Final Project, History 2100, Spring 2017, William Paterson University

1. CHILD LABOR REFORM
Presentation done by: Naiomy M. Almonte

2. History of Child Labor
Child labor began to rise in the late 1700s into the
early 1800s. Around this time, the Industrial
Revolution was in full swing and many families did
not have the means to provide for themselves or
their families. This is when children were being
forced to work on family farms. Many families
moved from their rural neighbors into
industrialized cities. In these cities, many children
were put to work in the mills and in the factories.
Around this time, child labor was not looked at as
a negative idea. 2The labor was cheap and
benefited the families the children came from.
Once most families worked in the cities, many job
opportunities were made available for children to
work.

3. History of Child Labor
Children working was viewed as a positive act due
to the fact that it acted as a training for the
children. 1 The boys would were apprenticed until
the ages of eighteen or twenty- one while the
girls were apprenticed until they were eighteen or
married (188). With the money the children were
making, they provided for their families in need,
pay for education, and even pay for a marriage
that will take place in the future. Many children
were forced to leave their families behind to go
work and often times, they would never see their
family again. 2 The boys would often work more
on the heavy side while the girls did less heavy
work like working in sewing mills.

4. History of Child Labor
With all these children working, production
skyrocketed. Companies were benefiting from the
effects of child labor. Children were paid very little
so it did not cost the companies barely anything to
keep the children working there. Since they were
little, children were able to get in between small
spaces that the adults were not able to get through.
However, by doing this children were left in bad
shape. By putting children to work in the factories,
sweatshops, and mills created many harmful effects
on their bodies. Children are much more weaker
than adults and their bodies do not do an efficient
job in resisting any illness that come their way
during the job. Children are not able to stand for
long periods of time which can cause damage to the
child’s legs and back. 1 Because children are working
many long hours, they did not receive the proper
nutrition that their young bodies needed. For the
children working in the factories, safety are not
made clear to the children so when they are asked to
place their hands in a machine that is not off, they
were not aware of the risk they were taking.2 Many
fingers, locks of hair, hands and other body parts
were removed as a result of lack of safety regulation
in the work place.

5. Time for Change
As time went on, people noticed the effects
that child labor not only on the children
themselves but the community as a whole.
Families were no longer families and children
were left mentally, psychically, and emotionally
scared. By this time, the people noticed that
something had to change. Groups of people
came together to fight for the end of child labor.
People came together to fight for the rights of
the children since they could not fight for
themselves. This is the time where child labor
reform was finally taking place. Citizens fought
united to put an end to the horrific act that is
known to be child labor.

6. Time For Change
One of the biggest reasons why the child labor
reform movement was such a success was
because the movement was fought by
regular people who lived through out the
time period. Many people formed
organizations to unite to end child labor.
Some of the organizations includedThe New
England Association of Farmers, Consumer’s
Leagues andWorking Women’s Societies and
the biggest name of them all, the National
Child Labor Committee. Many of these
organizations were led by working women,
and the consumer who fell in the middle
class. 1With the great contributions of all the
organizations and especially the NCLC, child
labor reform laws were put into place to help
protect the childhood and health of those
children who fell victim to the act of the child
labor

7. Start of the NCLA
The National Child Labor Committee was
first founded in 1904 with one mission.
To “promote the rights, awareness,
dignity, well-being and education of
children and youth as they relate to work
and working.“1This organization after
many organizations were already in
place. In a couple of years, it grew to be
one of the biggest and most influential
organizations dedicated to ending child
labor. Many of the organizations’ leaders
carried big names while promoting social
welfare for the country. The NCLA had a
very important base in the efforts of
ending child labor in the United States
uniting everyone from everyday people
to those who were in government
positions.

8. Reform in Action
The National Child Labor Committee main
goal was to make sure the rights of children
were not violated in any way. The NCLC were
made up of everyday people who felt that
child labor was a wrong thing to do.
Everyone from neighbors, parents, local
business owners were involved in the reform.
After putting all the ideas together, the NCLC
created their mission statement. The
organization did not just stop there. A lot of
the work depended on the involvement of
the community. A great deal of civic
engagement was needed in order to make
changes towards child labor. In the poster to
the right it separates the sections into what
society, meaning the government, should do
and things that the people themselves can do
to help fight.

9. Reform in Action
Many other organizations who were not directly
involved with the child labor movement also
made sure to fight for the rights of the children.
1One of the biggest names from the Industrial
Workers of theWorld, Mary Harris Jones helped
organized a march inWashington, D.C. dedicated
to the child labor movement in 1903. She also
played a key role in a strike that she helped
organized on June 14,1903. 2She organized the
Kensington, Pennsylvania, workers’ strike where
out of the 75,000 workers that attended 10,000 of
those workers were children. Another women
who was involved in the reform name JaneAdams
fought to raise awareness towards the issue of
child labor. Another women who fought for child
labor reform was Florence Kelly. 2 Kelly was a
social reformer who worked tirelessly in ending
child labor. She was also the a key role in starting
the NationalChild Labor Committee.

