Ms. McBrides’ WebQuest

Columbus High School

WOMEN AND THE INDUSTRIALIZATION

of 18th and 19th Century England

 


 


Introduction                                                                                          

 

In the nineteenth century, when the Women's Rights Movement was born, women were essentially treated as second-class citizens throughout the world.  Women were prohibited employment in professions that men traditionally held. Gender was one of the universal dimensions on which status differences were based in 18th and 19th century England. Women were not always treated fairly or paid equitable to men. Today, women have taken over the workforce in most of the world. The jingle, “You’ve come a long way baby”, has never been more true. However, it wasn’t always so. Take a look at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in England. The Industrial Revolution in part was fueled by the economic necessity of many women, single and married, to find waged work outside of their homes. Women mostly found jobs in domestic service, textile factories, and work shops. They also worked in the coal mines. For some, the Industrial Revolution provided independent wages, mobility and a better standard of living. For the majority, however, factory work in the early years of the 19th century resulted in a life of hardship. Women weren’t hired because they had a good education, or because the men were off to war.  The real reasons will be part of your task to discover.

PROBLEM:  How did the employment of women in the factories of England during the Industrial Revolution affect British society?

 

 

TASK                                         

(1) As a historian and policy analyst your goal or objective would be to determine how the employment of women in the factories of England during the Industrial Revolution produced many social, political and economic problems which led to many changes in British society and public policy during this period.

(2) You will be responsible, along with your group, to write an oral presentation and group term paper using the Global Studies Public Policy Analyst.  You will complete the following steps:

 

 

PROCESS                                                  

·        You will be randomly assigned to be a member of a group of four. Your group will be responsible for a 5-10 minute oral presentation and group term paper.  You may include pictures, props, graphs, etc. to enhance your presentation. The term paper must be typed, double spaced and include bibliography.

 

·        The Topic of your presentation will be to evaluate the how the employment of women in factories of England during the Industrial Revolution affected British social conditions.

 

·        Each group will be responsible for completing the five page Public Policy Analysis worksheets before writing your term paper (click below).

·        Global History Public Policy Analyst Steps

1.     Identify Problem

2.     Gather the Evidence

3.     Determine Causes

4.     Evaluate the Policy

                 Identify Problem           Determine Causes       Do a Comparative Analysis 

                 WORKSHEET 1           WORKSHEET 3      WORKSHEET 5                      

 

                

               Gather the Evidence       Evaluate the Policy

                 WORKSHEET 2           WORKSHEET 4        

 

·        QUESTIONS-

 

As you are researching find the answers to the following questions:

 

Which laws governed whether women could work prior to industrialization?

 

Why did employers decide to hire women for the new industrial work force?

 

What kinds of problems were created for women who went to work in the factories?

 

Were middle-class women affected by the changes from the industrial revolution? Explain.

 

Did the British government support the changes brought about by the industrial revolution?

 

Does change make society better for everyone? Discuss the reforms, if any, that were for better or for worse.

 

 

EVALUATION                                      

 YOUR GROUP ORAL PRESENTATION AND TERM PAPER WILL BE EVALUATED USING THE FOLLOWING RUBRIC:

SCORE OF 5:

v     SHOWS A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE THEME OR PROBLEM

v     ADDRESSES ALL ASPECTS OF THE TASK

v     SHOWS AN ABILITY TO ANALYZE, EVALUATE, COMPARE AND/OR CONTRAST ISSUES AND EVENTS

v     RICHLY SUPPORTS TOPIC WITH RELEVANT FACTS, EXAMPLES, AND DETAILS

v     PAPER IS TYPED WITH NO SPELLING ERRORS

 

SCORE OF 4:

v     SHOWS A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE THEME OR PROBLEM

v     SUPPORTS TOPIC WITH RELEVANT FACTS, EXAMPLES, AND DETAILS

v     SHOWS ABILITY TO ANALYZE, EVALUATE ISSUES

v     DOES NOT SUPPORT ALL ASPECTS OF THE TASK

v     PAPER IS TYPED WITH NO SPELLING ERRORS

 

SCORE OF 3:

v     PRESENTS SATISFACTORY UNDERSTANDING OF THE TOPIC

v     ADDRESSES MOST ASPECTS OF THE TASK

v     ABLE TO ANALYZE ISSUES AND EVENTS, BUT NOT IN DEPTH

v     DEMONSTRATES A GENERAL PLAN OF ORGANIZATION

v     PAPER IS TYPED BUT HAS ERRORS

SCORE OF 2:

v     SHOWS LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF TASK

v     ATTEMPTS TO ADDRESS TASK

v     INCLUDES INFORMATION THAT CONTAINS INACCURACIES

v     IS POORLY ORGANIZED

v     RESULT/S UNACCEPTABLE

SCORE OF 1:

v     FAILS TO INTRODUCE OR SUMMARIZE THE TASK

v     LACKS AN ANALYSIS OR EVALUATION OF THE ISSUES

v     IS ILLEGIBLE

A SCORE OF 5= A

A SCORE OF 4= B

A SCORE OF 3= C

A SCORE OF 2= D

A SCORE OF 1= F

 

RESOURCES                                  

 

SPECIFIC ON-LINE SEARCH ENGINES

 

http://www.42explore2.com/industrial.htm

http://www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/WebLinks/WebLinks-IndustrialRevolution.htm

http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson7.html

www.melazerte.com/library/IRlinks.htm

http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/IndustrialRevolution/womenandchildren.htm

http://www.magistrix.de/docs/257.html

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html

 

 

GENERAL ON-LINE SEARCH ENGINES

 

www.google.com                                www.dejanews.com

www.yahoo.com                                 www.lycos.com

www.excite.com                                 www.infoseek.com

www.altavista.com                              www.webcrawler.com

www.dogpile.com                               www.hotbot.com

www.askjeeves.com                            www.worldbook.com

 

 

STANDARDS                                                                         

 

 

English Language Arts Performance Standards

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

 

Standard 2: World History

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

 

 

CONCLUSION             

This Global History Public Policy Analyst Web Quest will help you understand and evaluate the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the lives of women in nineteenth-century Britain, describe the role played by women in pressuring the government to enact laws to improve conditions in the factories, and how the government of England responded to the economic and social problems caused by the Industrial Revolution. Through this process you will have expanded your knowledge of how the people and government of England solved many problems arising out of the Industrial Revolution. Also, you will have increased your ability to work in a group, create and give an oral presentation and term paper.