History of Child Labor in America

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History of Child Labor in America
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Child Labor The Situation Child Labor in the
U.S. Early 1600s to mid- 1700s Children are often
sent away from home and "apprenticed out" to
other families to learn a trade. Farm,
marketplace, and house chores are expected of
Colonial American children as young as
3. 1750 With the development of factories, the
cotton mill, and steam power, as well as
urbanization, the Industrial Revolution brings
economic prosperity to some, often at the expense
of children used as cheap labor. Slavery, now
entrenched in America, shatters families and
forces adults and children to work in harsh
conditions for no pay. 1835 Children in New
Jersey silk mills go on strike for an 11-hour
day, 6-day week. 1863 The Emancipation
Proclamation leaves many slave children, already
torn from their parents, completely abandoned and
subject to abuse. 1850s to early 1900s Children,
especially immigrant and orphaned children, work
in sweatshops up to 16 hours a day for only a few
pennies an hour. Conditions are hazardous and
often disease-ridden. Employers prefer child
laborers because they can be paid less than
adults.
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1908 Social activist Lewis W. Hine begins his
four-year project documenting child labor in
America. His photographs of young workers in
cotton mills, selling newspapers after midnight,
in mines, and picking fruit result in the 1916
Keating-Owen Act restricting employment of
children under 14 and barring interstate shipping
of products made by child labor. Two years later,
the Supreme Court finds the law
unconstitutional. 1911 Some 147 employees of the
Triangle Shirtwaist Company, mostly young girls,
die in a famous New York fire. The company's
owners had blocked stairway exits to prevent
"interruption of work." 1914 In Ludlow,
Massachusetts, guards commissioned by John D.
Rockefeller Jr. machinegun union tents during
strike. Twelve children are killed in the "Ludlow
Massacre." 1924 A constitutional amendment on
child labor is proposed only 28 of the necessary
36 states ratify it. 1938 President Roosevelt
signs the Fair Labor Standards Act, limiting
conditions under which children may work and
ensuring that work does not interfere with their
education. He also approves the 40-hour
workweek. 1940s to 1960s After WWII, sweatshops
(defined by the Department of Labor as violating
at least two labor laws, including child labor
laws) greatly diminish due to increased
government regulation of monopolies and the rise
of trade unions.
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1960s With increased immigration, globalization,
and retail-industry changes, sweatshops begin to
reappear. 1970s Researchers report thousands of
underage migrant farm workers, some as young as 4
or 5, employed in the fields during schools
hours. 1980s The United Farm Workers union
estimates 800,000 underage children work
harvesting crops. 1996 More than 250,00 children,
most younger than 15, work illegally, according
to an Associated Press series. 1997 A study by
the U.S. General Accounting Office shows a 250
increase in child-labor violations between 1983
and 1990. 1998 Congress lifts restrictions on
occupational driving for minors after lobbying by
national car dealers' organizations. A Rutgers
University study finds there are 148,000
illegally employed minors in an average week.