CHILD LABOR ABUSE DURING THE 19TH CENTURY

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CHILD LABOR ABUSEDURING THE 19THCENTURY
Mrs. Landolls Young Adult Literature Class Unit
Study for Breaker by N.A. Perez
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WHY DID CHILD LABOR ABUSEEXIST DURING THE EARLY
1900S?

• INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• THE RISE OF IMMIGRATION
• POOR IMMIGRANTS NEEDED JOBS
• NO JOB SECURITY
• VERY LOW WAGES
• CHILDREN MUST WORK TO HELP THEIR FAMILIES
• NASTY AND UNCARING BOSSES
• NO SUPERVISION FOR THE CHILDREN
• SCHOOLING IS NOT A PRIORITY

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SHINE! GET YER SHOE SHINED HERE! SHOE SHINED
MISTER? JUST 5 CENTS! CAN YOU GUESS THE AGE OF
THIS CHILD? WOULD THIS BE LEGAL TODAY? WHAT DOES
THIS PICTURE TELL YOU ABOUT THE ECONOMIC
SITUATION IN THE U.S. IN 1920?
A Bowery bootblack in New York.
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WHAT WAS DONE TO STOP THIS?

• UNFORTUNATELY LAWS TO PROTECT THE YOUNG DID NOT
  EXIST. A MINIMUM WAGE LAW TO HELP REDUCE THE
  AMOUNT OF HOURS A PERSON HAD TO WORK ALSO DID NOT
  EXIST.

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WORKIN IN THE LUMBER YARD. CAN YOU SPOT ANY
DANGERS IN THIS PICTURE?
Young boys working for Hickok Lumber Co.
Burlington, Vt.
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ALL IN THE FAMILY

• IN A LARGE FAMILY, EVERYONE GOT INVOLVED.
  SOMETIMES THEY WORKED TOGETHER ON LARGE PROJECTS,
  GETTING MORE DONE TOGETHER

Mrs. Battaglia with Tessie, age 12, and Tony, age
7. Mrs. Battaglia works in a garment shop except
on Saturdays, when the children sew with her at
home. They get 2 or 3 cents a pair finishing
men's pants. Said they earn 1 to 1.50 on
Saturday. Father disabled and can earn very
little. New York City.
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Faces of Lost Youth
Boys in the packing room at the Brown Mfg. Co.
Evansville, Ind.
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The Mills
Furman Owens, 12 years old. Can't read. Doesn't
know his A,B,C's. Said, "Yes I want to learn but
can't when I work all the time." Been in the
mills 4 years, 3 years in the Olympia Mill.
Columbia, S.C.
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Some boys and girls were so small they had to
climb up on to the spinning frame to mend broken
threads and to put back the empty bobbins. Bibb
Mill No. 1. Macon, Ga.
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The Newsies
Tony Casale, age 11, been selling 4 years. Sells
sometimes until 10 p.m. His paper told me the boy
had shown him the marks on his arm where his
father had bitten him for not selling more
papers. He (the boy) said, "Drunken men say bad
words to us." Hartford, Conn.
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Francis Lance, 5 years old, 41 inches high. He
jumps on and off moving trolley cars at the risk
of his life. St. Louis, Mo.                    
                                                  
                                                  
                                                  
         
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The Mines
View of the Ewen Breaker of the Pa. Coal Co. The
dust was so dense at times as to obscure the
view. This dust penetrated the utmost recesses of
the boys' lungs. A kind of slave-driver sometimes
stands over the boys, prodding or kicking them
into obedience. S. Pittston, Pa.
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Breaker boys, Hughestown Borough Pa. Coal Co. One
of these is James Leonard, another is Stanley
Rasmus. Pittston, Pa.
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Bowling Alley boys. Many of them work setting
pins until past midnight. New Haven, Conn.
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Fish cutters at a Canning Co in Maine. Ages range
from 7 to 12. They live near the factory. The 7
year old boy in front, Byron Hamilton, has a
badly cut finger but helps his brother regularly.
Behind him is his brother George, age 11, who cut
his finger half off while working. Ralph, on the
left, displays his knife and also a badly cut
finger. They and many youngsters said they were
always cutting themselves. George earns a 1 some
days usually 75 cents. Some of the others say
they earn a 1 when they work all day. At times
they start at 7 a.m. and work all day until
midnight.
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At 5 p.m., boys going home from Monougal Glass
Works. One boy remarked, "De place is lousey wid
kids." Fairmont, W. Va.
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Joseph Severio, peanut vender, age 11 seen with
photographer Hine. Been pushing a cart 2 years.
Out after midnight on May 21, 1910. Ordinarily
works 6 hours per day.
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Norris Luvitt. Been picking 3 years in berry
fields near Baltimore.
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Shrimp pickers, including little 8 year old Max
on the right. Biloxi, Miss
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What About Today?

• It is estimated that between 100 million and 200
  million children of the world under the age of 15
  work.
• Unicef's 1997 report on the state of the world's
  children has focused specifically on the problem
  of hazardous child labor.
• Western media has started informing Americans of
  the conditions of soccer ball workers, soccer
  ball assemblers in Asia, rug makers in Pakistan,
  glass makers in India and textile workers in Asia
  and Central America.

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• Codes of conduct for American industries such as
  sports equipment and textile manufacturers are
  essential to stopping the importation of goods
  made by child labor either correctly or
  indirectly.
• Huge and popular names like Disney, Gap, Nike,
  Getz, Arizona, Eddie Bauer, and Gitano have been
  directly linked to overseas and in some cases
  national sweatshops where they can take advantage
  of the cheap and hard working supplies of local
  labor.

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Over the next several weeks, we will be reading
Breaker by N. A. Perez. We will also be reading
articles that concern child labor around the
world. As we read the book, keep in mind that
child labor is still alive today. This issue is
important and we need to be aware of all the
different aspects. We are talking about humans,
after all.
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Sources for Powerpoint

• Photographs of Lewis Hine Child Labor in America
  1908-1912
• http//www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabo
  r/index.html
• Marc John-Baptiste http//www.maxwell.syr.edu/pleg
  al/tips/t3prod/john-baptistepp1_files/frame.html