Figure 1.--Images of child labor come largely from early-20 century industrial America. Lewis Hine took this photograph in 1913. He noted: "Night Work Group of boys all working in Massey Hosiery Mills Columbus, Ga. Most of them had been working all day and had an hour for supper and were going back into the mill 6 PM to work until 8 PM ...." These and other photographs illustrate the problem of child labor in the early-20th century. What they do not show is that for the first time, most American children no longer had to work.

Images of child labor come largely from early-20 century industrial America. This is misleading. Child labor was in fact nothing new as it was common when America was a largely rural country. But America was changing. It was becoming increasingly urban and middle class. And for the first time, most American children no longer had to work. Too often ideologically driven school texbooks present the the late-19th century as a contrast between the very rich and poor immigrant labor. These usually ruchly illustrated books usually make the point with a child laborwr and rich well-dressed people ar a banquent or similar photographs. That of course was part of the story, but it misses the even more important development--the growth of the affluent working and middle class. Very rarely to the textbooks or historical works deal with the huge number of Americans that the industrial revolution lifted from poverty. The industrialization of the United States was generaing enormous wealth that rose millions of Americans from rural poverty to comfortablke middle-class urban lives in one generation. Americans did not live in poverty in the late-19h centtury. Measured in ternms of diet, housing, educational achievement, and other important indicators, Americans were far more prosperous than Europeans. And middle-class status brouht middle-class Victorian sensabilities. There is no accident that the popularity of keeping pets occurred at the same time that attitudes toward children changed. This set up a major debate in American society. Most Victorians believed that women and children should be protected. American had a fine public school system and an increasing number of Americans believed that children should be in school and not working. And many were horrified when photo journaliss exposed the devestating impact on children of being forced to work. This conflicted with the prevalent attitude of many Amnericans that the Government should not intervene in the economy. Many Americans by the turn-of-the 20th centyry were conflicted on this issue. And new forces intervened in the political calculation, the growing influence of women, organized labor, and immigrant groups.

Imagery

Images of child labor come largely from early-20 century industrial America. This is because advances in cameras and films by the turn-of-the 20th century made cameras that were much more mobil and easy to use. This made photo journalism possible. Now it is trure that photo journalism was possible eralier, but it was much more difficult. Matthew Brady left us images of the Civil War. But creating those images was very difficult, Brady in effect had to take his studio with him. And there were limits on what could be photgraphed. There are large numbers of dead bodies, but battles could not be photographed. This had all changed by the turn-of-the century. Technology is, however, only part of the story. Child labor at the time of the Civil War was not seen as exceptional. As axresult, no one made any special effort to photograph child workers. The photographic record is virtually non esxistent. Most Americans lived on farms and worked there from an early age. Children also worked in factories. Only with the huge material success brought by capitalist industrial development did increasingly affluent Americans begin to see child labor as a problem in the late-19th century.

Ending Child Labor

America was changing. It was becoming increasingly urban and middle class. And for the first time, most American children no longer had to work. Photographic images can be very powerful. There is no doubt that the images created by Lewis Hine and othher pioneering photo journalists who briought to light a serious problem. And America at the time had developed both the social attitudes and the wealth created by capitalism that made it possible to end child labor in America.

Misleading

The images of child labor can today be misleading. Child labor was in fact nothing new as it was common when America was a largely rural country. These images today give the misleading impression that capitalism and industrialization created the problem of child labor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Capitalism and industrialization made it possible to end child labor, they did not create the problem. At the time Hine created these images, child labor was the exceptionnot the rule. The same was true in the European industrial states. It was in the rest of the world (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) that did not have capitalist, industrial economies where child labor was most pronounced. These areeas as is the case today were the great bulk of the world's population.

The South

A very interesting development can be observed in Hine's photography. Many of the early photographs were taken in the northern industrial states. But gradually we see more and more photograhs coming from the South. This is because the northern industrial states began passing increasingly strict child labor laws. The largely agricultural South was much more reluctant to pass child labor laws. But isn't in interesting that these images are today used to condemn industrial capital when the ibdustrial states were the ones which ended child labor and the unidustrialized states were the ones which were reluctant to end child labor. Notice the boys here are from Georgia, a Deep South state (figure 1).

Ideological Teaching

The photographic images of child labor are today very often misused. Too often ideologically driven American school texbooks and teachers present the late-19th century and early-20th century as a contrast between the very rich and poor immigrant labor. The stress is on how workers were exploited by capitalists. These usually richly illustrated books usually make the point with a child miner or other worker and rich well-dressed people ar a banquent or similar photographs. Now we believe that the issue of exploitation is an important one to address. But this was only part of the story. Another important aspect is the wealth generated by industrial capital from which a wide swath of Americans benefitted. Students subjected to this kind of indocrination should ask simple questions like, "If workers were so mistreated in America, why did millions of immigrants flock to America in the late-19th and early 20th century?" Or "What percentage of American children attended school rather than worked and how did this compare to other countries and other times?." "Did not both aberage and median income levels in America increased significantly during the 19th century as a result of industrialization?" (Median incomes address the question as to how well the wealth created was distributed.) We incourage readers to suggest additional questions that our school children should ask their teachers. An academically honest teacher or textbook would address these and other related questions. But sadly, many do not. And teachers who go on about the evils of industrial capital will be unable to answer them. As a teacher, I would have welcomed thoughtful questions like this from my students. Let's see how your teacher responds.

Schools

Another important part of the story of child labor in America is the growth of the American public school system. At the onset of the 19th century there were some public schools in the Northeast, but most American children attended school only briefly ir not at all. The experience of Abraham Lincoln was not unusual. Enlightened leaders provides for the funding of education through the sale of public lands. And by the end of the century, most children were attending and completing primary school at tuition free public schools. HBC has archived information from 19th century schools. States were increasingly passing compulsory attendance laws to ensure that all children attended. This was made possible by the wealth generated from America's industrial economy. Few countries had a larger percentage of its children attending school. The Southern states lagged behind tghe Nort because of Jim Crow racial laws and the lack of weakth creating indistrial capital. Even so the American public school system was one of the most effective in the world. Only in some of the German states was school attendance highter. Interestingly, Britiain in the 19th century was reluctant to found a free public scghool system. Interestingly, much of the opposition came from entenched land owners rather than the new industrial class which had more mixed opinions.

The Middle Class

The photographs of child workers are of course was part of the story, but their use today often is used to cover over the even more important development--the growth of the affluent working and middle class. Very rarely to the textbooks or historical works deal with the huge number of Americans that the industrial revolution lifted from poverty. The industrialization of the United States was generaing enormous wealth that rose millions of Americans from rural poverty to comfortablke middle-class urban lives in one generation. Americans did not live in poverty in the late-19h centtury. Measured in ternms of diet, housing, educational achievement, and other important indicators, Americans were far more prosperous than Europeans. And middle-class status brouht middle-class Victorian sensabilities. There is no accident that the popularity of keeping pets occurred at the same time that attitudes toward children changed. This set up a major debate in American society. Most Victorians came to believe that women and children as well as animals should be protected. American had a fine public school system and an increasing number of Americans believed that children should be in school and not working. And thus many were horrified when photo journalists exposed the devestating impact on children of being forced to work. This conflicted with the prevalent attitude of many Amnericans that the Government should not intervene in the economy. Many Americans by the turn-of-the 20th century were conflicted on this issue. And new forces intervened in the political calculation: the growing influence of women, organized labor, and immigrant groups.

Created: 12:22 AM 9/23/2010
Last updated: 12:22 AM 9/23/2010