Child Laborers During the 1910’s, textile mills

were charged with the “enslavement” of children

Few child laborers had ever attended school

Mothers explained that if children didn’t work then their entire family would starve

Progressives campaigned for new laws to prohibit or limit child labor

Child-labor LawsBy 1912, child-labor laws had been passed

in 39 states & some required children to learn to read before being allowed to work

Enforcement of laws was lax; many businesses depended on cheap child labor

Child coal miners, 1911

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire On a Saturday in 1911, fire erupted on the

eighth floor of the 10-story Triangle Shirtwaist Company building in NYC

The employees (mostly female immigrants) found escaping nearly impossible

The fire doors on the stairways were locked from the outside to keep employees from stealing fabric & elevator shafts were jammed

60 women jumped from windows to their death; 140 total workers died

As a result, New York legislature enacted the nation’s strictest fire-safety code

HomeworkRead Ch 18, Sn 2 (pgs 552-557)Answer questions 1,2, & 4b page

557Due Friday