Child Labor In The 1800s

Children have worked in the United States since the arrival of the first colonists. The industrial revolution changed the era to the modern factory system. Factories grew up and were demanding on a labor supply of women and children. Children were seen as a cheap source of factory labor. In the 19th century, child labor has become so extensive and part of economic in the country. In the beginning, most of the children worked on family farms and in family industries, but as the number of factories grew, the number of child labor also increased. Even though child labor became common thing in the country at that moment, however, the social conscience began to against some features of the factory system that tend to be affected for children. The first concerns were that children who work in factory were growing up without receiving a proper education. Working in factory seems like time-consuming which left little time for study. In 1813, Connecticut enacted a law encouraging manufactures to provide young employees with lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but the law was ineffective. In 1836, Massachusetts passed United States’ first child labor law – legislation that required children under the age of 15 employed in manufacturing to spend at least 3 months …show more content…
Children from age 6- 7 years were recruited to work 13-hour days for low wages in the factories. In the early 1900s, there was a development of idea that country should provide for the general protection of children. In 1909, the Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a landmark report on working women and children. By 1913, nine States had fixed 14 years as the minimum age for factory work, and a majority of the States had extended this minimum to stores and other specified places of employment. In 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was enacted as the Federal law governing minimum wages, overtime, child labor, and