Child Labor?

Another topic idea I had was child labor. Heres some history on it that I thought was neat and shocking.

Child labor is the use of young children for work in various places such as factories, mines, sweatshops, and mills. It began as early as 1619 in Colonial America. There was a desperate need for workers among American and British companies, so the use of poor children became popular. America quickly accepted the concept of child labor, since it was less harsh than England. From the beginning spirituality has been a major part of everyday life, and it as believed that idleness was a sin. Therefore having your child work, kept them busy while teaching them responsibility and “building character”. The public wasn’t very informed on the issue of how cruel child labor was; it was only known that their beatings weren’t as harsh as in England. It also made the public happy to know that business owners kept girls out of the coal mines.



The north and south both found a use for child labor. The south always had a place in the tobacco industry, and children by the age of four were able to start working. Later on, children, even really young ones, were used as oyster shuckers. In the south they also tended to use children as black slave replacements in mills and factories. The north also tended to use young children in factories and mills; in fact the textile industry relied greatly on the work of kids. The north also found a use for children, especially boys, as newsboys. Other jobs could be cotton spinners, sweepers, sweatshop workers, breaker boys, construction help, sewing services ect.

Work as a child was not easy. They had long hours; ten to twelve hours a day, including Saturdays. This often was during a school term as well. Various companies actually encouraged parents to take their kids out of school and have them start working, and in some cases parents believed that education was a waste of time to their children. Jon Wild, an employee from the Fall River, Massachusetts mill stated that “when he [a child worker] gets done in the mill, he is ready to go to bed. He has to be in the mill ten minutes before we start up [in the morning], to wind spindles. Then he starts about his own work and keeps till dinner time. Then he goes home, starts again at one, works till seven. When he’s done he’s tired enough to go to bet. Some days he has to clean and help scour during dinner hours [at the mill]…Some days he has to clean spindles. Saturdays he’s in all day.” This is the schedule for a typical mill working child, if they don’t have school to worry about. The thing is without an education most children were illiterate. And since during that time period, spirituality was a big deal, reading the Bible was also very important. It was also a concern that America’s future generation would be illiterate, unless they were upper class. So in 1813 Connecticut passed the first set of laws requiring manufacturers to provide young workers to learn how to read, write and some arithmetic. Though this law was not enforced very well, and with eighty-four hour weeks, there was little time for learning. Yet the idea spread and in 1836 Massachusetts required all workers under the age of fifteen to attend school three months out of the year.