Analysis Of The Bitter Cry Of The Children

As a result of the rapidly industrializing economy of America, there was a greater want for child workers. However, the working conditions were dangerous. The children would develop problems such as asthma and would end up having bent backs from working which would cause most of them to not live longer than forty years. John Spargo, a muckraker who wrote The Bitter Cry of the Children, visited a mine to document and expose the cruel working conditions. He worked for thirty minutes and was barely able to breathe inside the mines from all of the coal dust and was physically worn down. Another problem was the length of the work days which were ten hours per day. Spargo noted how some of these kids didn’t have time to go to school and thus, were …show more content…
Owen visited an English coal mine and asked a kid if he knew about God. The kid didn’t know about God and thought God was a kid working in a different mine. The children were denied their rights for education and didn’t have freetime to enjoy their childhood. Reformers like Owen and Spargo helped to spread awareness of these injustices, which led to greater action against them. As a result of the growing sentiment against child labor, the Keating-Owen Act was passed. It was created in 1916 and was the first federal law to regulate child labor. The National Child Labor Committee, who helped sponsor the law, was an organization with the goal of spreading awareness of the horrible conditions of children labor. They would spread awareness through images and pictures in attempt to end child labor. The Keating-Owen Act would prohibit the shipment of goods produced by underage children across state lines. However, the supreme court ruled the act to be unconstitutional. As a result, a campaign arose for the ratification of the Child Labor Amendment, and in 1941, the Keating-Owens act was reinstated and remains in effect …show more content…
Reformers felt that the government at all levels needed to be strengthened to fulfill progressive tasks and to keep businesses and parties in check. One objective achieved was the implementation of the secret ballot, which was meant to curb the power of political parties and bosses. Political parties usually controlled the distribution of ballots and only allowed party candidate names on the ballot, making it difficult to vote for someone in another party. Before the introduction of the secret ballot, political bosses were able to sit with voters and manipulate their decisions. With the government-printed secret ballot coming into use, people were able to fill out the ballot in privacy, which in turn would weaken political party and boss influence over politics. Another way reformers restrained the power of political parties and restrained corruption was by electing nonpartisan committees and by appointing city managers who assisted elected officials in running the government. Tom Johnson, the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, famously reformed his city by taking power away from bosses and strengthening the city government. Many reformers seeked to give more political power to the people. Senators used to be picked by the state legislature, but the work of the Populists led to the enactment of the