Sanitation in the cities

1. Name _________________ The Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution Sanitation in the cities During the first decades of the 1800s, baths were virtually unknown in the poorer districts and uncommon anywhere. Most households of all economic classes still used pails. Sewers had flat bottoms, and because drains were made out of stone, seepage was considerable. Often times, sewage and human waste would surface on city streets because the sewers could not handle the ever increasing population and the human waste that accompanies it. There were instances when such waste would find its way into the water supply and cities would lose thousands of people would die due to cholera as they would drink the waste-polluted water. A political cartoon to the right depicts one of those cholera epidemics. Lastly, since there were not sanitation codes, many people would simply throw any garbage or waste out the windows and into the streets. Living Conditions Every great town has one or more slum areas into which the working classes are packed. Generally, the workers are segregated into separate sections within the cities and in alleys, and they struggle through life as best they can in the face of discrimination, disease, and hard labor. The average life expectancy for an average factory worker is between 30-40; therefore, many of these people marry young at the ages of 12-16 as their lives are half over by this time. Due to this low life expectancy, orphanages have sprung up throughout the great cities of Europe and America to serve the thousands of parentless children. Living Conditions continued Most factory workers or immigrants lived in cheap multi-family housing known as tenements. These would be like apartments today without the nice amenities and space. Families of 6, 8, or 10 would share one or two rooms. There would be a bathroom on the “hall” that perhaps 4 – 6 families would share. Mold and dust would eventually cover these rooms as they were not well lit and they were cheaply designed. When a virus or disease would start with one person, it would normally spread to many in the building because of the cramped living conditions. When fires would break out, whole buildings would go up in smoke and many would perish as these tenements were stacked one on top of the other and little attention was given to safety. Child Labor: Then and Now Between 20 – 40% of children in cities worked in factories or mines during the 1800s – early 1900s. The most obvious reason was to provide another source of income for the family, so they could pay their rent, buy food, or obtain medicine. Businesses also liked using child labor because they could pay them less than an adult; plus, they could reach into small spaces within machinery. The following information was published in 2009. 30 children aged 12 to 16 were hired to make metal washers at the facilityin Vietnam this year. Their work is often interrupted by the scream of a child who has been hit by metal pieces flying out of their machine or was struck by the machine after they feel asleep due to exhaustion. “We work from 6:30a.m. to 9p.m. a day while chasing after the speed of the machine,” a 12-year-old worker named Tsu at the factory said. “We have some spare time at noon and at 5:30p.m. to eat and for a drink made of tea and sugar before resuming our work.” The kids are forced to work ten to 14 hours a day without being given any education, many are over-exploited by their employers. Besides long hours at the job, the kids also receive no labor contract and little payment for their efforts.

2. Analysis Questions: The Negatives of the IR Name ______________ Directions: Using the sources sheet, answer the following questions fully and to the best of your ability Using the excerpts from The Jungle: • What was most surprising to you as you read these excerpts about the meat packing industry during the early 1900s? • What do you think was Upton Sinclair’s motive for writing The Jungle? • How do you think the public responded after reading this book? • Use the others sources to answer the following questions: • 4. What could sometimes be found on city streets? How would this happen? • 5. What is cholera and how does it spread? • 6. What are tenements? How many people live in them? What were their conditions like? • 7. After reading the information on “Living Conditions” and “Sanitation” explain why the life expectancy was so low for working class people in the city. • 8. Why was child labor used during the Industrial Revolution? • 9. Describe the conditions in Vietnam today of children in factories. • 10. After reading about these negative effects of industrialization, explain, in your opinion, what should be done to fix some of these conditions. Be detailed.

3. Name ______________ EQ: Negative Effects of the Industrial Revolution