Conditions and Treatments

These jobs accepted children from ages three and up, work hours consisted of 10 to 14 hours with barely any breaks in between. Children's worked in mines, glass factories, textiles, agriculture,  home industries, and the few lucky children had easier jobs such as newsboys, messengers, and peddlers.  Since the children were very small, fragile, and underdeveloped they were easily injured on the job using heavy machinery.  Work conditions that were considered “okay” or healthy for adults, in reality were not for children. Children are at higher risks and injuries may have a long term effect.   The heavy machinery often lead to injuries in little fingers, arms and legs and sometimes resulted in death.  In such factories such as match factories children were employed to dip matches in a chemical called phosphorous, the phosphorous caused their teeth to rot and others died from inhaling the chemical substance. Children who worked in coal mines were employed with one of the most dangerous work conditions, the mines often consisted of two different types of employees; the trappers who were the younger children, and the coal bearers.  Employees who refered to as the trappers dealt with extremely small working spaces it was one of the easiest jobs but one of the loneliest, the coal bearers were loaded with heavy sacks of coal.  Children who were coal bearers often suffered back problem such as scoliosis and it also delayed growth development.  Often times the mines would collapse trapping the children in, there were also few safety rules in these mines.  

The treatment of children in factories was often cruel and unusual it was very neglecting.  The youngest children were often sent to be an assistant to textile workers because they were too young to work the heavy machinery.  The children were often times beat, both physically and verbally.  One common punishment for a child’s lateness was the act of tying a heavy object around the child’s neck and having the child walk around the factory all day setting an example for other children.  Could you imagine your boss beating you physically or better yet even touching you?  These conditions were terrible, and yet we take advantage of our current working conditions.  It is amazing how conditions have improved over the past hundred years.  

http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vindust.html

Introduction and background information

The years after the Civil War  were followed by industrialization, the United States emerged as an industrialized nation. Due to so many new opportunities emerging in steal manufacturing, petroleum refining, the use of railroads  and the increasing use of electrical power many factories began to need workers to run their machines. The need to become one of the world top industrial powers led the government to turn the other cheek on working conditions, especially children’s. This era of industrial growth formed a system of hierarchy in society, wealthy entrepreneurs and factory owners were on top, then came middle class families, and of course poor families, better known as the working class.  

With the belief that moving to these industrialized areas would provide work, many rural families set their sights on moving to these largely populated cities.  Unfortunately conditions for workers  in these "industrialized" areas were not as pictured, instead they discovered that these jobs consisted of long hours and little pay. To keep the family from starvation every member had to work including the children. In a way the families were foolishly led on by these owners who assured them that they would find a better place to live and make ends meet.

http://www.eiu.edu/eiutps/childhood.php

Child Labor in the United States

"Child labor is the employment of children under the age of physical maturity in jobs requiring long hours." In the late 1700's and the early 1800's child labor was introduced, during the Industrial Revolution. This period in history changed the views of many Americans, it was a transformation of people's exsistence and work efforts. Families moved from rural areas, to large cities in order to provide for the families. But it wasn't exactly just the parents working, this time it was children.  Factory owners found a new source to run their machines, children, because they were cheap and lease likely to protest against. 

One mans opinion on child labor:

“There is work that profits children, and there is work that brings profit only to employers. The object of employing children is not to train them, but to get high profits from their work.”

-Lewis Hine, 1908

Young innocent children struggled to provide for their families and themselves as well, taking away the advantage of an education.   The only children who were educated were the children who came from wealthy families, who were not a part of the struggle.  Children had always worked in the past but not in such conditions like these, they worked around the house and other small family related jobs.  Nothing compared to the factory and mining jobs, children worked in harsh conditions, which were often labeled exploitative and extremely hazardous. They worked crucial long hours for low salaries in unhealthy conditions, often times children would end up with pneumonia, bronchitis and other critical conditions. Before child labor, children were viewed as innocent, youthful, joyful and playful.  Could you imagine not having your youth and education?, its horrifying enough to even know this exsisted in history. 

"Faces of lost youth"

The picture sets a mood of depression, young girls struggling to make it at such a young age.  Their appearance resembles one of an older woman, mean while they are barely even teens.

Image source: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/hine-adolescents.htm

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2004/1/04.01.08.x.html
http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/us_history.html