Children who worked in factories and mines came from poor working class families who could barely afford food and rent. Child workers were children who had to work to help support their family.

Children were also employed because their wages were 10-20% of that of an adults wage and they could perform tasks adults could not. Employers could also make them work 12-16 hour days. Children also couldn't form unions to protect themselves so they were exploited.

Children were subjected to dangerous working conditions and were overworked. Children would lose fingers, hands and arms by being caught in machinery. This usually happened in textile factories or when children reached into machinery to get it working again. Children who worked in mines (because they were small) would be harmed and could be killed by mine collapses.

The worst thing was, children who had been injured were fired from their jobs because they couldn't work as well.

Source - Lewis Hines (Public Domain)

1 - Is this a primary or secondary source? Why?

2 - Why might the creator of this source wanted to have stayed anonymous?

3 - When was the source created?

4 - What is the purpose of this cartoon? What is the cartoon saying?

5 - The man on top of the ball is well dressed and fat. What is the significance of this?

6 - The ball the child is holding is large. What is the purpose of this?

1 - Is this a primary or secondary source? Why?

2 - Who created the source?

3 - When was the source created?

4 - What is the purpose of this poster? What does it want to achieve?

5 - What evidence does the poster use to say that children cannot care for themselves in dangerous work environments?

6 - According to the Committee, how likely is a child to have a serious accident at work compared to adults?

7 - According to the Committee, why are children employed?

8 - How does the poster try to get an emotional response from the audience?

1 - Is this a primary or secondary source? Why?

2 - Who created the source?

3 - When was the source created?

4 - What is the purpose of this photograph? What does it want to achieve?

5 - How does this photo make you feel?

Source - National Labor Committee (Public Domain)

Newsies were children who sold newspapers in large cities. They were usually orphan boys who had no other way of generating any money. Newsies didn't work for anyone, they ran their own business. They did this by buying cheap newspapers every morning and then selling them again for a profit. They had to sell them in busy places otherwise they could lose money. Newsies put themselves in harms way every day.

Breaker boys got their name because they worked in the coal mines and used their bare hands to break the coal into smaller pieces and seperate impurities from the coal. Their main job was to separate chunks of coal by hand.

Breaker boys were normally aged between 8-12 and their work day was usually 10 hours long, 6 days a week.

Breaker boys often cut themselves on the coal. Many of them developed lung cancer and asthma because of the coal, smoke and dust they would inhale. Breaker boys also lost limbs and fingers when they would get caught in conveyor belts.

Matchgirls was the name given to girls who worked in match factories and dipped matches into phosphorus. They stood for 12 hours a day dipping the matches. The phosphorus made them constantly sick and caused them to lose their teeth.

Chimney sweeps (previously known as climbing boys) were boys because they were small.

Write three facts from this video.

Source - Lewis Hine (Public Domain)

Source - John C Cobden (Public Domain)

4 - How long has John been working as a piercer?

5 - According to the source, what is working in a factory like?

6 - How much is John paid a week? What does he do with his pay?

7 - What does lick mean?

Source - John C Cobden (Public Domain)

1 - Is this a primary or secondary source? Why?

2 - Who created the source?

3 - When was the source created?

4 - How old is Bell?