That Thousand Sweepers
“That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned or Jack. Were all of them lock'd up in coffins of black. And by came an Angel who had a bright key, And he open'd the coffins & set them all free;” is a quote taken from William Blake’s The Chimney Sweeper of his ‘Songs of Innocence’. Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack were all children. Children that were a major part of the Industrial work force that started in Europe and America in the 19th century. Dick and his friends were chimneysweepers. The reference,”coffins of black” comes from the large amount of soot that they would take in their lungs and skin with a days worth of work. The hours and the dangers that all children worked in those days are repulsive to what we consider our guidelines today. Granted, we have used children as personnel in our factories, farms, and mines since the dawn of creation or close too. And it was familiar for my parents to put me to work in the backyard or even clean up my room on Saturdays so I could watch TV at night. With the start of the Industrial Revolution it was imperative that we had a work force so we could build our economy and lands.