Poor Working Conditions essays

Poor Working Conditions essays POOR WORKING CONDITIONS IN CANADA AT TURN OF CENTURY What was life like of a Canadian worker like at the turn of the century? Try to place yourself back in time as your life as a worker would have been quite different from what it is today. In 1900, Canada consisted of only six provinces. Most Canadians lived on farms. Many young people left school early as they were required on the farms. In the city, their wages helped pay for the family's food and rent. The cities were starting to grow. Factories and stores thrived. People found several jobs in construction and manufacturing. People tended to marry young and start raising families early. Adult responsibilities came quickly. As well, Canada began to receive waves of immigrants, many of whom chose to settle and develop the vast stretches of the fertile. But in reality, life in the 1900's was depressing and was an era filled with extreme hard and strenuous work that didn't offer any future for the average Canadian in doing better. If you were an average wage earner, you would be virtu ally stuck in the same job for the rest of your life, while the rich maintained their wealth mainly caused by low taxes. Most people earned their living through the sweat of their brow. The hours were long, salaries were low and living conditions were poor for the average Canadian and even worse for the arriving immigrants. The experiences of the farm workers were the most harrowing. Work on farms meant long hours of labor, six days straight with hardly a moments rest. The typical working day started at 6:00am and ended at 6:00pm, except in the summer when laborers were expected to work until sundown as late at 10:00pm. At the turn of the 20th Century, Canadian men and women demanded social, political and economic change as the country underwent the greatest transformation in its history. In the cities, business was booming but social injustice accompanied rising industrialization. There were a few p ...