LAD #29

 

 

After observing Lewis Hine's photographs documenting the labor of American children, reading novels like Oliver Twist that highlighted the plight of American children, and analyzing the 1900 census that revealed that two million children were part of America's work force, the Federal Government were prepared to intervene and protect its youngest constituents. The Keating-Owen bill was passed in 1916 to do this. This piece of legislation used the Federal Government's authority to regulate interstate commerce to dictate that no products could be sold that were made by workers under the age of fourteen. Materials extracted from mines by workers under the age of sixteen were also forbidden from being sold, as well as products made by children who worked for more than eight hours a day or at night. Unfortunately, the bill was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. A Constitutional amendment would be needed before the Federal Government would have any real jurisdiction to restrict child labor. It would not be until 1941 that the Supreme Court reversed its decision and upheld the Fair Labor and Standards Act.