• BY 1780, MOST OF THE COTTON SPUN AND WOVEN IN MANCHESTER WAS GROWN BY THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE IN THE CARIBBEAN AND SOUTH AMERICA (INCLUDING BRAZIL  AND GUYANA).

  
  

• PLANTATION OWNER ON THE COLONIES INTENSIFIED THE EXPLOITATION OF LAND AND ENSLAVED PEOPLE TO SUPPLY RAW COTTON TO MANCHESTER.

  
  

• THE RISE IN VALUE OF RAW COTTON. CAUSED THE RAPID EXPANSION OF TEXTILE INDUSTRIES IN MANCHESTER.

  
  

• SEA ISLAND COTTON ( A TYPE OF COTTON WITH LONG SILKY FIBERS) WAS PRIZED BY MANCHESTER COTTON SPINNERS.

  
  

• THE DEMAND FROM MANCHESTER MANUFACTURERS LED TO THE PLANTING OF SEA ISLAND COTTON UP AND DOWN TO THE COAST OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.

• RAILROADS SPED UP THE TRANSPORTATION OF RAW COTTON TO MANCHESTER, BEFORE MOVING COTTON BY CANAL BOAT TOOK UP AROUND 12 HOURS WHILE WITH THE RAILROADS IT ONLY TOOK JUST UNDER 2 HOURS, ALSO THE RAILROAD MADE HUGE PROFIT OFF OF TRANSPORTING COTTON AND TEXTILES.

-use before industrialization and what children’s main purpose were Their main purpose was to help around the house.

- and assisting a family business or working in a field, like in a medieval setting.

-Early industrial work: Textile mills were first made in the late 1700’s  conditions in these mills included long hours

-strict discipline and harsh punishments for something like stealing a slice of bread.

-Debates on conditions for these children.

People began to question the act of child labor itself.

-Kids the age of 5 and up were working 16 hours a day with no recesses or breaks for food or water were not permitted.

• Due to the first industrial city, Manchester, one in three people cannot access clean drinking water, causing loads and loads of deaths from disease each year. Clean water is on the global agenda.

• Manchester has a known reputation as the most unsanitary and unhealthy place in Britain, putting the average lifespan of the people living there at only 17 years old.

• In 1847, only 11,000 homes in Manchester had clean or piped water. 12,000 homes had to rely on a shared tap, while thousands more obtained water from streams or wells, which were always contaminated.

• The build-up of waste in the rivers of Manchester increased the risk of flooding. By the 1860’s, River Irwell was extremely contaminated that the riverbed increased at a rate of 3 inches each year.

• Soon, the local government started to invest in pipes for fresh water for the people. In 1851, fresh water arrived and allowed Manchester Corporation to extend the pipes of fresh water throughout the city, benefiting the people. However, inequalities expanded due to this.

• In the late 1860’s, John Frederick Bateman designed a pioneering scheme to create a reservoir that would bring water to the city. The project began in 1885 and water reached Manchester in 1894, ending the shortage of water supply.

• Many advances in engineering enabled a reform for Manchesters environment due to protests and campaigns. In 2018, UN announced its Water Action Decade to make sure the goal of clean water and sanitation was reached. Activism and empowerment continued, and soon will stop water pollution for good.

MANCHESTER GOODS

His research involves an exploration of how Langworthy Brothers, like thousands of other Manchester textile merchants and manufacturers,

In the Textiles Gallery, displays explore how the labour of millions of enslaved people forced to work on cotton plantations in the Americas met industrial Manchester's demand for raw cotton. 

• Children worked in large numbers in mines, glass factories, the textile industry, agriculture, canneries, and as newsboys, messengers, shoe shiners, and peddlers.

• As America was becoming more industrialized, many poor families had no choice but to send their children to work in order to help the family survive.

• Between 1890 and 1910, no less than 18 percent of all children ages 10‒15 worked.

• Age was only one consideration in deciding whether a child was ready for work.

• Kids will soon start to work in these dangerous factories once they are 5 years old?

• Lots of kid have passed away while working in these factories do to how the machine malfunctioned.

• Children in the mills usually worked eleven or twelve hour days, 5-6 days a week.

– John Dalton

• John Dalton had red-green color blindness, known as deuteranopia. Dalton thought that the jelly part of his eyes were tinted blue and thus acted as a filter. Because of this, he wanted his eyes to be examined after-death, and they were described as "perfectly colorless".

