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Richard Oastler and “Yorkshire Slavery”

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Author: Richard Oastler was a labor activist who set out to reform the terrible conditions seen in England’s factory system. He was born in 1789 and died 1861.[1] His activism helped shed light on the labor horrors of the factory system.

Context: As a labor activist, Oastler writes his piece “Yorkshire Slavery” in the heart of the Industrial Revolution. As increasing industrial practices swept through England, new knowledge on its societal effects were becoming known. These effects include children working in horrible conditions.

Language: He wrote “Yorkshire Slavery” to shed light on the horrors of industry. In order to inform everyone he could, he wrote in simple language that all could comprehend. He makes his points clear and definitive.

Audience: Since his writing is simple and comprehendible, his target audience is all those who reside in England.

Intent: To educated all English people on disturbing features that exist within the factory system. He wants parents of children who work long hours in factories to be aware of the hardships they face day in and day out.

Message: He sees the changes taking place within families that rely on their children to produce an earning to live on. He notices old-fashioned domestic manufacturers are beginning to be taken over by factory manufacturers. When he was a child, “there was filial affection and parental feeling”[2] within a family. When describing family life post Industrial Revolution, he says “it destroys the happiness in the cottage family, and leads both parents and children not to regard each other in the way that Providence designed they should”.[3] His work, “Yorkshire Slavery” is meant to shed light on the real life effects the Industrial Revolution is having on working class people.

Why? Oastler lived right in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. He saw first hand the effects industry had on people and wanted to reform practices to better the lives of people.

[1] Bloy, Marjorie. “Biography.” Richard Oastler (1789-1861). January 1, 2013. Accessed February 8, 2015. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/people/oastbio.htm.

[2] Report from the Committee on the Bill to regulate the labour of children in the mills and factories . . . 1832: Parliamentary Papers, 1831-1832, xv, pp. 454-5 [Added by Marjie Bloy, Senior Research Fellow, National University of Singapore]

[3] Ibid.

Yorkshire Slavery and Labor Conditions

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Author: Richard Oastler. Oastler was born in 1789[i] to an English family and advocated for the abolishment of slavery and improved labor conditions, especially for children.

Context: His letter “Yorkshire Slavery” was written in 1830 during the time of significantly increased industry (at this point, right in the thick of the Industrial Revolution), and need for more labor in factories and mills.

Language: I would describe the language of the piece as assertive and defiant. Oastler brought forward several gruesome examples of the difficulties of labor at the time, while using a very negative tone to display these hardships.

Audience: Oastler intends to reach the hearts and minds of the English people, who he believes don’t fully understand the severity of the situation at hand.

Intent: As mentioned above, Oastler was disgusted with the current conditions of the labor, especially the hardships young children were dealing with in the workforce. His intent was to bring forth these cruelties in a way that would inspire his fellow English people to act on improving these respective conditions.

Message: With descriptions such as “whose forehead has been cut open by the thong; whose cheeks and lips have been laid open, whose back has been almost covered with black stripes”[ii] and references to “the bodily sufferings that these poor creatures are subject to”[iii], Oastler’s message here is clear: what is happening here is not right and needs to stopped, now.

But…why?: Oastler has seen these horrific conditions first hand, and has gathered several stories from parents of these respective children. He empathizes with these parents and believes these conditions are “the foundation of the disaffection and unpleasantness of the present age”.[iv]

 

[i] http://www.victorianweb.org/history/yorkslav.html

[ii] ibid

[iii] ibid

[iv] ibid

Yorkshire Slavery

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AUTHOR: Richard Oastler was born to a linen merchant in 1789 and later moved to Leeds. He was an Anglican, Tory and protectionist as well as a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery in the West Indies. He was also against Roman Catholic emancipation.

CONTEXT: “Yorkshire Slavery” was written in 1830 after Oastler met with John Wood, a manufacturer in Bradford who introduced the atrocities of the factories to Oastler. The Industrial Revolution had taken off around 1820, therefore, around the time “Yorkshire Slavery” was written in 1830, the revolution was in full force.

LANGUAGE: Oastler uses confidence and information in order to portray his points. However, he also seems horrified and shocked when describing the conditions of factories and the stories about child workers being abused.

AUDIENCE: In this piece, Oastler addresses the English nation, as many of them were unaware of the issues within the factory. He even states, “my attention had not been particularly called to the subject of the factory system, until I had that fact communicated to me.” ((Yorkshire Slavery 1)) As mentioned above, his encounter with John Wood opened his eyes towards what was really occurring within the factories and he felt obligated to share it with the English nation.

INTENT: As previously mentioned, Richard Oastler was an advocate for children’s rights in the factory only after he met with John Wood. However after learning all of the information, he was compelled to share it with the nation in order to bring about change and help the workers.

MESSAGE: Oastler’s overall message is understood to be that the children are being overworked in an inhumane and cruel way. He states that there are some things he would “never [dare] to publish” because of how awful they are (“Yorkshire Slavery” 1). Beyond the working conditions within the factory, he also advocates for shorter work hours, arguing that the children grow up with out knowing what it is like to be loved because they hardly see their parents. Oastler makes the argument that the child workforce is dehumanizing and needs to change.

WHY? As stated before, Richard Oastler had met with a manufacturer in Bradford before writing “Yorkshire Slavery.” During this meeting, he discovered the evils of the factory and the struggles the child workers face; he promised himself he would not stop doing everything in his power to help the workers of the factories.