Mr. Booth S Industrial Revolution Web Quest

Name______

Mr. Booth’s Industrial Revolution Web Quest To earn credit you must have each question completed properly for credit. Print this out when you are done and bring it to class tomorrow for credit.

Introduction The Industrial Revolution brought about many changes in everyday life. One of the first industries to feel the effects from the revolution was the textile industry. Textile is another word for clothing. Until this point, people mostly wore clothes made of wool. The invention of the Spinning Jenny allowed cotton to be spun at high speeds. This allowed for large amounts of cotton to be produced.

Directions: Now, go to http://spartacus-educational.com/Textiles.htm. Scroll down and click on the “Spinning Jenny” under Textile Inventions.

1.) Who invented the Spinning Jenny and what was the purpose of the invention? Describe in detail.

2.) By turning a single wheel, the operator could spin how many threads at once?

3.) By the time the James Hargreaves died, about how many Spinning Jenny’s were being used in Britain?

Next, click the back button to return to the main menu. Click on the link that says “Working Hours” under “Life in a Textile Factory.”

When the Industrial Revolution first began so many people began to work in factories that the government was not ready for the cruelties that came with it. So there were no labor laws that outlined working hours or conditions for the workers. Managers and bosses were able to do anything that they wanted. Here are some true accounts of what life was like in those factories.

4.) During the Industrial Revolution how many hours a day did Michael Sadler discover young children were working?

5.) What did Frank Forrest say the managers did with the clocks in the factories?

Click the back button to return to the main menu. Click on the link that is labeled “Punishments” under “Life in a Textile Factory.”

As you have seen life in the factories during the Industrial Revolution was especially hard . . . especially for the children. If a worker was to make the slightest mistake they would be severely punished. As you read, imagine yourself stuck working at one these factories. Is school such a bad option after all?

6.) Explain in detail what was usually done in the factories to make the children work faster?

7.) What did Edward Baines say sometimes happened to the children by the spinners or overlookers? What happened to them when they grew older? 8.) What did Samuel Davy say about the young women in the factories?

Perhaps no greater invention was more important during the Industrial Revolution than the steam engine. With the invention of the steam engine, mechanics were able to improve many aspects of everyday life. Transportation and factories would benefit most from the steam engine.

Go back to the main menu and click on “Food in the Factory.”

9. Explain what Sarah Carpenter said meals were like where she worked:

10. What did Robert Blincoe say about the food at St. Pancras workhouse?

Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bns6aKfrIjA The title of this video is called “How the Cotton Gin Changed America.”

11. What was the whole purpose of the cotton gin?.How much cotton could the Cotton Gin (engine) produce a day?

12. Why didn’t this invention make Whitney rich?

Go back to the main menu. Click on Titus Salt under “Textile Entrepreneurs.”

13. Titus Salt ran one of the most prosperous textile companies in Bradford, England. Titus Salt had the factory’s sewage dumped in the Beck River. Why did this create such a problem for the workers in his factory?

14. What was one disease his workers obtained from this? Explain what the disease does the human body.

Disease # 1 ______ Effect on human body (go to Wikipedia) ______

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15. Describe the steps that Titus Salt took to make his factories healthier for the workers and people that lived near his textile mills.

NEXT PAGE Now, you will be reading Primary Source Documents on Factory Life The Central Historical Question Is: Were textile factories bad for the health of English workers?

Document A: Dr. Ward 16. What does Dr. Ward mean when he refers to factories as “centers of disease and vice?”

17. What evidence does Dr. Ward use to back his claim that factories were unhealthy and unsafe for children?

Document B: Dr. Holme 18. What evidence does Dr. Holme use to back his claim about the health of children in factories? Do you think this is convincing advice?

19. Why might it matter that Mr. Pooley asked Dr. Holme to examine the children at his factory?

20. Which document do you think is more trustworthy? Why?

Document C: John Birley

21. Which document does this account closely match (A or B)? How?

22. Why did Birley not tell the truth about life working in the factory to inspectors?

Document D: Edward Baines 23. What does he mean in the second paragraph when he states “abuse is the exception, not the rule?”

24. Who do you think is more trustworth, Birley or Baines? Why?

25. Now write 3 sentences determining if factories were bad for the health of the workers. Use evidence from the documents to support your claims.