Coal
History: KS3, topic 11.1.6
Coal
All the new factories in England required a lot of coal to power them and so more coal had to be mined. Mining was very dangerous and miners worked in terrible conditions.
Steam power
- Coal had been mined in Britain long before the Industrial Revolution.
- However, since steam power was so crucial to powering the machines that were at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, Britain needed much larger quantities of coal to burn.
Demand for coal
- 2.7 million tons of coal were mined in Britain in 1700, but this had jumped to 15 million tons by 1800.
- The main producers of coal in Britain were the northeast of England, the West Midlands, and central Scotland.
The dangers of mining
- Coal was crucial to the development of the Industrial Revolution, but coal mining was incredibly dangerous.
- Coal had to be dug from up to 100m underground, and could only be reached by narrow shafts through the coal mines.
- Miners risked suffocation, drowning, and being crushed by collapsing mineshafts.
Children in the mines
- Around 20,000 children worked in coal mines by the 1840s, often having to drag heavy cartloads of coal on their hands and knees.
- It wasn’t until 1842 that the government took measures to improve the lives of children working in the mine.
- The Mines Act prohibited the employing of girls, and boys under ten.
Test yourself on Coal
Which region of Britain was NOT a main producer of coal?
In which year did the British government pass the The Mines Act?