Life in industrial cities, child labor and the reforms that followed

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to E. Card A, a list in date order, a summary in our words, written today (from UK Parliament): 1790s, Parliament outlaws unions under the Combination Acts. 1831, an Act limits the working day to 12 hours for those under 18. 1833, the Factory Act bans factory work under nine, sets a 48-hour week for ages 9 to 13 with two hours of school a day, and creates four inspectors for about 4,000 mills; campaigners had compared mill workers' treatment with slavery and pressed for shorter hours, and inquiries had reported mistreatment of children. 1834, six farm workers of a friendly society are sentenced to seven years' transportation for campaigning peacefully for better wages, and are later pardoned after a public outcry. 1842, Chadwick's report uses statistics to show differences in life expectancy by class and place. 1871, unions are recognized in law. Card B, Reading X (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because campaigners and inquiries showed the public what factory life was like, and lawmakers answered public opinion. Card C, Reading Y (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because working people organized themselves in unions and societies and kept pressing their demands, even when they were punished. Card D, Reading Z (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because lawmakers decided that healthier, schooled workers served the nation. Card E, figures from Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report, average age at death, as reproduced in a modern journal table and a classroom table: Manchester: professional and gentry 38, tradesmen 20, labourers 17. Rutland: professional and gentry 52, tradesmen 41, labourers 38. and a note in our words, written today (from the historian James Hanley, Medical History, 2002): Statisticians such as William Farr pointed out soon after the report that average age at death is a flawed index of life expectancy, because it is based on deaths alone.

2. 1.

   Card E gives Chadwick's table, and also a note that his measure was flawed. How should a historian use the table, Ari asks?

   • Reject it, since a flawed measure gives no evidence
   • As evidence of gaps by class and place, not as a measure of life expectancy
   • Use just the Manchester figures, since they show the hardest case and the clearest pattern
   • Accept it as life expectancy, since Chadwick was a leading government official at the time
3. 2.

   Readings X (public opinion) and Y (worker organizing) both fit Card A. Can both be partly right, Bo asks?

   • Yes: both are fully right, since each fact on Card A supports one of them, so nothing needs ranking
   • No: Card A is a list of dates, so it cannot be used to compare causes in any way
   • Yes: public pressure and worker organizing could each push lawmakers
   • No: each reading names its own main cause, so just one of the two can be right, and the facts decide

4. Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, a chart in our words, written today (from UK Parliament, Living Heritage): The 1833 Factory Act, group by group. Children under nine: banned from factory work. Children aged 9 to 13: a 48-hour week, and two hours of school a day. Young people aged 13 to 18: up to 12 hours a day. Inspectors: four inspectors for about 4,000 mills, so the Act was widely evaded. Before it, an 1831 Act had limited the working day to 12 hours for those under 18. Card B, an invented letter from a mill owner, written for this sheet (not a real person), 1833: "The new law will bring ruin to my mill. There are few inspectors, and not one has yet been seen in our valley." Card C, a summary in our words, written today (from UK Parliament): Parliament outlawed unions under the Combination Acts in the 1790s. In 1834 six members of George Loveless's friendly society of farm workers, who were campaigning peacefully for better wages, were prosecuted and sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. They were later pardoned after a public outcry. Unions were recognized in law in 1871. Card D, figures from Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report, average age at death, as reproduced in a modern journal table and a classroom table: Manchester: professional and gentry 38, tradesmen 20, labourers 17. Rutland: professional and gentry 52, tradesmen 41, labourers 38. and a note in our words, written today (from the historian James Hanley, Medical History, 2002): Statisticians such as William Farr pointed out soon after the report that average age at death is a flawed index of life expectancy, because it is based on deaths alone.

5. 3.

   Card C says the six men were pardoned after an outcry; Card A says the Act was widely evaded. A student says law was weak in the 1830s. What is the fair reply, Esme asks?

   • The student is right, since a pardon shows the law was a failure and a widely evaded Act confirms it
   • Both show limits, but two examples do not show how weak the law was overall
   • The student is wrong, since an Act with inspectors was strong
   • The student is right, since both cards come from Parliament and Parliament was weak

6. Use this

   Cards A to E. Card A, a list in date order, a summary in our words, written today (from UK Parliament): 1790s, Parliament outlaws unions under the Combination Acts. 1831, an Act limits the working day to 12 hours for those under 18. 1833, the Factory Act bans factory work under nine, sets a 48-hour week for ages 9 to 13 with two hours of school a day, and creates four inspectors for about 4,000 mills; campaigners had compared mill workers' treatment with slavery and pressed for shorter hours, and inquiries had reported mistreatment of children. 1834, six farm workers of a friendly society are sentenced to seven years' transportation for campaigning peacefully for better wages, and are later pardoned after a public outcry. 1842, Chadwick's report uses statistics to show differences in life expectancy by class and place. 1871, unions are recognized in law. Card B, Reading X (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because campaigners and inquiries showed the public what factory life was like, and lawmakers answered public opinion. Card C, Reading Y (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because working people organized themselves in unions and societies and kept pressing their demands, even when they were punished. Card D, Reading Z (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because lawmakers decided that healthier, schooled workers served the nation. Card E, figures from Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report, average age at death, as reproduced in a modern journal table and a classroom table: Manchester: professional and gentry 38, tradesmen 20, labourers 17. Rutland: professional and gentry 52, tradesmen 41, labourers 38. and a note in our words, written today (from the historian James Hanley, Medical History, 2002): Statisticians such as William Farr pointed out soon after the report that average age at death is a flawed index of life expectancy, because it is based on deaths alone.

