LAD #28: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

As Lewis Hine and other muckrakers traveled across the country documenting employers violating their workers and especially children, many called for action. In 1900 2 million children were employed under dangerous conditions. The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 was created to limit child labor. It banned the sale of products made by children under the age of 14, from mines employing under 16, and businesses working children at night or over 8 hours per day.  Unfortunately the Supreme Court overturned the act because Congress did not have the right to regulate interstate commerce.  After this act was approved of by President Wilson, it was declared unconstitutional due to the case Hammer v. Dagenhart. Change regarding child labor took a long time despite public support, and the cruel treatment of children at the factories and mines continued. The Supreme Court reversed its opinion in Hammer v. Dagenhart in 1941.