Victorian Britain: Industrial Nation

Victorian Britain: Industrial Nation

What were children doing during the mid-1800’s in England? Were their lives similar to children’s lives today? How can primary sources help us know? Help guide your students to answer these questions as they investigate several primary sources from the United Kingdom’s National Archives. Through six modules of primary sources, students will have the opportunity to learn different views of the use of child labor in some of United Kingdom’s coal mines back in 1842. Students will read newspaper clippings, observe illustrations, and read first-person accounts from children who worked inside of some of Great Britain’s coal mines. Death records, accident reports, and letters from workers and investigators are also part of the multi-tiered study. Teaches can use this site alone with students or as a way to find parallels to the overuse of child labor in early 1900’s America.

courtesy of Knovation