• his eyes were preserved and later donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in 1997.

• The World Health Organization estimates about 7 million people dying of exposure to fine particles in the pollutes air yearly. 

• primary source of air pollution is from the burning og fossil fuels. Especially in the 19th-century Manchester, people used coal as there primary source of energy. The consequences of burning fossil fuels the effects on human like consequences of burning fossil fuels.

• Because of the creation of the steam engine coal was a primary source of pollutants. It creates carbon dioxide, ash and water vapour which pollute the air. 

• The mills just kept getting bigger which increased the pollution that was caused.

• people got more concerned about the air, which they protested for. Which they got but in order for that they had to come up with new ideas for production of material. 

• Legislation had previously tried to limit pollution made by factories, there were some efforts made to limit smoke in the city of Manchester.

• Anti-pollution activists emerged when people started to believe that black billowing smoke signified the loss of profits due to the coal not being burned fully.

• The World Health Organization estimates about 7 million people dying of exposure to fine particles in the pollutes air yearly. 

• primary source of air pollution is from the burning og fossil fuels. Especially in the 19th-century Manchester, people used coal as there primary source of energy. The consequences of burning fossil fuels the effects on human like consequences of burning fossil fuels.

• Because of the creation of the steam engine coal was a primary source of pollutants. It creates carbon dioxide, ash and water vapour which pollute the air. 

• The mills just kept getting bigger which increased the pollution that was caused.

• people got more concerned about the air, which they protested for. Which they got but in order for that they had to come up with new ideas for production of material. 

• Legislation had previously tried to limit pollution made by factories, there were some efforts made to limit smoke in the city of Manchester.

• Anti-pollution activists emerged when people started to believe that black billowing smoke signified the loss of profits due to the coal not being burned fully.

• The World Health Organization estimates about 7 million people dying of exposure to fine particles in the pollutes air yearly. 

• primary source of air pollution is from the burning og fossil fuels. Especially in the 19th-century Manchester, people used coal as there primary source of energy. The consequences of burning fossil fuels the effects on human like consequences of burning fossil fuels.

• Because of the creation of the steam engine coal was a primary source of pollutants. It creates carbon dioxide, ash and water vapour which pollute the air. 

• The mills just kept getting bigger which increased the pollution that was caused.

• people got more concerned about the air, which they protested for. Which they got but in order for that they had to come up with new ideas for production of material. 

• Legislation had previously tried to limit pollution made by factories, there were some efforts made to limit smoke in the city of Manchester.

• Anti-pollution activists emerged when people started to believe that black billowing smoke signified the loss of profits due to the coal not being burned fully.

• The World Health Organization estimates about 7 million people dying of exposure to fine particles in the pollutes air yearly. 

• primary source of air pollution is from the burning og fossil fuels. Especially in the 19th-century Manchester, people used coal as there primary source of energy. The consequences of burning fossil fuels the effects on human like consequences of burning fossil fuels.

• Because of the creation of the steam engine coal was a primary source of pollutants. It creates carbon dioxide, ash and water vapour which pollute the air. 

• The mills just kept getting bigger which increased the pollution that was caused.

• people got more concerned about the air, which they protested for. Which they got but in order for that they had to come up with new ideas for production of material. 

• Legislation had previously tried to limit pollution made by factories, there were some efforts made to limit smoke in the city of Manchester.

• Anti-pollution activists emerged when people started to believe that black billowing smoke signified the loss of profits due to the coal not being burned fully.

Dalton used everyday objects as reference points and to describe colors in a common language. Green woolen cloth appeared as a dark brownish red color to him. In his eyes it resembled soil

Dalton had green red color blindness or better known as deuteranopia this discovery was only made in 1995.

dalton wanted his eyes tested after death as he had his own suspicions. he believed the jelly part of his eye was tinted blue acting as a filter. An autopsy was performed after he died in 1844 perfectly colorless was the result

He was the president in the literary and philosophical society for almost 30 years. He donated to the museum of science and industry in 1997.

Many of his anniversaries were celebrated this year such as events the university of Manchester. In one of his comparisons he explained that the face of a leaf is a good match to a stick of red sealing wax

Dalton was what made people research color blindness because before him it wasn’t something that was talked about or researched

• Nicknamed 'Cottonopolis' - Manchester was the international center of the world’s cotton industry. The city imported upwards of a billion tons of cotton a year.

