Industrial Revolution: Journal Entry

December 12th, 1882
Violet Hodges
Age: 9
Job: Seamstress

Dear Journal,

I am 9 years old now. My birthday was yesterday. I live with my mama, my papa, and my three siblings: Heather (13 yrs), Peter(2 yrs), and Rosemary(6 mths).

Today was going to be another tiring day as usual. I woke up at 4 am to go to work at the factory. My sister Heather and I walked there. We were running late. I didn't get to eat breakfast. I haven't in a very long time. Once I got to work I started to work on the dress that i had started yesterday. Someone was staring at me. It was the man in the uniform. He kept yelling at me because i was looking out the window. My sister whispered for me to quit it because we really need the money. Outside the window i saw some boys and girls, just like me, playing in the street. I felt emotions that i have never experienced before. I was angry and jealous of those kids. That man beat me with a stick for not working. My punishment was unfair. I didn't get my usual half hour lunch break. He made me work straight through it! My stomach growled. My hands and back ached. I wish i could go out in play like those other kids. But i bet they would stare at me. I have a hunched back and my arms aren't in proportion to my tiny body. I worked long and hard until Heather told me it was time to leave. We had been dismissed. Our shift was done. It's 6pm.
My days are so terribly long. I used to only work 10 hours a day. Since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, I work 14 hours a day with only two short breaks: one for lunch and one for supper. Some days i have no breaks. Today I never got a break. My wage is only 20 cents a day, but most boys younger than me get 25 to 30 cents. I don't understand why. Mommy and Daddy say I have to work or we will be living on the streets.

Life is so unfair.

Love,
Violet




My five points:
1) Long work hours
2) Unfair wages
3) Deformities/Rickets
4) Edison's invention...how it allowed factories to stay open longer.
5) Nuclear Family.