Figure 1.--This photo was taken in North Pownal, Vermont (September 1911). Clarence Wool, 11 years old, worked as a cotton spinner during the summer vacations. Source: Library of Congress LC-DIG-nclc-05281.

The first tenative steps toward restricting child labor in the United Sttes began in the mid-19th century. After the Civil War, corporations used the 14th Amendment to block social legislation at the Federal level. Only in the late-19th century, however, did child labor begin to become an important national issue. It was pursued by the Progressive Movement that became increasingly influential after the turn-of-the 20th century. Socially conscious photographers took heart-breaking photographs of children whose childhood was ruined because they had to work, often in horendous conditions. One of the most important of these photographers was Lewis Wickes Hine. Mjor journals carried the work of muckraking journalists who high-lighted this and other social issues. Two especially important magazines were McClure's Magazine and The American Magazine. Addressing the issue of child labor proved very difficult because of the Federal system. It was considered a responsibility of the states. Here considerble progress was made in the northern states, especially as labor unions gained in strength. The Southern states were more reluctant to move to limit child labor. Finally Congressed passed the Fair Labor Standards Act which included proisions on child labor (1938). This was the last major piece of New Deal legislation. Given the fact that Republicans and conservtive Southern Democrats gained in the 1938 Congressional By-election, this was a major achievement of President Roosevelt. And althouh he failed in his effort to pack the Supreme Court, by 1938 he had made enough appointments to the Court that the Act was not overturned by the Courts.

Early State Efforts

The first tenative steps toward restricting child labor in the United Sttes began in the mid-19th century. One of the first actions agaimst child labor was a resolution adopted by New England unions (1832). The New England Association of Farmers, Mechanics and Other Workingmen passed a resolution stting that �Children should not be allowed to labor in the factories from morning till night, without any time for healthy recreation and mental culture� because it �endangers their ... well-being and health.�

The 14th Amendment

After the Civil War, the Republicans passed the 14th Amendment to guarantee citizenship for the freed slaves. Corporations seized on the 14th Amendment to block social legislation at the Federal level. The 14th Amendment creates a set of guarantees for United States citizenship; prohibits states from abridging citizens' privileges or immunities and rights to "due process" and the "equal protection" of the law. Corporate lawyers argued that the protection afforded by the 14th Amendment included not only individuals, but corporations as well. And thus Federal Government did not have the authority to restrict inter-state commerce. This include laws protecting workers, including women and children. This interpretation was upheld by the business-friendly Supreme Court. The principle of "corporate personhood" was estanlished by the Supreme Court in "Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company" (1886).

The Problem

Child labor was nothing new. It existed well before the Industrial Revolution. Before the Industrial Revolution, human productivity with vasic technology was so low that the enfire family had to work to survive. The industrial revolution chnged tht, the productivity of workers and farmers was increased that as indistrialization porogresses, it was no longer necessary for children to work and in fact it became seen as a social evil. This was born out in Dicken's books like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. Dickens could not have written in the 18th century because child labor at the time was not seen as a a problem or social evil. Child labor in America continued to be a problem into the 20th century. Historians estimate that between one-fifth and one-sixth of all children were employed on a full-time basis and tht child labor was an important part of the American economy. Now 20-30 pecent of children orking was a vast improvemnt over the 19th century and the sitution in many other countries at the time, but America wasthe world'd richest and most ffluent contry with, thanks to the industrial revolution, the economic capability of ending child labor. These children instead of attending school might work as much as 60 hours per week in unsafe factories and mines, paricularly dangerous to children. At the turn-of-the 20th century century there were still few child labor laws protected children from the workplace hazzards. The situation was especially appalling in the textile mills which were moving to the South. Here children worked close by unforgiving machinery. As areult not only were these children not receiving an education tht could allow them to improve themselves, but left many shockingly injured and permanently maimed.

The Progressive Movement

Only in the late-19th century, however, did child labor begin to become an important national issue. It was pursued by the Progressive Movement that became increasingly influential after the turn-of-the 20th century. The Progressive Movement in America was an in part an attempt to address social problems that developed in America after the Civil war as a result of industrialization. Progressives also addressed some more long term problems such as woman's sufferage. America had changed considerably since the Civil War. The frontier had been settled, America had emerged as the world's greatest agricultural and industrial power, there was an experiment with imperialism, great cities had developed, and huge numbers of immigrants accepted. America bustled with wealth, optimism, and industrial expansion. Many Americans had benefitted from the rise of America as an industrial power. Many Americans had not. Large numbers of Americans subsisted on an economic edge. Children and women toiled in sweatshops and mills for pitiful sums. Poor children were often unavle to attend school. Public health programs were week and products sols were sometimes unhealthy. Working conditions were often unsafe and there was no work place protections or disability insurance. There was no protection for widows and orphans and no old age protecion schemes. Prisons and state hospitals for the retarded and mentally ill were commonly horror houses.

