Child Labor: Social Studies Dictionary - Child Labor

Definition and meaning of Child Labor

Child Labor - [Social Studies]

Children were viewed as laborers throughout the 19th century. They worked with their families on farms and in small businesses starting at a young age. Children also worked in mills and factories from the start of industrialization in the late 1700s. In 1789 at the first spinning mill built in America in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, nine children between the ages of 7 to 12 composed the work force. The number increased to over 100 by 1799. Though several bills were introduced throughout the 19th century to reduce the employment of children or at least improve the conditions under which they labored, business opposition remained strong because children often performed the same work as men but earned less. In many families the mother and children in addition to the father worked as laborers to earn enough to survive. In 1880 at least one-fifth of the children in the United States between 10 and 14 years of age held jobs. Many were immigrants. In the 1890s and early 1900s many states passed anti-child labor bills. In 1916 the Keatings-Owen Child Labor Bill prohibited the interstate commerce of items produced using child labor. This marked the first time the federal government used the economic leverage of interstate commerce to prompt change. The bill was later declared unconstitutional but it paved the way for future legislation.

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The meaning of Child Labor is an excerpt from Texas Education Agency - The Social Studies Center at Texas University:

"The Social Studies Center (2000-2003) was the successor to the Social Studies Center for Educator Development, which was funded by the Texas Education Agency from 1997 - 2000. The Texas Education Agency awarded a grant to Educational Service Center Region VI in Huntsville, in collaboration with Texas A&M University in College Station and Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, to create a social studies center for professional development in curriculum and assessment."

See the website here: http://www.tea.state.tx.us

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Also see: Child Labor

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