Effects Of Child Labor In The 1800s

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Kieran Crozier Mr. Reed Honor US 1 13 March, 2018 Child labor Throughout the 1700’s and the early 1800’s child labor was a major issue in American society. Children have always worked for family businesses whether it was an agricultural farming situation or working out of a family business in some type of workplace. This was usually seen in families of middle or lower class because extra help was needed to support the family. Child labor dramatically changed when America went through the Industrial Revolution. When America’s industrial revolution came into play, it opened a new world to child labor. Children were now needed to work in factories, mills, and mines. These were not ordinary jobs for young children, these jobs required…show more content…
Parents were forced to send their children into these factory labor forces, due to the lack of income. Children were actually preferred for some jobs over adults for various reasons, such as being able to fit in smaller places to where a grown person could not, or simply because children were easier to control, because they were not mentally grown. Although many children had to make extra income to help their family survive, the work had a detrimental impact on their well-being. Children would work under intensive conditions for long periods of time without any relief. These conditions usually occurred when a child was working in either a some or mine type of factory; these had the most dangerous conditions especially for a child. Children were welcomed at various mines because they were small and could climb into narrow passages, many children got caught underneath ruble or stuck in small closed spaces either being in a mine or factory. Working conditions for children were generally wretched, but they were still expected to work to the best ability to complete the tasks at hand. Children from 8 to 12 years old worked like slaves… most every day it happened that a finger or hand was cut off, but what did it matter, they were paid off and sent home, and others would take their places , this led to many handicap. Throughout this time, children were…show more content…
Although they were helping their families, children were hurting themselves by not attending school. Many children did not have time to attend school due to their long hours at work, and the days they did have off they would likely want to rest, due to the intensive hours they had to work. This led America to an uneducated society of middle and lower class children, which would grow into an uneducated adult generation, for those who made it to adulthood. This was hindering America development, but on the other hand, they were able to produce massive goods but this only made it possible for certain people could move on to become something in
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