Kensington Mill Strike (1903)

America at the onset of the 19th century was a rural country with only a few, fairly small cities. This had begun to change by mid-century when America's industrial cities began to form, mostly in the North. This was was the main reason why the North won the Civil War. One author claims that industrialization annd the resulting urbanization had turned America's cities into 'giant child labor pools'. [Spargo] Children were not sutable for all factory were, some of which required adult size and strength. They were, however, suitable for textile mill work. The mills were highly mechanized. Mill owners were thus some of the major offenders in child labor, often ignoring laws that northern states began to pass. Textile companies at the turn-of-the 20th centuty employed more than 80,000 children, by far the major industrial employer of children. It is important to note that even more children were employed in agricultyre and that indistrialization overall had not only reduced child labor, but increased not onky the number of children in school, but the average number of years completed. But there were undenuably large numers of children who had to work to support their amilies an were being exploited. And large numbers of americns saw this as aocial evil. Pennsylvania was among the worst offenders in the North. One historin writes, between 1860 and the end of the century the percentage of 14 year olds at work jumped from 8 percent to more than 40 percent. [Licht] We are not sure how to interpret or tge source of his data because in the 19th century, most children ended their education in the 8th grade at about 13 years of age. The author goes on to say that in Pgiladelphia, the Kensington mills were 'ground zero' for child labor." The state of Pennsylvnia has outlawed the employment of children less than 12 years old (1840s). The law was simply not enforced. State officials, mill owners, and parents appear to have concluded child labor was an economic necessity tsupport families. A historian points out that this meant no education and thus little future hope as well s very real dangers. �Children who work in the dye rooms and print-shops of textile factories, and the color rooms of factories are subject to contact with poisonous dyes, and the results are often terrible.� [Spargo] The Progressive Movement singled out Pennsylvania as the worst offender in the matter of child labor. One noted social reformer noted that child labor in Pennsylvania, flourished 'almost unchecked'. And perhaps the nost famous social reformer of all wrote in 1905 that, 'there were more children employed in manufacturing industries in the state than in all of the cotton states of the South.' [Adams] The issue suddenly burst on the national spot light. According to one historian during April 1903, �... all the unions in the textile industries of Philadelphia met in convention at the Kensington Labor Lyceum� and agreed to strike for higher wages and reducing the workweek from 60 hours to 55 hours. More than 90,000 textile workers walked off the job. An an estimated 25 percent of the strikers were less than 15 years old. [Scranton]

Children's Crusade

After the textile workers in Kensington, Philadelphia wnt out on strike, Irish immigrant and labor activist Mother Jones vowed to expose what she called the crimes of child labor. The Textile Workers Union demanded that the work-week be reduced from 60 to 55 hours. They also wanted the women and children be prohibited from working night hours. Mother Jones convinced the strike leaders to focus on child labor, the most likely issue to garner public support. Mother Jones then launched a publicity canpign. One of the events she organized was a children's march from Philadelphia to New York. The marchers were 200 and supporting workers. It was streached out over several weeks. Mother Jones made frequent stops along the way to give firey speeches and show the public the impact of exploting children. Many of the children chosen for the march were permanently maimed, living proof of the dangers of the work place. Mother Jones generated enormous publicity for the plight of child laborers -- providing the empetus for Progressive era legislation. The strike itself failed, but it and the March were vital steps in the eradication of child labor.

Photo Journalists

Socially conscious photographers took heart-breaking photographs of children whose childhood was ruined because they had to work, often in horendous conditions. One of the most important of these photographers was Lewis Wickes Hine. The work of these journalists began just as the technology for photo lithography was perfected. This mean thaeir images could be produced in newspapers and magazines. Earlier photographs neededto be engraved, an expensive process. Now with the new lithographic process, these images could be and wre presented to the American people. Discussins of child labor on an academic plain were strongly affected by one's ideological perspective. These images of children could not help, but impact the vewer, no matter what his opinion about the issue theoretically. In addition, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote (1920). And women were more empethetic to children's issues than men. Thus by 1920 there was growing political pressue for action on child labor.

