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Child labor before the 1800's
Child labor before the 1800's
Child labour early 1800's
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well as many archaic provisions that are both unnecessary and contradictory, stemming from the fact that the law was written in 1915. It is safe to say that the work environment for our minors has changed dramatically since child labor laws were originally written in Pennsylvania.As a state representative, I have listened to numerous complaints from small business and large industry employers who are frustrated with the confusion between state and federal laws. Employers must already be extremely cautious when scheduling and assigning duties to employees under the age of 18. Deciphering inconsistent standards can create more confusion for both employees and employers and result in less compliance with the state's laws.
Florence Kelley appeals to the masses that the conscription of unregulated child labor is abhorring through the use of ethos, juxtaposition, and pathos. Kelley’s speech tackles on one of her main goals in life, regulations on child labor. Her speech moved the masses to fight for the rights of children, and she won. Kelley is responsible for the safe working conditions and the child labor laws that the United States has in implementation today.
For example, she shares details that young children “ make our shoes in the shoe factories; they knit our stockings, our knitted underwear in the knitting factories. They spin and weave our cotton underwear in the cotton mills.” These details of labor suggests that there are many children working a wide variety of jobs. The details also indicates the severity of the situation: child labor is immoral. Kelley also enumerates specific laws that are outrageous that support child labor. She asserts that in Georgia, a girl who is as young as six could be working. A child of the age of six should be enjoying childhood — not working at a factory — which adds to the immoral view of child
The Health and Morals Act of 1802 limited children under fourteen from working over twelve hours a day (Doc 3). The factor Act of 1833, which enacted that no person under 18 years of age shall be allowed to work at night in machinery (Doc 4). It allowed the child under 18 to work less than 12 hours a day or less than 69 hours in any one-week. There was a ten hours act, which said that the women or children's limit workdays are 10 hours.
Child Labor. The 1890 census showed that more than one million children, ages ten to fifteen, were working in America. By 1910, that number increased to two million (Davis). Children as young as five could be found in glass making factories, canneries and home industries. Their workday could be as long as eighteen hours and would only get paid a fraction of what an adult would. Yetta Adelman, a Polish garment worker said “I was twelve years old but I wasn’t. Compared to a child [born] here in the United States, I was twenty (McGerr 18).”
Factories were utilizing children to do the hard work. They employed children as young as five or six to work as many as twenty hours a day. According to Document C, children worked in factories to build up muscles and having good intellect in working rather than getting an education. They became a different person rather than conventional children. There were additionally health issues due to child labor: rapid skeletal growth, greater risk of hearing loss, higher chemical absorption rates, and developing ability to assess risks. Progressive Era reformers believed that child labor was detrimental to children and to society. They believed that children should be protected from harmful environments, so they would become healthy and productive adults. In 1912, Congress created the Children’s Bureau to benefit children. The Keating-Owen Act was passed in 1916 to freed children from child labor only in industries that engaged in interstate commerce. However, it was declared unconstitutional sinc...
They would often get one one hour break for lunch, but recieved no time for breakfast, dinner, or going to the bathroom. The children would often have to walk to work, and it would be difficult for them to walk home after 14 hours of work. The amount of time that the children worked made it impossible for them to recieve an education or have any recreational time.The lack of education that these children recieved is shown in this quote by Furman Owens who is 12-years-old, can't read, and doesn't know his A,B,C's. He said, "Yes I want to learn but can't when I work all the time." In 1832 the New England Assosiation said that “Children should not be allowed to labor in the factories from morning till night, without any time for healthy recreation and mental culture,” for it “endangers their . . . well-being and health”(Continue to
The fight against labor received a good response from federal politicians. In the midst of this period children at a very young age were working in factories to support family. Children, under the age of fourteen, have been working eight hours a day for more than six days a week. Boys working in coal mines were crawling into newly blasted areas as well as other dangerous circumstances. Jane Addams helped bring up the facts that people were stuck in the admiration of the achievements of the industries they forgot about the children themselves (doc. C). With her influence, as well as others, the Child Labor Act was passed. There was not much impact because some industries continued to have young children working in their factories. In 1916 the Keating-Owen act was passed forbidding interstate shipment from factories employing children under the age of fourteen or children between fourteen and sixteen who work more than eight hours a day, overnight or more than six days a week. In 1918, in the Hammer vs. Dagenhart case Roland Dagenhart argued the Keating-Owen act was not a regulation of commerce (doc. G). He believed according to the tenth amendment the state should make the rules for child labor. He felt protected by the Fifth Amendment giving them the right to allow his children to work. The Supre...
