A book on Child Labor by Dr. Hindman
Hindman, Hugh. Child Labor: An American History. Armonk, NY: M.E.Sharpe, 2002.
From Appalachian State University, Dr. Hindman demonstrated how child labor was not a unique process that occurred in American history. Though he wrote books and articles on business and labor such as “How Unions Affect Shareholder Wealth in Firms Announcing Layoffs,” he clearly demonstrated his expertise in child labor. The book is broken into different business sectors that used child labor, and how various forces succeeded in ending the practice. He argued that child labor occurred whenever mechanization changed pre-existing modes of production in a pre-industrial society. Saying that obvious fact, he proposed a far more interesting thesis that industrialization not only caused child labor but also signaled its demise. In his book, he used various sources such as documents from the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) to effectively demonstrate how social forces spawning from industrialization changed the perception of the value of children to the family and society.
In pre-industrial society, the family unit constituted the main mode of production. In this production method, the whole family worked at a particular industry, such as farming, as independent businesses. This method of production also secured the paradigm those children who worked beside their parents gained family values not just earning money for the family.(8) As industrialization took hold, parents with their custom and traditions brought over from their increasingly irrelevant pre-industrial society, brought their children with them to the factories.(324)
As not all members of a society are equal in terms of wealth and prestige, not all families resorted to sending their children to factories. As mechanization took hold in the United States, wealthier Americans who could afford paying for social services such as schools started to see children as not having immediate economic value but more potential value with the proper education and training. They desired to mold them into a properly educated citizenry, which would provide a more efficient way to produce goods.
Hindman pointed out, “child labor remained prevalent, long after its justification in economic necessity, until old habits were broken.”(322) Concerned over children and their plight, men like Lewis Hine documented pictures of awful conditions these children had to bear. Just like many other social causes, wealthier Americans formed social movements to eradicate what they saw as evil. Unfortunately Hindman did not adequately demonstrated how these social movements evolve, nor does he document other social aspects to this issue such as race and gender. Saying that, he detailed their thoughts of child labor and the subsequent battles against businessmen continuing child labor practices. Through various proceedings sponsored by the NCLC, documented proof of what they thought as abuses to children came to be clearly known. Lewis W. Hine wrote, “[W]ith the parents, the employers, and the children against us, out task of liberation is not an easy one.” (52) Clearly the abolition of child labor would not be an easy task and took a while for the movement to gain enough momentum.
In spite of much infighting among progressives about the role of the federal government and a series of failed bills designed to curtail child labor such as the Palmer-Owen bill of 1914, the practice declined steadily. Due to various state laws, the spotlight provided by the NCLC and various proceedings on child labor, other reform movements such as mandatory schooling and labor reform, and various technological and managerial advancements made employers slowly choose more skilled labor over inexperienced child labor. Hindman concluded that American history on child labor proved that child labor became increasingly antiquated because social movements and the pressure it brought to industry as well as the rest of society helped ended child labor. (337)
Hindman brought from a business and economic perspective how child labor not only flourished by mechanization but that the same mechanization started the various movements that brought on its demise. Without analyzing the child labor movement itself or discussing the social ramifications of child labor, he sought to prove how advanced mechanization brought an end to child labor. For readers searching for an in depth explanation of how technology changed the way people saw children, Hindman’s book has value indeed.
