During the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s occurred the children’s rights. Many children worked in factories and weren’t getting the respect they deserved. They were getting injured and had very low pay. The movement helped children of all ages find a voice and it let them know that they deserve every right that an adult does. There were people that made sure their voices were heard. Mother Jones helped these children by organizing a march from Philadelphia to
New York. Another person that helped the cause was a man named Louis Hine. He was a photographer that took pictures of the children as they worked. Showing the conditions of their work space and how hard they did work.
The children that worked usually didn’t go to school, so it’s as if the factories they work for are robbing them of their chance to learn. Not many children could do both so many times they chose the work. They needed to support their family, which is sad because many of them weren’t much older then thirteen. Making it worse, if they were injured and lost a part of the body they were fired. Being disfigured and having no pay had left the children useless. In one case a young girl who was working in a factory had her hair caught in a machine. Her scalp was ripped and she was fired. She spent three months in the hospital, so all their money went to hospital bills.
The best thing for the children was the adults that cared. Children couldn’t vote to pass the act that would help them from the hardships of the working world. Adults voted and later on it passed the Factory Act. The Factory Act was a law that was passed to stop children working in factories under the age of thirteen. Meaning more children could go back to being a normal child and go back to school.
This is a very important topic to study. Children today don’t work nearly as hard as the kids back then. This is a good thing to hear because no one should be treated unequally if they are doing the same work. If this hadn’t happened most children today would still be working in factories because there wouldn’t be the Factory Act to protect us. None of this would have every worked out if the adults didn’t care as much for the children.
We’ve came a long way from those years. Kids can work but they have to be fourteen and need their papers. So we don’t have to worry about anything happening to us and if anything does happen it’s the work places fault for not watching more carefully. I’m very grateful for all that the children and adults did for the future of this world. Without them I don’t think that there will ever be a Factory Act because we aren’t as strong as the children back then. With this Act children can be children and growing up is something that we can take one step at a time.
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