History Inquiry Assessment

THE FACTORY WHISTLE DBQ

Focus: Evaluating Evidence Industrial Revolution (1815–1850)

Student Name:

Date:

Period:

Directions for Testing

Analyze the shortened historical documents below and evaluate their credibility, perspectives, and biases. Answer the multiple-choice questions by circling the correct letter, then complete the historical writing response on Page 3.

Document A Medical Testimony (1819)

Source: Dr. Michael Ward, Manchester physician for 30 years, testifying to the House of Lords Committee on March 25, 1819. He treated many child factory workers.

Question: Give the committee information on your knowledge of the health of workers in cotton-factories.

Answer: I visited three factories last summer... and we could not remain ten minutes without gasping for breath. The state of the health of the cotton-factory children is much worse than that of children employed in other industries. Cotton factories are highly unfavorable, both to health and morals... They are nurseries of disease and vice.

Accidents were very often admitted through children's hands and arms having been caught in the machinery; in many instances skin was stripped to the bone. At Lever Street School, 47 of 106 students employed in factories had received severe machinery injuries.

Document B Medical Survey (1818)

Source: Dr. Edward Holme, a Manchester physician, interviewed by the House of Lords Committee in 1818. He was asked to conduct this study by a local factory owner.

Question: In what state of health did you find the persons employed?

Answer: They were in good health generally. I can give you particulars of Mr. Pooley’s factory. He employs 401 persons; and of those examined, 22 were of delicate appearance, 2 sickly, 3 in bad health, 8 had tuberculosis, and 363 were in good health.

Question: From your investigations, you formed a favorable opinion?

Answer: Yes. I have had no occasion to change that opinion since. They are as healthy as any other part of the working classes.

Unit Assessment: Industrial Labor DBQ Page 1 of 3

Part I: Source Analysis (Continued) The Factory Whistle DBQ

Document C Worker Memoir (1849)

Source: John Birley, born in 1805, interviewed by the Ashton Chronicle newspaper in May 1849. He was sent to Cressbrook Mill as an orphan child worker.

Our regular time was from five in the morning till nine or ten at night; on Saturdays till midnight. We cleaned machinery on Sundays. No time was allowed for breakfast or tea...

The master's sons and Swann, the overlooker, used to go up and down the mill with sticks. Frank once beat me till he frightened himself. He hit my arm with all his might, breaking my elbow. I bear the marks and pain to this day...

Before we were examined by inspectors from London, we were washed and ordered to tell them we liked working at the mill and were well treated. The owners were in the room during the interview. We answered as we had been told, not daring to do other.

Document D Manufacturing History (1835)

Source: Edward Baines, newspaper editor and MP, writing in History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (1835).

It is alleged that children are cruelly beaten, and limbs distorted by standing. Factory Inspectors have proved that these views contain a very small portion of truth. Abuse is the exception, not the rule...

It must be admitted that hours are long—12 hours a day, 5 days a week. But the work is light and requires very little muscular effort. The body's position is not harmful: children walk about and sit down frequently. I have noticed the calmness of the children, whose attitudes are positive.

Part II: Evaluating Evidence (Multiple Choice)

1. (Sourcing) Which piece of metadata most severely limits the historical reliability of Dr. Holme's findings in Document B?

A. The interview was conducted by the House of Lords Committee instead of local magistrates.

B. Dr. Holme was hired and directed to examine the children by Mr. Pooley, the factory owner.

C. The findings rely on data collected from only 401 workers instead of thousands of laborers.

D. Dr. Holme was a highly regarded local physician and active in many academic circles.

2. (Corroboration) How does John Birley's testimony in Document C help explain the favorable reports of inspectors mentioned by Edward Baines in Document D?

A. It suggests that child workers voluntarily hid their injuries because they liked the factory work.

B. It demonstrates that standard working hours were actually shortened before official inspectors visited.

C. It claims that owners coerced and intimidated workers into reporting favorable conditions to inspectors.

D. It proves inspectors were corrupt and accepted bribes from the overlookers to cover up abuse.

Unit Assessment: Industrial Labor DBQ Page 2 of 3

Part II: Questions & Writing Prompt The Factory Whistle DBQ

3. (Evaluating Evidence) What specific numerical data does Dr. Ward present in Document A to support his claim that factories were physically dangerous?

A. He calculated that children spent less than ten minutes breathing fresh air during their work shifts.

B. He recorded that 47 out of 106 school children employed in factories had received machinery injuries.

C. He cited Manchester medical statistics showing a 50% mortality rate among physical laborers.

D. He proved that cotton factories had precisely three times more accidents than farming operations.

4. (Evaluating Bias) Which of Edward Baines' affiliations or roles in Document D most likely influenced his defense of the factory system?

A. His career as a newspaper editor and political liberal who actively opposed state regulation of trade.

B. His deep personal background working as a child laborer in the worst cotton mills of Leeds.

C. His commitment to ending the international slave trade and expanding universal voting rights.

D. His close blood relationship with John Birley and other key factory reform activists.

5. (Corroboration) Which combination of documents represents a direct disagreement regarding the physical exertion and bodily impact of factory work?

A. Documents A and B (Dr. Ward vs. Dr. Holme)

B. Documents C and D (John Birley vs. Edward Baines)

C. Documents A and C (Dr. Ward vs. John Birley)

D. Documents B and D (Dr. Holme vs. Edward Baines)

Part III: Document-Based Writing Response

Prompt: Based on the evidence provided in Documents A–D, evaluate the credibility of opposing views on child labor. Were English textile factories actively harmful to the physical health of working-class children?

Your response must include:

A clear, direct thesis statement.

Sourcing evaluation (bias, funding, or motivation).

At least two specific pieces of document evidence.

Direct corroboration or conflict analysis.

Unit Assessment: Industrial Labor DBQ Page 3 of 3

Factory Whistle Student Exam

Factory Whistle Student Exam

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