Dharini TrivediPrimary Source Response #4A Testimony for the Factory Act1.A Testimony for the Factory Actis part of a report drafted by the Factories InquiryCommission, part of the English Parliament's House of Commons in 1833. It contains thetestimonies of three people, a medical examiner , a factory worker, and a mill owner. Thedirect intended audience is obviously the English Parliament, as these testimonies and thereport as a whole were used in the proceedings conducted by Parliament when they weredeciding to pass the 1833 Factory Act.2.This document was likely created to represent different perspectives on factory labor sothat Parliament would have all the information needed- or “every side to the story”necessary to pass this act. By including the perspectives from three different individuals,each representing a different facet of factory labor, Parliament could make a moreinformed decision. The medical examiners uses their position as experts in medicine toshow the physical side effects that children incurred as a result of heavy labor. Thefactory worker used his first hand experience working in these conditions to illustrate theaffects labor had on him and his family. The mill owner represents the other side of thedebate, as he argues against reducing the hours of labor because the output of thefactories would significantly decrease.3.The author of each of the three testimonies uses a unique style. First, the medicalexaminers use a combination of medical terminology and imagery to convey the physicalside effects the children suffer due to long labor-intensive hours in the factory starting
