In the late 1700's and early 1800's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for the making of most manufactured items. Factories began to spring up everywhere, first in England and then in the United States. The owners of these factories found out that children are useful. Children were very useful because of their small hands. Working machines didn’t require adults, children could work them. In the mid-1800's, child labor was a major problem. Children had always worked, especially in farming. But factory work was hard. A child with a factory job might work 12 to 18 hours a day, six days a week, to earn a dollar. Many children began working before the age of 7, tending machines in spinning mills or hauling heavy loads. The factories were often dark and dirty. Some children worked underground, in coal mines. The working children had no time to play or go to school, and little time to rest. They often got sick. By 1810, about 2,000,000 children were working 50 to 70 hour a week. Most of them came from poor families. When parents could not support their children, they sometimes turned them over to a mill or factory owner. Church and labor groups, teachers, and many other people disagreed with child labor. Britain was the first to pass laws regulating child labor. From 1802 to 1878, a series of laws shortened the working hours, improved the conditions, and raised the age at which children could work. Other European countries adopted similar laws.

In the United States it took many years to outlaw child labor. Connecticut passed a law in 1813 saying that working children must have some schooling. By 1899 a total of 28 states had passed laws regulating child labor.

Many efforts were made to pass a national child labor law. The U.S. Congress passed two laws, in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. In 1924, Congress proposed