Child Labor During The Progressive Era Essay

8. 15. Concerns for child labor were that children were working too long and not getting and education. The parliament passed an act called the English Factory Act of 1833 that stated; children fewer than nine could not be hired, the children from nine to thirteen could only work nine hour days, and the people to employ these children had to

Kelley gives several examples of different laws in different states allowing children to work long hours at young ages. One example given describes even the lack of restrictions on child labor whatsoever. “In Georgia there is no restriction whatever! A girl of six or seven years…may work eleven hours by day or by

In 1833, the Factory Act of 1833 was passed to improve the working conditions for children who labored in factories. A source reveals, “Young children were working very long hours in workplaces where conditions were often terrible,” (Document 10). As this came to the government’s attention, the act was produced by them in an attempt to lessen the abuse of working children, and to treat them more like children. First, the Factory Act limited the hours children could work in factories. The act states, “Children of 9-13 years to work no more than nine hours a day; children of 13-18 years to work no more than 12 hours a day,” (Document 10). Children were also not allowed to work at night. By having working hours reduced, children were able to fit in time to play, sleep, and get an education. It also reduced fatigue, as the children weren’t on their feet as long, and they got in more time to sleep. Secondly, within the act, there was a rule limiting the age children must be to work in factories. No children under the age of nine were allowed to work in the factories,” (Document 10). Although this decreased the amount of money coming in for each family, it allowed the children to get educations, have more free time, and help their

The English Factory Act of 1833 says that children under the age of eighteen are not allowed to work at night after this act is established on January 1st. Children who are under the age of nine are not allowed to work in the factories. Another factory act is that children who are between the ages of nine and thirteen are allowed to work maximum nine hours a day in factories and mills. For children ages between nine and thirteen, who work in mills for manufacturing silk are allowed to work ten hours a day. Children who are between the ages of thirteen through eighteen are allowed to work twelve hours a day.

Callum Babbs Mr.Green AP US History 20 April 2018 The Progressive era was a period full with the desire to better life in the industrial age by creating modest political adjustment and social improvements through government action. A lot of progressives had like goals of limiting the power of big businesses, improving democracy for the people, and making social justice stronger. Although the progressives had managed to better the life quality and made a precedent for a more active role for the federal government, it is obvious that they didn’t succeed in solving many big problems they were faced with.

“ In 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.”(Foner) Child labor is a terrible thing that children have to go through. Although this was not considered a problem because of how normal it was.(Foner.). But due to the work of investigative journalist children today no longer have to worry about working in these dangerous environments.

The progressive era was filled with many pros and many cons which consist of child labour, workplace safety and big business which happened to rule over many small business’. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Leland Stanford were known as 3 of the wealthiest men alive as their business’ expanded widely throughout the progressive era. Child labour was common within factories as children would work for for long hours which either ranged from 10-12 hours or, would work until they got the job done. Child labour spread quickly as children would work in unhealthy conditions. Unsafe working conditions had not only been in the children’s jobs but had also ranged throughout many adults jobs. Windows were often fastened and darkened with paint, their would be very little light leaving employees with poor eyesight.

I would set age limits because you can’t have young children working in unsafe places especially since they don’t have the intelligence and are too young to develop skills to work. Most importantly it just heinous and very immoral. We can’t have young children working anywhere in the world, straight up. Depending on the work, the age limit will differ but won’t be too young. An example, in places such as garment factory, I could set the age limit at 16 and working at a railroad at 21. I would do this because by the time of both ages, they would have acquired the mental and physical strengths to work in both the

Prior to this act taking place there were no regulation for the employment of workers to include children and the safety

By 1900, 18% of all American workers were under 16, and more than 1.5 million children between 10 and 15 (20% of all 10 to 15 year-olds in the country) were employed. This increase in child labor was good for the factory managers, who could pay them less and found them less likely to complain or strike. However, they angered

The practice of Child Labor in America in the early 1900s had a devastating impact on generations of children. This mainly impacted children of poor and disadvantaged families; these families tended to suffer from generations of debt or were new immigrants to America. These children worked long hours which they did not get paid nearly enough for. They worked hard, dangerous jobs daily. In the 1900s, children chose to support their families in times of need rather than furthering their education, for which they did not get paid nearly enough. These jobs affected their health poorly and had a negative impact on their childhood and development. Children of poor families in cities suffered the most during the Industrial Revolution, because they had to work long hours, did hard jobs, and often sacrificed their health and education to support their struggling families.

Even though the reluctance of state legislators to ratify the child-labor amendment, legislative attempts to deal with the problem nationally continued, notably during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The National Industrial recovery Act, passed by Congress in 1933, established a minimum age of 16 for workers in most industries. In hazardous industries a minimum age level of 18 was established. This law contributed to a great decrease in the number of yond workers, but the Supreme Court ruled the act unconstitutional in 1935. In the next year the Congress passed the Walsh-Healey Act, which prohibits firms producing goods under federal government contract from employing boys and girls less than 16 years of age.

Believe it or not, before 1938, there was a time when children as young as 8-10 years old (sometimes even younger) would be forced to work until midnight or later in America during the time of the industrial revolution (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2001). There were simply no laws to regulate the maximum number of hours that children could work, how old they had to be, or how much they had to at least be paid. Thus, in 1938, Congress invoked its constitutional powers to regulate interstate commerce and passed a law known as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that addresses these malpractices by employers.

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.

When most people hear child labor, their minds automatically think of places such as Africa, China, India, and Mali, but the truth is that even in the United States of America, it was a big problem. Child labor peaked especially between the nineteenth and twentieth century on account of the Industrial Revolution. Employers were in dire need of workers, and parents were in dire need of money to sustain themselves, therefore more and more children were forced to work. Children went out and worked in mines, factories, and farms under dangerous and treacherous conditions. People began disapproving and demanded laws to regulate child labor and a reform movement was started.