3.5: Child Labor in Industrial America

Illinois Social Science Standards

SS.H.4.6-8.LC: Explain multiple causes and effects of historical events.

SS.H.4.6-8.MdC: Compare the central historical arguments in secondary works across multiple media.

SS.H.4.6-8.MC: Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past.

SS.H.2.6-8.LC: Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.

SS.H.2.6-8.MdC: Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

SS.H.2.6-8.MC: Analyze how people’s perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.

Key Terms

Reform - make changes in order to improve it; typically a social, political, or economic institution.
Child Labor - the use of children in industry or business.
Compulsory Education - term used to describe a period of time a child is required to attend school.
Literacy - the ability to read and write.
Standard of Living - the level of wealth, health, and living conditions of a person, family, or community.

Lesson Notes

Child Labor in Industrial America

Poor families needed children to work to provide them with enough food to survive.
Childcare was unaffordable for many parents.
There was little free public education.
Were paid less than adults.
Many developed several health complications such as stunted growth, a curvature of the spine, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and were often underweight.

8.4: Industrial America

3.5: Child Labor in Industrial America (Part 2)

The Triangle Tragedy and Reform

By 1916, Congress passed the Keating-Owens Act that set a minimum age of 14 for workers in manufacturing and 16 in mining.
It also limited the workday to 8 hours and ended any work at night for workers under 16.
On March 27, 1911, a national tragedy struck that would forever change the view Americans had of factory work.
A fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City, leading to the death of 146 workers, mostly women.

This primary source is an oral history describing the horrors of the Triangle Shirtwaist tragedy. Consider the video and be prepared to discuss the question below.

Explain why the Triangle Tragedy would change the minds of Americans on how factory workers were treated.

Modern Child Labor - The Congo and Cobalt

Is this fair?
How would China and the rest of the world benefit from the poverty of the people of Congo?
Do we Americans, and the American government, have any responsibility for the use of child labor and exploitation in the Congo?
What is the lesson to be learned from this situation?

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