Violence between strikers, replacement workers, police, and soldiers grew as the strike, which became known as the Lawrence Textile Strike, went on.

7 In protest over the faster rate of production and the commensurate reduction in pay, mill workers-adults and children-walked out on strike. 6 Mill owners sped up the machines in order to make up for the shorter workweek. As a result of a new state law, the maximum working hours in the mill were reduced from 56 to 54 per week for women and children. 5 Teoli was an employee of the American Woolen Company in Lawrence, MA. There, in front of an audience including Helen Taft, the wife of President William Howard Taft, Teoli told her story. The public story of Camella Teoli begins and ends with the 14-year-old’s testimony to Congress in March 1912. 3 Teoli’s struggle is a battle against child labor. The struggle of Camella Teoli is one of a young Italian immigrant who started work in a mill and ultimately spoke before Congress. To know the story of how that street came to be named is to know the story of a struggle. There is a street in Lawrence, MA, named Camella Teoli Way. 1 -Prominent lady citizenĭon’t take these boys away from us! We have just bought these uniforms, and they were made to order. I am really tired of seeing so many big children ten years old playing in the streets. I am glad to see there is going to be a meeting here for child labor. This article concentrates on the reform movement up through the passage of that law. In the face of widespread public support for curtailing child labor, a law based on the Commerce Clause of the Constitution-giving Congress the authority to regulate commerce between states or with foreign nations-was passed in 1916. Many constitutional experts, Congressmen, and Presidents believed such a law was unconstitutional. The limited role of the federal government under the Constitution, however, made such a prospect difficult. The failures at the state level caused many reformers by the early 1900s to believe that a federal law might be the best option. This foiled the goal of achieving uniform laws across the country through state action. Frequently, child labor law opponents denied the problem existed and aggressively extolled the virtues of children in the workplace.

Many states, particularly in the South, resisted the effort. The move toward state-level reforms proved challenging. January 2017 History of child labor in the United States-part 2: the reform movementĪs progressive child labor reformers gained traction during the last quarter of the 19th century, efforts expanded at the state level to outlaw the employment of small children.

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