The Dark Side of the Industrial Revolution

Everyone thinks the Industrial Revolution was pure progress, but for the actual workers,

it was a living nightmare. While factory owners got rich, grain prices tripled

and real wages basically froze. You had people working twelve-hour shifts in massive mills

with zero safety guards. The air was so thick with cotton dust you would get lung

infections, and twenty percent of the workforce was just little kids.

When workers finally tried to band together to demand better treatment, the government panicked

and passed the Combination Acts to make unions illegal. They literally outlawed standing up for

yourself just to protect their profits.