Children have been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history. Children often worked for long hours in dangerous conditions for very little money in order to help support their families, thus forcing them to miss out on a proper education. Child labor reached its height in the Industrial Revolution, but slowly declined after that, but factory employment still provided opportunities for children – ultimately, immigrants and women replaced these children in the textile industry. However child labor continued in other businesses – they could be paid lower wages and were easier manage and take advantage of. They also didn't pose a threat to the employers since it would be close to impossible for them to form unions. In 1904, the National Child Labor Committee was organized in efforts to regulate or eliminate child labor in the United States. Educational reformers of the mid-nineteenth century convinced many people that primary school education was a necessity the advancement of the nation. This led several states to establish minimal requirements for school attendance, which helped push children to attend school and obtain a needed education, leading them into a better lifestyle. Yet these laws weren't very much enforced. Soon enough, the horrendous working conditions imposed on many children brought the issue to public attention. Despite the progress being made in reforming child labor laws, success depended heavily on the country's political climate and developments which could potentially reduce the need or desirability of child labor. During the Great Depression, people mainly wanted jobs to go to adults rather than children. This era changed political attitudes in the United States and significantly benefitted child labor reform – the employment of children under sixteen was prohibited in manufacturing and mining. In addition, jobs increasingly began to require higher educational levels, so states decided to increase the number of required school years, lengthened the school year, and enforced truancy laws more effectively. In 1949, it was clear that education was necessary for young minds and Congress amended the child labor law to include all businesses.
http://www.history.com/topics/child-labor
I like how you described and allayed a topic in American history that is not always emphasized or mentioned when learning about particular time periods. Your argument is very fluid, and it is easy to navigate, and I appreciate how you explained the evolution of child labor laws into abolishing them entirely by the middle of the twentieth century. However, it is important to identify what specific pieces of legislation or Supreme Court cases that occurred at this particular point in time that may have influenced them and why the mindset of the government officials changed. That way, readers could better contextualize the problem with understanding it in its particular time period. For additional information, an insightful link includes that of: http://www.recess.ufl.edu/transcripts/2006/0524.shtml
ReplyDeleteI like how detailed and the image of this post enhance the effect of Child Labor. I wonder if you could relate child labor similar to today's condition since child labor is still present? I liked learning about the regulations and the legalization of child labor and how it was favored and preferred.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read! I definitely agree with you that the working conditions were unideal for the child laborers - they had to operate dangerous machinery and factory rooms were often heavily dusty and smoky. Working in this type of environment for a long time proved to leave very harmful effects on the health of the workers; for instance, according to a statistic from 1900, which was around the time of the Industrial Revolution, over 25,000 children died and another 1 million were injured from working in the factories. Adding on to your point about how the child labor laws were not that enforced, an example of this can be seen from where Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt both tried to advocate for anti-child labor laws, but they both failed to do so.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.american-historama.org/1866-1881-reconstruction-era/child-labor-america.htm