The Role Of Child Labor In The Progressive Era
Childhood Lost
It took four years, 140,000 deaths, and over 4 million injuries to child employees before the public spoke up in 1904 with the creation of the National Child Labor Committee. One out of five boys would spend his twelve hours of his day laboring at steel and textile factories for the hardly livable wage of ten cents. The social and political unrest created by the institution of child labor throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era had a crucial and lasting influence on American industry, as it set the precedent for all modern labor laws and working regulations.
Many laws and social reforms derived from the increase in demand for child workers. In the beginning of the 20th century, over two million laborers consisted of children under the age of twelve, contributing to over twenty-five percent of total workers (Trattner). The conditions children worked in were generally filthy, hazardous, and detrimental to their health. Committees arose and fought for reforms by enlightening the public through the use of dramatic photography, distressing posters, and personalized letters (Child …show more content…
Exploitation of the youth was due to the fact that children were much more susceptible to the cruelty of industrial work and willing to be paid less than adult males. Children also had a sense of ‘specialization’ to some employers, as their “smaller size and nimble fingers provided advantages” in textile production. Journalists known as the muckrakers, felt the need to highlight and spread awareness in America of the “failings in society” (ILO). Edward Markham, a famous muckraker, published “Bondage” regarding the morality in child labor. Through publicity and literature, Markham was able to influence others to reform and promote child education. Thus, as reformers educated more civilians, social groups magnified and evidently impacted the spread of
It took four years, 140,000 deaths, and over 4 million injuries to child employees before the public spoke up in 1904 with the creation of the National Child Labor Committee. One out of five boys would spend his twelve hours of his day laboring at steel and textile factories for the hardly livable wage of ten cents. The social and political unrest created by the institution of child labor throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era had a crucial and lasting influence on American industry, as it set the precedent for all modern labor laws and working regulations.
Many laws and social reforms derived from the increase in demand for child workers. In the beginning of the 20th century, over two million laborers consisted of children under the age of twelve, contributing to over twenty-five percent of total workers (Trattner). The conditions children worked in were generally filthy, hazardous, and detrimental to their health. Committees arose and fought for reforms by enlightening the public through the use of dramatic photography, distressing posters, and personalized letters (Child …show more content…
Exploitation of the youth was due to the fact that children were much more susceptible to the cruelty of industrial work and willing to be paid less than adult males. Children also had a sense of ‘specialization’ to some employers, as their “smaller size and nimble fingers provided advantages” in textile production. Journalists known as the muckrakers, felt the need to highlight and spread awareness in America of the “failings in society” (ILO). Edward Markham, a famous muckraker, published “Bondage” regarding the morality in child labor. Through publicity and literature, Markham was able to influence others to reform and promote child education. Thus, as reformers educated more civilians, social groups magnified and evidently impacted the spread of