Unsuitable Conditions in The American and England Mills, Which Was Worse?

          If you were promised a good life and fair pay, would you take the deal? Most people during the industrial revolution did, but they didn't know what was going to happen to them in the near future. There were mills in both America and England that became unsuitable for all of the workers. There were many dangerous things about the mills including the living conditions, the working conditions and the machines the workers used. Both England and American factories were awful places to work, but I believe the factories in England were worse.

     "We never stop to take our meals; this has gone on for six years". In the mills in England, the workers had barley any brakes and had to eat their meals during their work shifts. I believe the workers who had to be the children. “Infant mortality rate had reached 50%”. This quote helps explain how harsh the living conditions for children working in the mills were. The children had to work with dangerous machines and could have been pulled into them and killed. One girl named Hannah Goode wrote a testimony saying “he does not beat me; he beats the little children if they do not do their work right." What Hannah is saying in this quote is that the children get beat if they do not do their work efficiently and quickly. Sometimes the children were beat almost to death. If one of the children got caught escaping the mills, they would get locked in a dark room getting one meal a day for a few days. This could traumatize a kid for the rest of his life. The children that worked in the mills did not get an education. Hannah Goode also said that “I can read a little; I can't write. I used to go to school before I went to the mills." When the children left the mills around twenty two, how could they get good jobs if they didn't know how to read or write? The women who worked in the mills in England also had hard lives. The women had to live in and work in unsuitable conditions just like the children. The women had pay cuts and they worked the same amount of hours as they did before their pay cuts. The worst thing that happened to the women is if they got in trouble or did not follow to a strict code of ethical, moral and living behavior, they would get blacklisted. This means that if they got fired for any of those reasons, they would be put on a list and no other; mill would hire them for work. They would never be able to work in a mill again. The mills in England were a worse place to work than mills in America. 

            "The happiest he has passed in America". This is how Charles Dickens described the Lowell mills he saw in America. The mills in America weren't the nicest place to work, but the conditions were much better than the ones in England. The workers had more brakes and didn't have to eat their meals during their shifts. "The laws of the State forbid their working more than nine months of the year, and require that they be educated during the other three". This quote explains how it was mandatory for the children who worked in the mills in America had to go to school while the children in England didn't. The children were well fed, had clean cloths, and had good behavior. "I cannot recall one young face that gave a painful impression; not one young girl would I remove from the works if I had the power”. This quote explains how the children did not mind going to work every day. The most important thing about the children was that they were healthy. The women who worked in the mills got the same treatment as the children, good working and living conditions, plus a good pay. The mills in America wasn't the best place to work because it had it also had downfalls like workers being brutally killed by the machines. Even though that this happened, I still believe the conditions in the America mills were still better than the ones in England. 

          During the industrial revolution, families sent their children and family members to the mills because they needed the money to support the rest of their family. If families knew how bad the mills actually were, they would probably not send their family members there. All the mills were bad but I believe the ones in England were worse than the mills in America. Since the start of the industrial revolution, the mills in England had awful living and workers conditions. The food was awful and made many workers sick. The workers had barley any time to rest and got sick from working in the mills for so long. The machines were very dangerous and killed many workers. The children got no education and were badly beaten. The mills in America were a lot better than the conditions in England, but some workers would still get killed by the machines. The workers got fair wages, more brakes, and better living conditions. The children did not get beat and they also got an education. The mills in America were a much better, safer place to work than the mills in England.