• Manchester's cotton industry was connected to transatlantic slavery

• Great wealth, at what cost? In 1860, > 80% of processed cotton for Manchester was grown by enslaved African people on southern plantations in the United States. Manchester’s manufacturers only got the cotton in the quantities and at the prices they desired because of this system of human exploitation.

• “Urban metropolis” - inventions, like an original Richard Arkwright Water Frame, child-sized clogs from Charter Street Ragged School - which helped develop and build the Industrial Revolution

• However revolutionary, cotton mills, factories, and workplaces were extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant to work in. Allergies? Good luck!!

• “Liverpool and Manchester Railway”. 1st inter-city railway that carried passengers AND goods. Main reason for the construction of this railway was to be able to transport cotton more efficiently between Manchester’s mills and ports

Manchester is built on cotton. Textile Gallerys tell the story of the people, places and products that made it and their continuing legacy in our city and our world today.

Manchester was once the international centre of the world’s cotton industry. The city imported up to a billion tonnes of raw cotton a year, towns like Bolton and Preston became manufacturing centres and Oldham’s Platt Brothers & Co. Ltd. built textile machines for mills across the world.

Manchester’s textiles industry brought some people great wealth. However, innovation and profits went hand in hand with inequality and exploitation, on a local and global scale. In 1860, over 80% of the cotton processed in mills in and around Manchester was grown by enslaved African people on plantations in the southern United States.

Manchester’s manufacturers only got the cotton in the quantities and at the prices they desired because of this system of human exploitation. Textiles Gallery paints a vivid picture of how cotton transformed Manchester into an urban metropolis and shaped lives here and around the world.

Textile industry was a time period for world-changing innovations like an original Richard Arkwright Water Frame—one of the machines that kick started the Industrial Revolution—to surprising, everyday objects like a pair of child-sized clogs from Charter Street Ragged School, a local charity that helped some of Manchester’s poorest inhabitants.

Textile industries are used to display objects that reveal how Manchester's cotton industry was connected to transatlantic slavery, alongside the first-hand testimony of African American anti-slavery campaigner Frederick Douglass, and African American woman Mary Reynolds, who, like Douglass was formerly enslaved.

The textile industry was a very beneficial period for world changing inventions but had caused slavery and child labor for young kids working long shifts every day of the week and sleeping in the bed of strangers while also getting separated from their family working different shifts which caused many more problems for the development of the kids which could cause a quicker death from working in harsh conditions.

• Causes: poverty was the primary driver. Families struggling to survive needed every member, including children, to contribute income. The small size of children also made them suitable for certain tasks, like squeezing into tight spaces in mines or working with delicate machinery in textile mills. Lack of regulation and enforcement regarding child labor allowed employers to exploit this vulnerable population.

• Working conditions: Children worked long hours, often 12-16 hours a day, six days a week. They faced dangerous conditions, including exposure to dust, fumes, and moving machinery, leading to injuries, illnesses and even death. They received little to no education and were often subjected to physical and verbal abuse.

• Types of work: children worked in a variety of industries, including:

  
  

• Textiles: Operating machinery in cotton mills.

• Mining: Hauling coal and other materials un dark, cramped mineshafts

• Factories: performing repetitive tasks in factories producing various goods.

• Chimney Sweeping: cleaning chimneys, a particularly dangerous job due to the confined spaces and soot inhalation

• Consequences: child labor had devastating consequences for children’s physical and mental health. They suffered from stunted growth, respiratory problems, deformities, and psychological trauma.They were deprived of education and opportunities for a better future.

• Reform movements: growing awareness of the horrors of child labor led to reform movements in the 19th and early 20th centuries these movements advocated for legislation to regulate child labor, limit working hours, and improve working conditions. The factory acts in Britain, for example, gradually restricted child labor and introduced mandatory schooling.

For thousands of years cotton has been used and merchants would first bring cotton from India to Britain around 500 years ago.It was incredible perfect almost and also held lots of trade value thus making cotton a crazed item.

Since cotton was at a high demand it needed to be made quicker because of its high demand and many people tried to invent stuff to make it easier to make cotton like James Hargreaves or John Kay but none succeeded like Richard.

Richard Arkwright who was born on December 23, 1732 in Preston, United Kingdom manages to have an amazing breakthrough which would become revolutionary.By inventing the “spinning frame” which was used in the industrial revolution this machine spread fibers such as wool or cotton in a mechanized way.This in short term made it easier and quicker to make cotton.

