Child Labor

1. Child Labor

2. Farming in the West • Families began moving west to start their own farms. • Each farmer was given 160 acres under the Homestead Act. • As the west expanded, schools were built for children to attend. • Many farm children rarely went to school though...

3. Farming in the West • Farming was hard work and the children were often kept out of school to help. • Children would work long hours in the fields under the scorching sun. • Children were often expected to work with dangerous tools while harvesting crops. • Because they worked on the farm, students would often miss months of school at a time, while some never attended at all.

4. As hard as things were for farm children....

5. ...things were much worse in industrialized cities.

6. Factory Work In 1793, Samuel Slater opened the first mill in Pawtucket, RI. In the U.S., in 1830, 55 % of mill workers in Rhode Island were children. In 1832 In the U.S., people started to question child labor, but laws were not established until much later.

7. Life as a Factory Worker • Young children working in factories endured some of the harshest conditions. • Work days would often be 10 to 14 hours with almost no breaks during the shift. • Factories employing children were often very dangerous places leading to injuries and even deaths. • Machinery often ran so quickly that little fingers, arms and legs could easily get caught.

8. Factory Conditions for Children • Factory owners preferred using children for some tasks because of their small size. • It was more profitable for factory owners to employ children than skilled adults. • Lack of sleep and an averaged 10 to 14 work day contributed to mistakes and injuries. • Some children were mentally and physically abused by their supervisors, and their safety was neglected by factory owners who cared more about profit than well-being.

9. in 1916 a new federal child labor law sets a minimum age for employment . . . . . . but it was declared unconstitutional after just two years.

10. The End of Child Labor in America!! • Minimum ages of employment and hours for child laborers are regulated by federal law in 1937. • This time it is not repealed. • Children are no longer required to work in factories or on farms! • Children across the country were finally free to go to school and play with their friends!

11. ASSIGNMENT • Pick one of the child laborers shown here • Make a fakebook page for your chosen laborer • You must include the following: • The basic information ( name, age, etc.) • 2 statuses about daily life at work • 1 recent activity • 4 major events • 1 quote • you can make this up, just make sure it relates to child labor! Nannie sews in a factory ,1900 Sadie works as a bobbin girl, 1908 Salvin picks cranberries, 1910 Charlie cuts logs, 1913

12. Works Cited Cruickshank, Marjorie. Children and Industry. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981. Marx, Karl. Das Kapital. Vol. I. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company, 1909. Nardinelli, Clark. Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. ---."Were Children Exploited During the Industrial Revolution?" Research in Economic History 2 (1988): 243-276. Rule, John. The Experience of Labour in Eighteenth Century English Industry. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981. Tuttle, Carolyn. "A Revival of the Pessimist View: Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution." Research in Economic History 18 (1998): 53-82.