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Child labor laws during the industrial era
Child labor laws during the industrial era
Child labor laws during the industrial era
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My research paper is about the breaker boys and how they spent the majority of their lives in climate conditions, clothing/glove problems and finally, exhaustion problems (Hindman, Hugh D). However, before I mainly get into how the majority of their lives were as children and elderly. I am going to tell you what a breaker boy is and what they are supposed to do and how they do it. A breaker boys was not exactly a coal miner, they did the most labor in the coal mine. They’re jobs were to separate the impurities from the coal that were often mixed with impurities such as rock, slate, sulfur, ash (or bone), clay, or soil for 12 hours non-stop. However, breaker boys were mainly children from ages 8 - 12, but some were elders that could not work …show more content…
The breaker boys began in the U.S. and the U.K. in the 1860’s, but mainly began with the breaker boys in the 1880’s, but ended in the 1920’s because of the progressivism stopped it. Now I will tell you how the progressivism stopped it. The progressivism stopped by first, muckraking the breaker boys association or union. Teddy Roosevelt read it and so did other people (McDowell, John). He tried as much as he could to set child labor laws and finally got the vote in 1919 by Woodrow Wilson setting the Tax on Employment of Child Labor act, the court then ruled this as unconstitutional. Then finally in 1941, the court overruled the 1918 act and now kids below 18 years of age were not allowed to work outside of school because of any jobs that could cause any health problems like the breaker boys would (parents were half and half on this one because of the fact that they got less money to help out their families with, but on the other hand, they were happy that their children were now safe from health issues or problems). That is mainly how the breaker boys were lives were, and how they were stopped by the help of muckrakers, Teddy Roosevelt, and finally, Woodrow
Using Leon Czolgosz as a platform from which to examine the ills of 1900’s society, Rauchway expounds upon their implications for America’s immediate future, and how they, in combination with McKinley’s murder, helped set the stage for Theodore Roosevelt and his administration. Why would a man like Leon Czolgosz have assassinated the president? How did this reflect and affect public sentiment, and how did the tier of American society that Czolgosz represented– the unhappy, alienated and downtrodden working class– provide Roosevelt with the opportunities he needed to make drastic change? Rauchway offers answers to each of these questions, while illustrating along the way that Czolgosz was neither insane nor truly an anarchist, Roosevelt was not quite the spontaneous, apolitical figure he pretended to be, and McKinley’s murder, tragic though it was, was in some ways a necessary evil.
They were forced to go out to work and make a rapid transition into adulthood. In these work places they, like any other adult, had a limited amount of time to eat. Patience Kershaw, a miner at the age of 17 recalls having cake for dinner- in inadequate dinner- and she does “not stop or rest at any time for the purpose” referring to her inability to eat throughout the day . She of course is not the only one, Elizabeth Bentley who works in the mills was asked whether she had the opportunity to eat in the factory. The 23 year old who began working at the age of 6 replied with a “no” saying how she had little to eat. The human rights were furthermore diminished as I read further on about the consequences there were if a child were to arrive late to work or became drowsy. Clearly the long hours and often times the long travel from home to work would severely tire anyone, to keep the kids under control and alert while working, the over lookers resorted to strapping them “when they became drowsy”. Matthew Crabtree explains the dread that these kids had of getting beaten, due to the fear they had we can infer that the means of physical abuse was prevalent in these factories. In the mines the young girls and women had to adapt to the conditions of their workplace. The vigorous lifting and loading was a strenuous activity done by both sexes, males worked naked to combat heat while females also worked
Often, children were forced to work due to money-related issues, and the conditions they worked in were terrible. Children worked in coal mining, such as at Woodward Coal Mining in Kingston, Pennsylvania (Doc. 7). Children were used to make the process of producing products cheaper, and they were paid low wages; the capitalists hired children just to keep the process of making products going and to make profit. One cause of child labor in harsh conditions was the unfateful fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City in 1911. Teenaged immigrant girls that were employed there worked under sweatshop-like conditions. The building they worked in was inadequately equipped in case of a fire, for the doors were locked, leaving no exit for the girls, and the single fire escape collapsed with the rescue effort; as a result, when the fire started, they were unable to escape. 145 workers were killed, but the company owners were not penalized harshly for this tragedy. This further demonstrates that capitalists were able to get away with the harsh conditions that they put their laborers, especially child laborers, through for their own benefit, which is making more money and using any means to get it, even if those means are low wages and harsh working
...t ruled them as unconstitutional and the Progressives were back to the drawing board. Congress attempted to pass more of these laws in 1924, but “the conservative political climate of the 1920s, together with opposition from some church groups and farm organizations that feared a possible increase of federal power in areas related to children, prevented many states from ratifying it”( Yellowitz). Enforcement of reforms were also lackluster. In the case of child labor which was restricted in 1938, enforcement of said reform was said that “effectiveness in enforcement varies from state to state(Yellowitz). However, the push from Progressives were effective in setting the foundation for later vital laws. Without this push, who knows how much longer it would have taken for the government to pass social and economic regulations that the populace deems as normal today.