7. 4.

   Which fact on Card A supports Reading Z (healthier, schooled workers) over Readings X and Y, Jun asks?

   • Unions were recognized in law in 1871, after decades of pressure from workers
   • The six farm workers were pardoned after a public outcry against their sentence
   • The 1833 Act required two hours of school a day for children aged 9 to 13
   • Campaigners compared mill workers' treatment with slavery and pressed for shorter hours
8. 5.

   Which evidence would best test Reading Y, that organized workers pressed reform, Luz asks?

   • Chadwick's table of average ages at death, since poor health would have driven workers
   • Records of what workers' groups demanded and whether lawmakers answered those demands
   • A count of mills in 1833, since more mills would mean more workers pressing for change
   • Another modern summary that agrees with Reading Y, since agreement shows it is right

9. Use this

   Cards A to D. Card A, a chart in our words, written today (from UK Parliament, Living Heritage): The 1833 Factory Act, group by group. Children under nine: banned from factory work. Children aged 9 to 13: a 48-hour week, and two hours of school a day. Young people aged 13 to 18: up to 12 hours a day. Inspectors: four inspectors for about 4,000 mills, so the Act was widely evaded. Before it, an 1831 Act had limited the working day to 12 hours for those under 18. Card B, an invented letter from a mill owner, written for this sheet (not a real person), 1833: "The new law will bring ruin to my mill. There are few inspectors, and not one has yet been seen in our valley." Card C, a summary in our words, written today (from UK Parliament): Parliament outlawed unions under the Combination Acts in the 1790s. In 1834 six members of George Loveless's friendly society of farm workers, who were campaigning peacefully for better wages, were prosecuted and sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. They were later pardoned after a public outcry. Unions were recognized in law in 1871. Card D, figures from Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report, average age at death, as reproduced in a modern journal table and a classroom table: Manchester: professional and gentry 38, tradesmen 20, labourers 17. Rutland: professional and gentry 52, tradesmen 41, labourers 38. and a note in our words, written today (from the historian James Hanley, Medical History, 2002): Statisticians such as William Farr pointed out soon after the report that average age at death is a flawed index of life expectancy, because it is based on deaths alone.

10. 6.

    A student claims: "The 1833 Act worked." What do Cards A and B allow, Milo asks?

    • Not shown: Card A gives the rules and weak enforcement, Card B one owner's view
    • The claim is wrong, since it was widely evaded, so no mill followed it in any way
    • The claim is right, since the owner says it will bring ruin and owners know their mills
    • The claim is right, since the Act banned work under nine
11. 7.

    A student claims: "Public outcry freed the six men, so public opinion beat the government." What does Card C allow, Pia asks?

    • The claim is false, since the men stayed punished until unions were recognized in 1871
    • The claim is proved, since the card says they were pardoned after a public outcry
    • The pardon followed an outcry, but the card does not show the outcry caused it
    • The claim is true for them but nothing else follows
12. 8.

    Card B is an invented owner's letter saying the law will bring ruin. What can it show, Ren asks?

    • That most mills faced ruin
    • One owner's fear and argument, written to resist the law, not the law's real cost
    • The real cost of the law to mills, since an owner knows his own mill well and would not guess his costs
    • That inspectors had visited the valley, since the owner mentions them in his letter

13. Use this

    Cards A to E. Card A, a list in date order, a summary in our words, written today (from UK Parliament): 1790s, Parliament outlaws unions under the Combination Acts. 1831, an Act limits the working day to 12 hours for those under 18. 1833, the Factory Act bans factory work under nine, sets a 48-hour week for ages 9 to 13 with two hours of school a day, and creates four inspectors for about 4,000 mills; campaigners had compared mill workers' treatment with slavery and pressed for shorter hours, and inquiries had reported mistreatment of children. 1834, six farm workers of a friendly society are sentenced to seven years' transportation for campaigning peacefully for better wages, and are later pardoned after a public outcry. 1842, Chadwick's report uses statistics to show differences in life expectancy by class and place. 1871, unions are recognized in law. Card B, Reading X (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because campaigners and inquiries showed the public what factory life was like, and lawmakers answered public opinion. Card C, Reading Y (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because working people organized themselves in unions and societies and kept pressing their demands, even when they were punished. Card D, Reading Z (invented for this sheet, not a historian's words): Reform came mainly because lawmakers decided that healthier, schooled workers served the nation. Card E, figures from Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report, average age at death, as reproduced in a modern journal table and a classroom table: Manchester: professional and gentry 38, tradesmen 20, labourers 17. Rutland: professional and gentry 52, tradesmen 41, labourers 38. and a note in our words, written today (from the historian James Hanley, Medical History, 2002): Statisticians such as William Farr pointed out soon after the report that average age at death is a flawed index of life expectancy, because it is based on deaths alone.

14. 9.

    Card A runs from the 1790s to 1871. What is a fair statement about change and continuity, Tala asks?

    • Nothing changed until 1871, since unions were not recognized earlier than that and workers had no other way to win change
    • Everything changed in 1833
    • Enforcement became strong in 1833, since inspectors were created to visit the mills each year
    • Laws and reports changed in stages over eighty years, while enforcement stayed weak in 1833
15. 10.

    Looking at Cards A and E, what is the strongest limit on claims about how mill workers lived, Zee asks?

    • The table is invented, so no fact on the cards can be used
    • They are laws, summaries and one flawed table; workers' own accounts are missing
    • The cards agree on each cause of reform, so nothing about the cause of reform is uncertain
    • The cards cover too few years, since 1790 to 1871 is a short span for such large changes in working life