 19ht century.

In the video mentioned below, they mention that when a machine breaks that it is not time off but time that will be added to your shift. Unlike in the poem where it seems like it is a time to relax and to take a break, in reality when a machine broke down you would have wanted to fix it as fast as possible and then get back to work going as fast as you could to make up for the time lost.

This clip summarizes the beginnings of child labour during the Industrial Revolution in England.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgu61a_victorian-child-labour_lifestyle

This is brought to you by Jonathan and Chris! Thank you!

"Victorian Child labour." Flog It!. 2001. Daily Motion. Web. Transcript. 3 Feb.
2011. xgu61a_victorian-child-labour_lifestyle>.

"The Steam Loom Weaver." 2007. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature:
Concise Edition. Vol. B. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2008. 572.
Print.

Child Abuse in Jane Eyre

Laura McReynolds

For my side of the presentation, I’ve been studying the instances of child abuse in Jane Eyre and how this instances are important in the development of Jane’s character and the progression of the novel. What is particularly interesting about the display of child abuse in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is the combination of physical and emotional abuse, and how it is very apparent that this abuse is rooted in social status. Jane, the orphan of a poor couple, is abused at home and school, while her wealthy cousins enjoy luxury. Helen and the other girls at Lowood share similar stories – all students having lost a parent, if not both, and all are abused, particularly through their lack of nutrition at Lowood. It is interesting to see the stark difference between the lower class abuse and the high class’ lack thereof.

Jane’s triumphs in this novel are made all the more extraordinary when considering the feats she faced as a child and how she made a life for herself independently. The instances of child abuse are important to the novel’s progression because they make a social and economic commentary on the time, but also provide Jane with depth of emotion and a ferocity that she would not have attained otherwise. It is the unpleasantness we experience when we imagine ourselves in Jane’s shoes that makes the novel so captivating.

The 1983 BBC adaption of Jane Eyre does a great job capturing the abuses Jane experienced as well as providing insight into her thoughts, which develop her character throughout the novel as well.

Some instances of the abuse can be watched in the following clips:

Jane Eyre 1983 Episode 1 (Part 1/3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThlLlkv2GTE

John hits Jane: 2:22-2:34

Jane is locked in the room that Mr. Reed died in: 4:40-6:00

Jane Eyre 1983 Episode 2 (Part 2/3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5FRgRXm1A&feature=related

Mr. Brocklehurst demoralizes Jane: 4:16-6:40

Child Labour Presentation

By: Victoria Burleigh

My half of the presentation was to provide general information about labour in Britain in the 19^th century. For my blog entry, I chose to inform you all of the current child labour around the world. The objective of this is to show you that the laws pertaining to inhumane labour has not improved excessively, or rather the actions taken to ensure the regulations are followed are not substantial.

Currently child labour is considered a violation of human rights and is illegal, according to wealthier countries; however some undeveloped countries around the world do allow, or tolerate child labour. Most commonly we consider child labour to be in countries far away from our Western world. Unexpectedly, I found an article concerning child labour in China, supposedly a very wealthy country.

In 2005 Megan Grau wrote an article concerning child slave labour in China. The International Labour Organization (ILO), which is an organization responsible for supervising international labour standards, estimated that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries. Among these numbers 61 percent are in Asia. Despite the current regulations against child labour, it is a current issue in China.

These children are forced to work in sweatshops, with extreme exploitation, meaning they are used for merely selfish, profitable ends. These conditions include the lack of accessible living, extreme discipline and inhumane working conditions. The wages they are forced to live on do not pay for their forlorn living expenses, therefore these children and their families are forced to reside in a never-ending nightmare of a cycle.

Grau explains that child labour is rapidly increasing, specifically around Hong Kong. The reasons for this is the massive amount of drop outs and expansions of foreign investment in the export driven enterprises; however there is evidence that school children are being exploited. The workforce in China for young children involves export industries such as garments, textiles, fireworks and toys. Yet, it seems that child labour does not happen anywhere near us, but you would be surprised.

In 2009, campaigners in the UK accused H & M and Zara retail businesses of using cotton suppliers in Bangladesh. Also, many of their raw materials originated from Uzbekistan, where children at the age of 10 are forced to work in the fields.

Even closer to home, in 2008 Commissioner David Neil found a meatpacking company in Postville, Iowa that had recently been investigated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This company had actually employed 57 minors, some as young as 14, in violation of the state law prohibiting anyone under 18 from working in a meatpacking plant.

The main objection of this blog entry is to show you guys that child labour is still happening around the world, even as close as the country right next to us. Although it seems like it is not affecting us as we are not directly involved, it does have a very serious global effect.

I’ve also included a link for youtube. It is basically a slide show of pictures that will show you the extent of child labour. Hope you guys like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJVPJDOYyCc&feature=related

Work Cited

Grau, Megan. “Child Slave Labor in China.” Ihscslnews.org. N.p. May 2005. Web. February
2011.

About the ILO. Ilo.org. N.P. 2011. Web. February 2011.

Child Labour. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. N.p. January 28, 2011. Web. February 2011.