Working Conditions

Early industrial labor was brutal. Maria should be ready to describe specific conditions when the test asks.

• Hours: 12 to 16 hours per day, six days per week. Sunday was the only day off, often required for church and household work.

• Wages: Subsistence-level wages, often barely enough to feed a family. Wages varied by gender (women earned less than men) and by age (children earned least).

• Safety: Machinery was unguarded. Workers lost fingers, hands, and lives. Coal mines had cave-ins and explosions. Textile factories were full of cotton dust that caused lung disease.

• Discipline: Workers were fined for talking, singing, looking out windows, being late, or making mistakes. Physical punishment was common.

• Air quality: Factories were poorly ventilated. Cotton dust, coal smoke, and chemical fumes caused respiratory disease.