This had a massive effect speeding up everything this ultimately led to development of factories which is known as the key turning point in the revolution.

This boosted the revolution which had an massive effect on the world as we know it and Richard Arkwright also made the water frame which was a spinning machine powered by water that produced cotton yarn suitable for wrap spinning even larger quantities of cotton yarn.

Richard changed the world as we know it but he also built many factories and expanded his business to improve his mills.He established factories in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Lancashire and Scotland.He was a very wealthy and smart man living a happy rich life before eventually dying on August 3, 1792 of an unknown illness at the age of 60 in Cromford, United Kingdom.

As America was becoming more industrialized, many poor families had no choice but to send their children to work in order to help the family survive.

The problem of child labor was not that children were working, but rather

they were being exploited or taken advantage of in the work place. Children were often preferred employees

over adults. Instead of paying higher wages for adults to perform the same duties, children could be employed

at a much cheaper rate. They were working long hours, for little pay, in unsafe working conditions, not permitting

them to be children and getting an education.

Children worked in large numbers in mines, glass factories, the textile industry, agriculture, canneries, and as

newsboys, messengers, shoe shiners, and peddlers. As America was becoming more industrialized, many poor

families had no choice but to send their children to work in order to help the family survive. Working children

were often hurt due to industrial accidents on unsafe machinery, uneducated since there was no time for

school after working over 12 hours a day, and were infected with illness and disease due to the unsafe working

conditions in which they were exposed.

By the late 1800s, over 1,000 laws regulating work conditions and limiting or forbidding child labor were passed.

In many cases the laws did not apply to immigrants, therefore they were often taken advantage of and wound

up living in slums working long hours for little pay. Opponents of the laws argued that child labor was an

unavoidable and even beneficial part of national economic growth and development.

Children in the mills usually worked eleven or twelve hour days, 5-6 days a week. Windows were usually kept

closed because moisture and heat helped keep the cotton from breaking. Crushed and broken fingers were

common in the coal mines. Most children working here were boys earning $0.50-$0.60 a day. Underground, a

boy might work 14 hours a day. Working in a cannery was a seasonal job, very common for six and seven year

old boys and girls. An ordinary day began at 3 a.m. At the height of the season, children often worked eighteen

hours a day. Children carried boxes of produce weighing over 40 pounds. Three and four year olds often worked,

unpaid, as “helpers.”

• Manchester was the world’s first industrial city and Ancoats was the beating heart.

• Centuries ago, many people believed that shoes concealed within buildings could protect occupiers and bring good luck

• McConnel and Kennedy, as well as others became part of a huge cotton-spinning complex that transformed Ancoats.

• Cotton spinning wasn’t Ancoats only industry. Its textile mills attracted engineers, whose expertise was needed to provide the power and machinery for Ancoats cotton factories.

• Manchester’s industrial decline hit the Ancoats hard. By the 1960s, its cotton spinning industry had all but disappeared and compulsory housing clearances broke up tight and small communities.

• when Ancoats was made a conservation area in 1989 thing started to get better. and although the area’s regeneration hasn’t been without controversy, its ongoing revival is arguably as remarkable as its industrial transformation.

2. Reliance on Slavery: Manchester’s cotton industry heavily relied on cotton produced by enslaved African labor in the southern United States. This created a direct economic link between Manchester’s industrial boom and the transatlantic slave trade.

3. Abolitionist Sentiment: While economically dependent on slave-produced cotton, Manchester also became a center of abolitionist movements. Many workers and reformers in Manchester spoke against slavery despite their livelihoods being tied to it.

4. Impact of the American Civil War: The U.S. Civil War (1861–1865) disrupted cotton supplies to Manchester (the “Cotton Famine”), causing widespread unemployment and hardship in the city. Despite this, many Mancunians supported the Union’s anti-slavery cause.

5. Economic Transformation: Manchester’s booming cotton industry helped establish the city as a leader in industrialization and urbanization, though it was rooted in exploitative colonial systems and the labor of enslaved Africans.

6. Moral Tension: The dependence on slave-grown cotton created a moral conflict in Manchester, as many workers sympathized with abolitionist ideals yet relied on the cotton trade for their livelihoods.

7. Legacy: Today, Manchester acknowledges its historical ties to slavery through education, museums, and public discourse, striving to address the complex history of economic growth built on exploitation.