a.m. monday on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. whiler more background you watch, or to the companion book, available for $8.99. additional resource, there is a link on our website to the national constitution center's interactive constitution. next on american history television, we learn about the history of child labor in the united states from historian julia bos. we spoke with her at the american historical association 's annual meeting in washington d c. this is about 15 minutes. >> we are talking with julia bowes at the american association conference in washington dc in january and she is a phd candidate and a jefferson scholar at the university of virginia. thank you for joining us.

julia: thank you for having me. moderator: there was an interesting statistic. 20% of all children in the united states were in the workforce. how did that happen? julia: that is true. one in eightit was and by 1900, it was one in five and the excavation behind that was industrialization which happened, particularly in the knighted states northeast. there was an influx of immigrants to the united states a cheaper labor force which fueled industrialization to some extent. where they actually vessels support of their families? julia: the national child labor and thee forms in 1904, way they explain it is the main problem with children laboring as they bring down the wages for

adults. there is a movement to limit the number of hours that women work and there is a particular problem that people see, if an employer in a mill or factory or mine can employ a child instead of an adult, that drags on the wages for everyone. so, it is the cyclical problem. wages are lower because children are present in the family needs many of the children to work. moderator: what is the history of this as a cultural phenomenon ? during the family unit, children probably labored with small businesses are on farms. did you talk about the evolution of child labor? julia: alternate history children have labored and have lived with their families. but a specially poor children ride to the beginning of colonial u.s. history were apprenticed out for their parents. the parents would find a family that had a trade and they would offer that child labor in return for the family raising it and paying for its food and board.

as the 19 century progresses, we see the rise of common schooling in the united states and a growing consumption amongst the middle class the children ought to be in school and have a protected period of inno cence, and at the same time, the industrialization pulling children away from the farm and into the factory, into mills and miens. all throughout the northeast in particular and the south as well. moderator: they sent children into the minds? julia: yes. [laughter] julia: it is astonishing. moderator: they could -- julia: they could get through the tunnels more easily. they would build mills particularly suited for the children's frame. moderator: do we have any sense of the mortality rates among these children? julia: it is a difficult to distinguish between what was produced by child labor and poverty. these are often closely associated. generally folded think that children working prematurely

would stun their development. themthought it would rob of their childhood, they would have economic independence too early, but particularly networking really long hours in those conditions would mean they would not grow or be involved in industrial accident. moderator: so, these children were not being schooled, i presume? or at home or other ways? julia: they sometimes would be schooled for a certain period of it was very minimal, 12 weeks of the year. not necessarily consecutive. often they would allow for children to both be at school most of for the year. that is a proposal the employer should offer schooling, rather than the state and it was through the effort of the common school performance and it eventually becomes a state function. 19 century,he

this growth in gross to the 20th century and it became accepted that children go to high school as well. moderator: you talked about this phenomenon in the industrialized north. what was happening in the south? julia: a lot of interesting things about how we measure the child labor problem. reform is measured with industrial child labor. it is really predominantly white child labor. either it is northern immigrant of that are natives because of a segregation of the south, they would not hire any of the family. but the children of sharecroppers were the majority. you get this moment where at least half the children laboring during 1900 were doing agricultural work and we would assume that the majority of them were black children. stories they are telling

about the dangers of child labor are all about southern white children. childrenrly the poor of farmers. and they become caught up in these narratives about race and suicide. black families in the south are campaigning for their children to be sent to public schools and my children are being sent to work in the field and said. they said, this will lead to suicide in the united states and become one of the key driving forces to end child labor. the reformwhen did movement get started and what precipitated it? julia: there were various factors that precipitated it. there was a lot of concern about the effects of industrialization. a lot of concerns about urban blight and the condition of the cities that children were working in and particularly, a concern that young people relieving their family farms and going to live outside of the family home, may getting mixed up with promiscuous crowds. begging on the street.

it was urbanization and industrialization. it started around messages it's almost and around the mid-19th century because of the rate of industrialization there and by e 20th century, that is when the movement forms. what were some of the big names of the reform movement? to the subjectme very early, partly through her introduction to european socialism when she went abroad in the late 1880's. there was a lot of work he did with photography. because around the 20th century, when some became pliable and photography exploded, he used cameras to build into the

factories and show the suffering of children. that was transformative in the way that people understood child labor. and how much attention because god. moderator: what happened to the .hotographs they would use those photographs to kind of humanize what was happening in these lines. photographs to emphasize how small the children were for their age. sometimes they would be very graphic with injuries to their hands, when they were caught in a machine and maimed, or the squalor they lived in, because of their poverty. moderator: what does your research tell you about the families of these children and whether or not they actually supported the reforms. there was definitely a

cultural tension around this, immigrantly with families who felt it was kind of the pressure for the middle-class social reformers who did not understand the economic situation to conform to what was completely a reasonable expectation of a how much time their children would labor, when they would enter the labor force, be that 12 or 14. the committee eventually suggested a team, and how much they would spend at school. part of the interesting aspect there is there are not that many social reformers saying, these families need assistance of the state if we take the children -- out of thete labor force. there was a sense of resistance and also a lot of poor families with say it is not feasible to expect us to be able to survive without putting our for ourold boy to work