Young children were exploited and quick pace but an unnecessary burden on the children. In the early 1800’s, it was common to put children on dangerous machinery because of their small quick fingers, such as tying broken threads on the machine, while the machine was running. Child workers were separated from parents and placed under the supervision of strangers. Parents extremely disliked the unorthodox method of having their child work under someone outside the family. The improvement in machinery, humanitarian concerns, and parents convinced Britain to pass child labor laws in 1833. Not having children in the workforce created a new belief that childhood was for education, not for work. Labor discipline was one of the major reasons why child labor laws came into
One factor of the Progressive Era was the making of Child Labor Laws. During this time, many children didn’t attend school because they were working 10-12 hours a day in mills and factories. Also, children as young as 8 years old were put to work to fit in smaller places adults couldn’t fit in. The results were that many of their lives were
Throughout history, children have always worked, either as apprentices or servants. However, child labor reached a whole new scale during the time period of the Industrial Revolution. Throughout the time frame of late 1800s-early 1900s, children worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little wages. They were considered useful as laborers because their small stature allowed them to be cramped into smaller spaces, and they could be paid less for their services. Many worked to help support their families, and by doing so, they forwent their education. Numerous nineteenth century reformers and labor groups sought to restrict child labor and to improve working conditions.
One of the reasons was people started complaining about all the jobs going to children. This is the main reason child labor laws were originally put into place. It was supposed to be a preventative measure to ensure jobs for adults. The jobs children were allowed to do were simpler and, therefore, safer. Not every adult had this point of view through. Many people advocated for child labor to stop for moral reasons. Charles Dickens wrote the book Oliver Twist in attempt to try to draw attention to the children who suffered due to factory work. This is because Charles Dickens was a child worker
...his was because at the time, thanks to machinery, a worker only needed a small skill set, to accomplish a job that was formerly difficult. They were also employed for their size. This did not come without it’s problems. Child workers faced harsh conditions. They were beaten and abused. They were also paid much less than any regular worker. 13
The children work in various conditions, suffering numerous injuries. In boot factories, children are forced to sit so close together that they poke each other with needles: “many have lost an eye in this way” (595). The children work “unreasonably long hours” (595). Chimney sweepers in particular work long hours, starting at about four a.m. and working for twelve hours. These chimney sweepers sleep in bags of soot, wrapping themselves in the bags and straw. They are subjected to suffocating steam, heat, flying hot metal, and the “unhealthiest kind of grinding known” (595). Those who are employed in mills endure lung problems, scrofula, mesenteric diseases and asthma.
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...
Swaying the minds of factory owners was a difficult feat because the owners loved child labor and supported the idea that it was good for the economy and character building to the children forced to provide for their families. The parents of the child laborers basically had no choice but to support the work due to the need of the extra income. There were some very important people that fought for the regulation, improvement, and abolishment of child labor despite the consequences. In 1833, the Factory Act began the first steps towards a better work environment. This limited the amount of hours allowed for children to work based on age. Children nine to thirteen were only permitted to work an eight hour shift. Fourteen and eighteen year olds could work no more than twelve hours a day. Also, children under the age of nine were no longer allowed to work at all. This made a huge improvement in the education of the children because they had to go to school for two hours a day at the minimum. Later, in the 20th century, activist went even further to protect the working children. The Hull House was founded by Jane Addams and the Children’s Bureau was established in 1912. This made it possible for child labor to be
Imagine waking up at five in the morning to walk over a mile to a factory where you work until noon where you get a half hour break for lunch, then it’s back to work until nine or ten at night, when you are finally allowed to go home and you are only eight years old. Today that seems unimaginable, but during the early 19th century it was the everyday life of thousands of children whose ages range from as young as five until you died. During the Industrial Revolution many children were required to work dangerous jobs to help their families.
Coal mines were a source of heavy profits during the Industrial Revolution. Children worked in coal mines where accidents ...
...for to work for little amount of money, and they used them in industries and big factories cause for children to start working in early ages as ten years old. Keep them from attending school. Threatens children’s physical, mental, or emotional well-being, and violate the nation age worker law.