Throughout time children have worked myriad hours in hazardous workplaces in order to make a few cents to a few dollars. This is known as child labor, where children are risking their lives daily for money. Today child labor continues to exist all over the world and even in the United States where children pick fruits and vegetables in difficult conditions. According to the article, “What is Child Labor”; it states that roughly 215 million children around the world are working between the ages of 5 and 17 in harmful workplaces. Child labor continues to exist because many families live in poverty and with more working hands there is an increase in income. Other families take their children to work in the fields because they have no access to childcare and extra money is beneficial to buy basic needs. Although there are laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, stronger enforcement is required because child labor not only exploits children but also has detrimental effects on a child’s health, education, and the people of the nation.
Jane Addams wrote the book (The spirit of Youth and the City Streets, 1909) Examining the causes of the youth in the city then argues in her book about the importance of providing direction and focus through art, public enjoyment, and education. (Doc C) Lewis Hine, a muckraking photographer took photos of child labor and raised public empathy for the children working in such horrible conditions. In 1916 during president Wilson's presidency, the Child labor Act was passed; this meaning outlawing companies from using children under fourteen years old. The anti-child labor was able to win support from the federal government and achieve a great deal of success. (Doc
...them to move in crowded spaces in factories or mines where adults would not fit. Children were easier to manage and control and most importantly paid less than adults. Although child labor has been substantially eliminated it still causes a problem in a few areas of the economy. The United States has yet to eliminate all abuse and violations. United States has come to meet the intentions of child labor reform byhelping to determine the laws and general practice andchildren should not be full time workers like adults. Meaning children should be in schooling programs getting their education instead of working in hazardous areas and putting themselves in harms way.
“Child Labor in U.S. History.” Child Labor Public Education Project. 2011. Web. 2. April. 2014
Christopher Hibbert’s The English: A Social History, 1066-1945, harshly reflects child labor. The author uses graphic details to portray the horrible work environment that the children, sometimes as young as four and five, were forced to work in. Hibbert discusses in much detail the conditions the children work in, the way they are mistreated, and what was done to prevent child labor.
When child labor is examined, individuals and societies feel moral and emotional tugs. The Freudian super ego is appalled that, especially in the modern world, there would be such a preposterous issue. The Freudian id would rationalize numerous reasons, even justifications, of why child labor exists and would be necessary. Every corner of the earth has known this conflict to one degree or another. In the United States, the conflict is activated or denied with the purchase of an expensive sneaker. The child who is exploited on the other side of the world rarely receives a nod of concern for the slavery he endures. Countless items are similarly purchased with similar child working conditions. The children of note are under fifteen years of age and economically active. There are 120 million of these exploited human beings who work full time, often ten hours per day.
Why are children being forced into labor in todays society? Childhood is a vital and powerful experience in each individual's lifetime. It is the most important and impressionable period of learning. Throughout all of the highs and the lows, childhood is remembered forever. Although children have many rights, in some developing countries these rights are not always protected. Older, manipulative adults are taking advantage of children to make a profit for themselves. This is known as child labor, and it happens much more than many people realize. Child labor is corrupt and there is no place for it in our modern world today.
A young child dies from exhaustion, their limp body has been pushed to the very limit and they finally give in to death and another child has just become a statistic. This child was not even eleven years old. They had just completed their twenty hour day and then stumbled home 6 miles from where they were working. They saw their house in the distance which gave them hope to keep on walking. They dragged their feet towards the corner where they slept; their eyes are drooping not just from physical tiredness but from the pain of living this way. The last thing this little child saw was darkness, the last thing this weak child felt was coldness and the last thing this unfortunate child could do, was give up. At last this child is able to rest. This child was a victim of child labour. So, I ask you; is child labour morally right? I will argue that the exploitation of children is always wrong but that sometimes child labour is a necessary evil. I will also distinguish between child labour and child work.