Child Labor In The Industrial Revolution

At this time in history, there were “two million children under the age of sixteen” working to provide for their families, and some kids beginning labor at the tender ages of “six and seven years (in the cotton

When Cornelius Vanderbilt died he left his $100 million fortune to his son William Vanderbilt and they both had the same attitude. During the Gilded Age these big business and their owners were thought of as being Robber Barons or Captains of Industry. The poor working conditions that were provided, the corruption they led in government, and their use of child labor shows that they were Robber Barons. Children were used in labor to work a lot and most days of the week. Kids as young as 5 often worked as much as 12 to 14 hours a day for barely any pay.

During the Eighteenth and the early Nineteenth centuries, Child labor was a major part of the industrial revolution, especially in Great Britain where child labor was a large part of the working class and soon became a social and political problem/issue. In late Eighteenth century child labor became a necessary thing for the working class and society of Britain and other countries such as modern day Germany and America. Children were hired because they could do jobs the adults simply couldn 't do because of their sheer size and incapability to do certain things like clean chimneys and fix the machines in the

While some might argue that industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of new machines, it was actually a negative thing for society. Industrialization’s negative effects were child labor, disgusting living conditions, and hard, dangerous, filthy jobs for little pay. One of the negative effects of Industrialization was child labor. Many children worked during the Industrial Revolution because they needed to support their families. Lots of them started working very young.

During the Industrial Revolution in the United States, labor laws regarding safety and the age of children who could work were non-existent. Unlike today, in a time where strict laws regarding the use of child labor are regarded and respected, during the times of early Industrialism, children worked alongside their parents in an effort to help their families economically. With the turn of the twentieth century came new ideas of the Progressive Era, which forever changed the laws surrounding the use of children in factories and other labor-intensive occupations. However, the struggle behind the efforts to change child labor laws was a long one. With events such as the Newsboy Strike in New York in 1899 to the creation of the Fair Labor Standards

If you instill that in your children and grandchildren at an early age, you can continue to have the family farm. Forms of child labor, including indentured servitude and child slavery, have existed throughout American history. As industrialization moved workers from farms and home workshops into urban areas and factory work, children were often preferred, because factory owners viewed them as more manageable, cheaper, and less likely to strike. Children had always worked, especially in farming. But factory work was hard.

The History of Child labor has shown that the effects

Child labor was another problem presented at this time. At the rate they were going back in 1900, 26% of boys between ten and fifteen were already working, and for girls it was 10% (Background Essay). Child labor was increasing as fast as the children working were dying. An example of this tragic scenario was Dennis McKee, a 15-year-old boy who was smothered to death by coal (Document B). This boy had a family, and that family had to deal with the loss of their son, all to the fault of an industry that thought to use young, able-bodied boys for their work was a fantastic idea.

“Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child labor to the end of time” (Grace Abbott). The issue of child labor has been around for centuries. Its standing in our world has been irrevocably stained in our history and unfortunately, our present. Many great minds have assessed this horrific issue and its effect on our homes, societies, and ultimately, our world.

As the rate of industrialization in America grew during the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, child labor became more and more common. The rapid growth of the economy and the vast amounts of poor immigrants during the Industrial Age in America justified the work of children as young as the age of three. By 1900, over two million children were employed. However, the risks of involving child labor greatly outweighed the positives; child labor was inhumane, cruel, and caused physical deformities among children. Children typically worked in coal mines, mills, and factories which contained many life-threatening hazards.

Child labor during the 18th and 19th century did not only rapidly develop an industrial revolution, but it also created a situation of difficulty and abuse by depriving children of edjucation, good physical health, and the proper emotional wellness and stability. In the late 1700 's and early 1800 's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for making most manufactured items. Many of America 's factories needed a numerous amount of workers for a cheap salary. Because of this, the amount of child laborers have been growing rapidly over the early 1800s.

The early nineteenth century witnessed the great Industrial Revolution, however, the rapid growth of productivity and economy led by the Industrial Revolution was so beyond expectations that the regulations and ideology did not manage to follow up with the changes. This was the ultimate source of various social problems arose. The chosen reading consisted of two sources and both of them were written under this historical background. ‘Child Labor’ laid emphasis on the mysterious life of child labor and called for a new regulation on the working hour of child labor. ‘Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ claimed that the victory of Proletarian would be inevitable by comparing the essence of Bourgeoisie and Proletariat.

It is hard to mark a particular date on which child labor began. Children were always asked by their families to help in the fields or where the parents worked. In addition, when slavery was still in place, children were considered as slaves too. However, there is a real increase of child labor during the industrial revolution during the late 18th century and especially in the 19th.. The need for labor force increased in that period, and since the work was easier, it could be done by children who would not ask for a high salary.

America for example used children in factories because they were small and could move in small spaces in factories or mines where adult could not fit. They were also easier to manage and control and they could be paid less than adults. It was not until the market crashed when the public changed their mind about child labor. In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s when factories in countries such as England and America expanded and started to use machine rather than hand labor child labor became a major issue. As stated in a History of Child Labor by Milton Fried, children were put to work for twelve to eighteen years a day six days a week to earn a dollar.

Child labor was a great problem in the Industrial Revolution. Factory owners usually hired women and children rather than men. They said that men expected higher wages, and they suspected that they were more likely to rebel against the company. Women and children were forced to work from six in the morning to seven at night, and this was when they were not so busy. They were forced to arrive on time and they couldn’t fall behind with their work because if they did they were whipped and punished.