The Following Is an Excerpt from the Testimony of Sir

question 41

Multiple Choice

The following is an excerpt from the testimony of Sir Robert Peel during an 1818 debate in the House of Commons about child labor laws (Evaluating the Evidence 20.1) : "It was notorious that children of a very tender age were dragged from their beds some hours before day light, and confined in the factories not less than fifteen hours; and it was also notoriously the opinion of the faculty, that no children of eight or nine years of age could bear that degree of hardship with impunity to their health and constitution. It had been urged by the humane, that there might be two sets of young labourers for one set of adults. He was afraid this would produce more harm than good. The better way would be to shorten the time of working for adults as well as for children; and to prevent the introduction of the latter at a very early age. . . . The children . . . were prevented from growing to their full size. In consequence, Manchester, which used to furnish numerous recruits for the army, was now wholly unproductive in that respect. . . ."
What claim did Peel make in his testimony?

• A)He asserted that children could not work in a factory for fifteen hours without doing harm to their health and constitution.
• B)He speculated that there could be two shifts of young laborers for every one shift of adults, thus reducing the number of hours worked by children.
• C)While he was concerned about the health of young laborers, he believed they were also free laborers, and once the principle of interference with free laborers was admitted, one could not predict how far it might be carried.
• D)In his opinion, the main problem was that factory work stunted the growth of children and made them unfit for recruitment into the army.

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Definitions:

Genetic Variation

The natural differences in genes among individuals of a species.

Racial Categories

Classifications of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society.

Arbitrary Manner

A way of deciding or acting that is not based on system or plan, but instead on random choice or personal whim.

Malay

Pertains to a major ethnic group within Southeast Asia, primarily found in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, and Thailand, or the Austronesian language spoken by them.