10. Making Strides
When the NCLC first started, their main goal to put
an end to child slavery. In order to do this, the
NCLC created several pieces of legislation. The
NCLC started an educational campaign and
developed a Federal Children’s Bureau. 1 The NCLC
quickly gained support from theWhite House in
order to help pass laws that prohibited children
working. In 1912, PresidentTaft a bill that was
created by Congress which created the Children’s
Bureau. 2 Strides were being made in 1916 when
the NLC helped draft the first federal child labor
law. This law prohibited the movement across
state line if the age minimum was violated. 3
However, in making strides, setbacks took place. In
1918, the draft was found unconstitutional because
Southern Cotton Manufactures argues the fact that
the topic of child labor is something that should be
handled by the states and not the federal
government. 4

11. Making Strides
1 In the early 1900s many organizations with
the National Child Labor Committee
challenged child labor by campaigning
against sweatshops and other work as
well. The main goal of all of these
organizations was to get the children and
education they deserved. What people
wanted was for children to be working
less and study more. They also helped to
establish the Fair Labor Standards Act in
1938 which helped to set regulations for
child labor. 1

12. Never Say Never
What many people do not know about child labor
laws is that they existed in the 1830s and on. They
just were never enforced or did not receive the
amount of support that was needed to pass he law.
In 1924, Congress passed an amendment that gave
the federal government control to regulate child
labor. 1 However, it was not passed because not
enough states ratified the amendment. The same
attempt was made again in 1937. 2 This time, they
were closer but still came up short. A third attempt
was made again in 1938 and this time, the
amendment was ratified and that is when it
became known to be the Fair Labor Standards Act
(FLSA) which finally gave the federal government
control of regulating the work hours of certain
ages. 3

13. It’s the LittleVictories…
The road to abolishing child labor was a
difficult one for the different organizations
who were fighting to end it. Along the way,
many small laws were being put in place. In
1836, trade unions came out with the first
proposal in which they recommended to the
states to establish minimum ages to start
work in the factories. 1 In the same year,
Massachusetts forced children who working
under 15 to go to school for at least three
months out of the year. 2 In 1876, the
Working Men’s party recommended banning
any kind of employment to children under
the age of fourteen. 3 In 1892, with the
recommendations of union workers, the
democratic party created a campaign to ban
children from under fifteen in working in
factories. 4 In 1937, the United States took a
stand with theWalsh-Healey Act which
stated that the country will not purchase
items made by children who were underage.
5 People wanted their children to be in school
and not in the factories.

14. The FLSA released their standards in 1938 in order to
regulate child labor in the United States. Their
standards are as follows:
1. “Minimum age for employment is sixteen.” 1
2. “Children between the ages of 14-15 are able to work
outside of school as long as the work does not interfere
with the child’s health or well-being.” 2
3. “Hours of work for children aged 14-15 are as follows:
three hours per school day, eighteen hours per school
week, eight hours per non-school day, and forty hours
per non-school week.”3
4. “Children aged 16-17 may work in nonhazardous jobs
for an unlimited number of hours.” 4
5. “People ages 18 and up may perform in job hazardous
with no hourly restrictions but in agreement with
minimum wage and overtime requirements.” 5
These are still the regulations that are followed today
with a few exceptions across each state
Regulations of the FLSA

15. Children Deserve More
Child labor reformers believed that children
deserved more than the life they were living. They
believed that children were supposed to be in
school studying, not working long hours in the
factory. Many Southern however feared that child
labor would be regulated which meant their
companies would lose profit. 1 The NCLC created
their campaign with the basis that children would
receive a few education.
Many children suffered many physical damages as a
result of working at young age. Some
consequences of working at young ages include
- Rapid skeletal growth 2
- Greater risk of hearing loss 3
- Higher chemical absorption rates 4
Employers did not take the time to properly train the
children in the work that was expected of them which
is why so many injuries during work happened to the
children.

16. Conclusion
■ Child labor like everything else that happened in the country was a learning process.
However because of this, many children were left without an education and left with
many physical and emotional damages. The NationalChild Labor Committee was just
one of the many examples that showed that anyone can make a change. The group
was made up of anyone who believed child labor was wrong from parents, neighbors,
organization leaders and even the President. The NCLC showed tremendous effort in
civic engagement and put what they thought was best for the community first. They
saw an issue and wanted to resolve with the help of everyone. They faced many
difficulties, but in the end made sure child labor was regulated fairly.

17. Bibliography
■ Schmitz, Cathryne L.,Traver, Elizabeth KimJin, Larson, Desi. (2004) Child Labor
A GlobalView. pp,.Westport,CT: Greenwood PublishingGroup Inc
■ Hine, Lewis. 1908. Girls running warping machines. Gastonia, North Carolina.
research.archives.gov/description/523104.
■ Hine, Lewis. Macon,Georgia. http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/heart-
breaking-pictures-of-child-labor-in-usa/83587288/.
■ Hine, Lewis. Sweeper and Doffer Boys. Lancaster, South Carolina.
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/heart-breaking-pictures-of-child-
labor-in-usa/83587288/
■ Child Labor Education Project. Child Labor inU.S. History. www.continue
tolearn.uiowa.edu.
https://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.
html April 23, 2017.
■ Child Labor Education Project. Health Issues. www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu.
https://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.
html April 24,2017.