Ponderin' The Past...In The Industrial Revolution!

As I was reading the book "A Fragile Design" by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller, I became very curious about the Industrial Revolution, as it was a time frame I knew very little about.
From what I have been able to learn, the Industrial Revolution in America took place from 1876 – 1900. What's known as the first Industrial Revolution took place in 1750 through 1830 in Great Britain.


An Industrial Revolution takes place when a large amount of farmers and people who work and live in the country leave to work in factories and live in the city. This can be both good and bad. More goods are able to be made with people working at the mills and factories, but it also brought crowded citys, pollution, and child labor issues.
Many thought they were coming to a wonderful new job and life, but a lot of people's hopes were dashed when they arrived and saw that it was not as grand as it was made out. You were expected to work long doing very hard work with little pay. Many children never received any education because their family needed the income from their work to live.


It was really neat to read about Arabella Newberry and her life in this timeline. She herself worked at a mill in the book and it was very interesting to read all about life in that time. Not only do you get to learn a lot about the Industrial Revolution, but Arabella, before she moved to the city, was a Shaker and it was interesting to learn a bit about their culture in the book also. If you like history, romance, and drama all rolled into one gripping book, I'd encourage you to get "A Fragile Design (Bells of Lowell Series #2)!
Category: 5 comments

5 comments:

Katie Marie said...

I havent read much about this time period, but I have been intrigued by this before. I can't imagine having children working on such big machines! Just look at that little girl in the photo - how sad! :-(

Very informative post!

~ Katy

Renee said...

I love the great old photos you found for this post. As an English teacher in a Christian high school, I'm always encouraged by the thought you put in all of your reviews and discussions--even though I don't always comment. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Katy: Yes the fact that child labor was so popular in the time period, and even the present day in some countries, is heart-breaking. That picture stood out to me for just that reason; the girl's solemn facial expression spoke of what the children went through while working in those large mills. Obviously it was not a pleasent place to work. I noticed while looking for pictures to go with my post that there were no pictures with anyone smiling or even a hint of happiness on their face. Coincidcense? or just an affirmation that those times weren't enjoyable ones?

Renee: Thank you! After seeing those pictures, I knew that they needed to be added to our post. They really make it easier to see how life was back then.
Once again, thanks! That is one of our main goals here at Book Ponderings. We always are making sure to do a post to it's fullest, which does require a lot of thought! Thanks for the encouragment!


-Kait

Hidayah Hamid said...

Thank you for posting this!

Anonymous said...

I'm doing a picture project. These pics worked well, and I needed captions. Thanks for the info!(:

- Jennifer

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Photo credit: Lori Warman