“It’s better to starve fighting, than to starve working”, is a quote yelled by striking newsies. But, that is just one incident that led to the child labor movement. This movement took place during the years of 1870’s-1938. Some of the participants in this movement were Mother Jones, Lewis Hine, Jacob Riis, President Hoover and President Roosevelt. They all contributed to the fight for children’s right to be treated fairly and equally. Causes of this movement are endless, but to name a few, some causes were dangerous working conditions, little pay and also long work hours. To be more specific, children ranging from the ages of 7 to 15 worked 60 hours a week. Fortunately, this movement was successful because I now get the chance to go to school and working is optional for me. Also, child labor has been banned.

          One economic injustice was the low pay that children received for their enormous amounts of work. A political injustice was when children marched to see President Theodore Roosevelt and he refused to meet with them. According to the Hammer v. Daggenhart case which took place in the year 1918 and the Keating-Owens Act, the States and Congress agreed to ban child labor but the Supreme Court said that it was not banned. The perspective is that States did not have power. The Supreme Court would overwrite every state law made.   

          Thankfully, suffering children and some adults weren’t going to take these problems sitting down, they resisted. Some methods of resistance were photojournalism, strikes, marches, press, child labor committees, and different acts. One of the leaders involved was Mother Jones. Mother Jones took action with something called the Children Crusade. Mother Jones marched with over 16,000 kids from Philadelphia to New York to meet the President. After 22 days of marching, the President refused to meet with them. Even though the president didn’t meet with the children, that march wasn’t pointless. The march made President realize the problem and situation at hand.

           After all of the marching, striking, and fighting there were some achievements or great outcomes. One achievement is that there is now a minimum working age for children getting jobs. Also children have to go to school until the age of sixteen. Child labor was banned and you must be at least the age of fourteen to work on a farm. One of these achievements is the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

          Hence, this movement was very important to study, especially since I’m a child. I can learn and I know the struggles of children and know the differences between their lives and my life as it is now. Their struggles make me feel good and grateful to know that children fought for my rights, so that I can have a fairer life.