... shifted to production for markets - that is, toward industrialization - children accompanied their elders into industrial employment. But industrial employment of children came to be seen as a social and economic problem - evil, if you will. So, society reacted to protect itself, and its children. Restating the thesis: during early industrialization, forces conspired to create the child labor problem; during continuing or later industrialization, forces conspired to eradicate the problem. In early phases of industrialization, factors such as habit, custom and tradition, uneven technological advancement, and lack of alternatives (especially schools), virtually assured children would be put to work. In later stages of industrialization, factors such as emergence of a reform movement, continued technological advancement, and growing availability of alternatives (especially schools), operated to curb child labor. Overview of Child Labor in U.S. History While industrial patterns developed earlier, the U.S. became a truly industrialized nation in the aftermath of ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now