Abstract
The article traces the role sweatshops played in the process of economic development in wealthy countries today. Working conditions have been harsh and standards of living low throughout most of human history. Farmers worked long hours for near-subsistence returns for much of recent human history, there is no doubt that chattel slavery imposed horrid working conditions and standards of living on innumerable people. The cities themselves were unhealthy. Their swelling population and poor sanitation led to the spread of disease. Housing was cramped, poorly constructed, and sometimes expensive. The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, but the US was one of the earliest places to which it was exported. When textile production was mechanized in Great Britain, all of the technology had to be created, and new capital had to be accumulated that could embody that technology.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 109-122 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Independent Review |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - 2014 |