Constructed-Response Practice Set 1

Document A: "The children begin work at five o'clock in the morning. They work without intermission until twelve o'clock noon. The interval allowed for dinner is half an hour. Work then begins again and ceases not until eight o'clock at night. Many children have been crippled by the unguarded machinery. They sleep where they can." Testimony before the British Parliament's Sadler Committee, 1832

Document B: "From and after the first day of January 1834, no child under the age of nine years shall be employed in any factory, except in silk mills. Children between the ages of nine and thirteen shall not be employed more than nine hours in any day." Factory Act of 1833

Question 1: Based on Document A, identify two working conditions endured by children in early nineteenth-century British factories.

Strong sample answer: "Children worked extremely long hours, beginning at five in the morning and ending at eight at night, with only a half-hour break for dinner. They also worked with unguarded machinery that crippled many of them."

Question 2: Based on Document B, identify two ways the Factory Act of 1833 changed conditions for child workers.

Strong sample answer: "The Factory Act of 1833 banned the employment of children under nine in most factories and limited the working hours of children aged nine to thirteen to nine hours per day."

Question 3: Using both documents and your knowledge of social studies, explain how testimony like that in Document A led to reforms like Document B.

Strong sample answer: "Parliamentary investigations like the Sadler Committee in Document A exposed the harsh conditions endured by child factory workers to the British public and to legislators. Public outcry and political pressure from reformers, including industrialists like Robert Owen who had demonstrated that humane factory conditions were possible, pushed Parliament to pass legislation like the 1833 Factory Act in Document B. This pattern, in which detailed exposure of abuses produced legislative reform, would continue throughout the nineteenth century, gradually improving conditions for workers and children."