Skip to main content

Oliver Twist 2023 - Part 1

 If you had a high school English teacher who was a 19th century British literary fanatic like I was, then you probably struggled with Charles Dickens and his classics a time or two.  That means you remember a few of his best characters, like Pip and Oliver Twist, and you might even know that Dickens used many of his own  life experiences to shape his novels.  

For example, Dickens’ father was taken to debtor’s prison, so young Charles had to provide income to his family by working in a blacking factory and other jobs that gave him particular insight into the horrors of child working conditions in the 19th century.  If you’ve read Dickens, you’ve read about those conditions.

But what you might not know is that those same horrors existed in this country, fueled by the Industrial Revolution and greed.  Nineteenth century American industry used hungry children in manufacturing jobs because they were cheap and small, giving them access to dangerous jobs like cleaning machines and going where no adult could. 

Puritan ideals that stressed work over idleness contributed to child labor in farming and agriculture, and throughout the first half of the 19th century, children aged 10-14 became indentured servants to learn a trade.  Throughout the century, immigrant children added to the labor force, especially European immigrants working in agriculture. 

By 1900, 18% of workers in this country - or 1.75 million children - were 16 or younger.

Mid 19th century reformers worked to convince the public that a primary education would lead to a better country.  Minimum wage and mandatory attendance at school were also floated as a way to ease child labor.  In 1902, The National Child Labor committee was at the forefront of social change.  Through photos, pamphlets, mass mailings and lobbying, they tried to change the laws governing working children.  Even though Congress passed federal child labor laws limiting the number of hours children could work, southern states resisted change.  In a 1918 Supreme Court decision, these new labor regulations were deemed unconstitutional and a violation of existing commerce law. 

Reformers sought and got a child labor constitutional amendment, passed by reformers in 1924, but it was blocked due to resistance by churches, farmers,  and conservative politicians.  The rallying cry was that federal government should not have power over children. 

The New Deal did much to improve child labor laws, giving federal government power over the workplace.  Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set minimum wage, maximum working hours, and removed children from mining and manufacturing jobs, 

The rise of automation as well as the increase in the number of years that students needed to be in schools decreased the number of children in the workplace. In 1949, congress increased the child labor law bans to include  employment in communication, transportation and public utilities. 

Today, a legal child labor force still exists in the farming industry, with children under 12 exposed to dangerous machinery and pesticides with no mandatory regulation.  

In most cases, state laws still regulate child labor, which is why this is becoming relevant again.  Armed with a lack of farming regulations, a hatred of anything federal, and a need to bolster the workforce, states are changing the laws to look more 19th century than 21st.  

Stay tuned to see what the right has in mind, as they continue to cater to the rich - this time at the expense of our nation’s children.

... To be continued ...


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jane’s Dilemma - Part 1

Our girl Jane just finished a four-year degree program, graduating with honors in front of beaming parents who proudly watched their only daughter receive her diploma.  Unfortunately, the day after graduation, Jane discovered that all of her fears were right and she was, indeed, pregnant. Her boyfriend of the past several months had accepted a job on the other side of the country. He shouted promises that they’d stay in touch over his shoulder as he ran to catch his flight. Jane was pretty sure they wouldn’t, just like she was pretty sure her parents wouldn’t continue beaming if she told them the news. Jane looked at the three letters of interest from companies she longed to work for, lined in a row on her desk. They had made her jubilant about her future just a week ago, before she began to suspect the truth. She wondered how much interest any of these potential employers would garner if she arrived, breathless with enthusiasm and obviously pregnant. Jane twirled a wrinkled, white car

Roar Like McMorrow

 Just over a year ago this happened: Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow gave a powerful speech that went viral and was an inspiration for many progressives including myself. At that time, I had just retired as a health care provider for under-served members of our community and I knew I needed to get involved.  This speech kicked my rear end into gear so I joined the Staunton Democratic Committee. So what was so special about her speech ? There have been many individuals and communities in history that have stood up, spoke out, pushed back and bent but did not break.  This speech and her message of tolerance and caring for others while exposing and pushing back against the hatred and hypocrisy of others hit me at just the right time.  I had never heard of Mallory McMorrow but I will never forget that transformative moment.    All of us have had those moments where something happens to shift our thinking, pushes us into action and makes us a better person.  Also, we have all been the sou

Sound the alarm and woke up !

If you’ve turned on the TV recently, you’ve probably heard some politician talking about being “woke,” while sporting an expression that looks like he just swallowed castor oil. So what is this “woke” stuff, you ask ? Woke is the past tense of the verb to wake, and in my opinion, it beats the alternative in any case. If you don’t wake up in the morning, then you sleep through the day; if you don’t wake up from a day dream, you probably slept through the last meeting you attended. And if you don’t wake up from an operation, well, we all know what that means. So why is being “woke” so bad for those on the right ? It isn’t, unless you’re a Republican in bad need of a mantra that will get you re-elected by constituents who haven’t, well, waked up to what’s happening in this country. “If woke ideology takes over, it will destroy this country. We are not going to let that happen in the state of Florida,” said Ron DeSantis in a recent speech to his constituents. Let’s dig into that. The g