Muckraking Journalism

Major journals carried the work of muckraking journalists who high-lighted this and other social issues. Two especially important magazines were McClure's Magazine and The American Magazine. The hard hitting journalism helped to change public opinion about the need for government action to protect childen.

Shift South

The American industrial revolution began in New England. The availability of running water producung a power source was an important factor. At the time of the Civil War, most American industry was still located in the Northeastern states. The first large industrial establishments has been textile mills. The location in the North reflected the superior entrepreneurial spirit in the North and the availability of both capital and technical experise. Almost no mills were built in the South despite the raw cotton used in these mills was produced in the South. As labor unions began to organize and northern states began passing laws protecting workers and restricting child and female labor, some manufacturrs began to shift their operations south. This process began in the late-19th century. Here the growing strength of unions were a factor. Another factor was the laws passed in northern states protecting women and children. Another major factor were lower average wage rates. The South represented a more benign regulatory environment, And labor unions tended to be weak in the South. The shift was primarily in specific industries. The most impotant was the textile industry. This of course made sence because the cotton was grown in the south. The shift south began in the 1870s. This industry essentially relocated to the southern states which had no or minimal regulations, including restrictions on child labor. By the time of World War II, the shift South was essentilly complete. After World War II the same process was repeated with textile manufacturing generally moving overseas to low-wage and poorly regulated factories in developing companies.

Federalism

Addressing the issue of child labor on a nationl basis proved complicated because of the Federal system. It was considered a responsibility of the states. Here considerble progress was made in the northern states, especially as labor unions gained in strength. The Southern states were more reluctant to move to limit child labor. Efforts to pass Federal child labor laws resulted in the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act (1916). This was overturned by the Supreme Court Hammer v. Dagenhart decision (1918). The Court ruled that that child labor involved manufacturing and was therefore a state concern. As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, it was apparent that a Constitutinal amendment would be ecessary for Congressional action on child labor. Congress proposed an amendment that would have given it the authority to regulate child labor on a national level (1924). Opposition to Federal involvement and the fact that many states already have child labor regulations, meant only 28 states approved the proposed amendment. The Southern states in particular voted against ratification. Voting as a block, the 11 states of the Confederacy alpne were almost enough to block any prpposed Constitutional amendment.

Compulsory School Attenance

Strrongly associated with the fightvfor child labor laws is the struggle for compulsurty school attendance laws. Even before the foundation of the United States, the colonies, especially the northern colonies, had begun to found public schools. The Protestant foundtion of America was a factor here. While public education had an early start, cimpulsory education was a very different matter. The first such law we know of the Massachusetts Bay Colony mandating that parents provide religious instruction for their children. The states went on to found an excellent public school system. Compulsory education was different. It was not until the late-19th century that compulsoru education began to become standard. Again it was the northern states that led the way. Child labor laws proved controvrsial in many states. And the courts struck them down. Compulsory school attendance laws proved less controversial and the courts did not take issue with them like child labor laws. As a result, compulsory attendance laws often precceded child labor laws. They were a way of getting at the problem. Obviously if a child was in school during the day, it limited employment posibilities. Some states like Oregon enacted very strict compulsory public school attendance laws that would have outlawed private schools. The Supreme Court struck this down with the Pierce v. Society of Sisters decision (1925). The Court held unconstitutional an Oregon compulsory attendance law that required children to only attend public schools. Long after the child labor issues had been settld, other issues about school attendance lawsa emrged. The Supreme Court found in Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) that parents had the right to opt out of compulsory attendance for religious reasons.

Final Legislative Steps

The individual states in the late-19th and especially the early-20th century passed many important laws limiting child labor. The northern states including New York led the way in this effort. Finally Congressed passed the Fair Labor Standards Act which included proisions on child labor (1938). This was the last major piece of New Deal legislation. Given the fact that Republicans and conservtive Southern Democrats gained in the 1938 Congressional midterm-election, this was a major achievement of President Roosevelt. And althouh he failed in his effort to pack the Supreme Court, by 1938 he had made enough liberal appointments to the Court that the Act was not overturned by the Courts.

Sources

Adams, Jane.

Kelley, Florence.

Licht, Walter. Getting Work in Philadelphia.

Scranton, Philip.

Spargo, John. The Bitter Cry of the Children (1916).

Created: 6:22 AM 3/2/2009
Last updated: 3:00 AM 1/16/2017