Eddie and Willie, two characters from the book Crescent Moon by Alden Carter, are perfect examples of child labor in the 1900's. When their dad ends up getting his hand practically ripped off, these twins have to work in a factory to get money to keep their family going.
Child labor in America goes way back to the European settlers.
Laws were set up in the 1800's, but were abandoned as industry started
to demand cheap labor. A 1900 census brought this problem into focus
when it showed that 1,750,178 children aged 10-15 were working in the continental
United States.
Photo credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographic Division
Sources: Markham, Edwin, Benjamin B. Lindsey, and George Creel. Children
in Bondage (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1914; BoondocksNet
Edition, 2001).
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