daughter at 14, or whatever choice they might be making. moderator: so, did history play out that when there was less child labor, the wages did rise? 5 it become a -- julia: it becomes a big issue in the 1920's. there are definitely periods of economic downturn, but the state of the economy at large had more to do with it rather than if the children themselves were working these jobs. telly more about the national child labor committee. who did it report to, what impact did it have, with the government-based or private? julia: it was private-based, but a group of social reformers. it was instigated by a group from alabama, which many find surprising because the south had so few child labor laws. he got in contact with fourth kelly and the national committee and said they should be a national organization. at the beginning the national

child labor committee favored state-based regulation. they thought of you exposed the problem in every state brought in child labor laws that you would get a solution to the problem. eventually the child labor committee in 1910 comes to federal legislation. and they achieved lobbying successfully the couple child labor laws to be introduced because they are believing that the longer states could compete, that would push the age that children work. those ended up being struck down by the supreme court as unconstitutional. and in the 1920's, the national committee lobby for a amendment, right after the adoption of women's suffrage and provision. it is not really into the late 1930's and fdr's second term that the federal government finds the power to pass some sort of legislation that will affect all children nationally. moderator: what ground the

supreme court find them unconstitutional? the 14th amendment, is that right? amendment andh the 15th amendment. the supreme court said that the progress does not have unlimited -- that congress does not have unlimited power to regulate state's labor. result that the cost edition itself should be amended to give congress the power, just as it was amended to give them the power to prohibit alcohol nationally. but, there is a very big change in the 1920's. were there any big patrons in congress? julia: of the pro-child labor cause? certainly. -- the first part of the 20th century, with joe

wilson, who had opposed congress having the power to regulate child labor, he said it was blatantly unconstitutional. it was clearly a right of the state and he signed the child labor law into -- the day before he seeks reelection for the presidency and he rides on that to his second term in power. by the midpoint of the second decade of the 20th century, there is a strong political consensus from republicans, progresses and democrats that congress should have this power. it becomes the cause that is seen as being above politics, showing your moral concern for children. did the woman's right to vote change the political aspect of the discussion? there is a sense, big backlash to the passage of women's suffrage and a backlash to prohibition. it resulted in the repeal of prohibition. those factors, as well as the beginning of the red scare, which linked the cause of child

labor with socialism and there are certainly a number of known socialists involved with the national child labor committee. those were involved in the changing face of the child labor cause and the popularity. moderator: child labor in the united states shifted dramatically -- julia: i want to say never. moderator: why is that? julia: i think the way we understand child labor changes. one of the exceptions that was always granted in child labor laws was acting laws, so children could appear on broadway and in the state. our ideas of what would be acceptable child labor changed. in the same way as well in the 1920's, the newspaper industry is against the child labor amendment because they want to rely on newspaper boys and i think my the late 20th century we still see newspaper boys as the new form of child labor, as long as it is not interfering with their schooling. but what really weeds out child labor is globalization. the united states and that consuming products that are pretty child labor overseas.

it again, is one of the indications that the rates of child labor are tied to economic factors than the executive nest of the legislation. moderator: how did you get interested in this? to graduate school working on eleanor roosevelt and i was interested in my she focused so heavily on children and that led me back to the 19 century of how they use children to expand what the state did and what the state functions work. -- what the state functions were. moderator: ultimately, what is the impact today? is there any correlation with how we live entry children in relation to what you studied? julia: absolutely. huge labor laws are a part of this, as are the growing conception that children in 18 years of schooling. the national child labor causes the divine right to do nothing. and the ability of children

today to have this extended period of innocence. there are effects of social media on children and their deeply rooted in these cultural ideas that children deserve this protective passage of innocence that society at large has a responsibility to uphold. julia: thank you for telling us about it and good luck defending your thesis. moderator: thank you for your time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] thate 1960 olympics, does relate what we see with football players and the national anthem? again, we have a long history of racism. >> you could be featured during our program. when the conversation on facebook at facebook.com/c- spanhistory and on twitter @c -spanhistory. our podcast, c-span, the weekly, takes you beyond the headlines

to explain in depth, one significant new story shaping the conversation in washington and around the country. you will hear from leading journalists, policymakers and experts providing background and context. find a c-span's the weekly on the free c-span radio app, as well as itunes, stitcher and google play, and online anytime at c-span.org. ♪ >> in this year's studentcam competition we asked it is to choose a provision of the constitution and create a video showing why it is an portent. students competed for a chance to win cash prizes and we received 2985 entries from 46 states. the first prize winner for the high school used category goes from montgomery blair high school in silver spring, maryland for no trespassing. seeking justice for native

women. the first prize winners of our high school and james dyer. votescond, wisconsin count. our winner for high school west are from capital high school in boise, idaho, for boise, idaho. the middle school is category is on the survival of the veiled states. the constitutionality of abortion. our judges special citation for creativity goes to rahim baker, william mcknight from those omissions further documentary, be true to the constitution. finally we are happy to announce the grand prize winners. adam cook and tyler cooney from dallas center grinds high school from iowa for the documentary

old enough to fight, old enough to vote. >> this year we should receive 2985 videos from almost 6000 students. and we are just calling to let you know that you won the grand prize. [cheering] >> yes! >> with this year's topic it was an open-ended question, so we had time to focus in. and when i looked online and i had the contact information for the person who authored the 20th t i thought, tyler, we have to do this. so we started sending emails inserted filming. we said more evils after that. amendments, we looked at and evaluated them. there was a lot of controversy going on, especially right now.

saw how it and related to us and our age. and what really affected us. able6th amendment, we were to make contact with some important people in iowa and around the country. we got to work as soon as we could. >> for talked 22 winning entries will air on c-span in april and you can watch every studentcam documentary online at studentcam.org.