America Had No Child Labor Laws Until 1938 — How Young Was Too Young?

For 162 years, a five-year-old could legally work a twelve-hour factory shift in the United States. No federal law said otherwise. Two million children under sixteen worked in mills, mines, canneries, and city streets at the turn of the twentieth century. When Congress tried to stop it, the Supreme Court struck down not one but two federal laws protecting children. A constitutional amendment failed. It took a photographer posing as a Bible salesman, a Secretary of Labor who had watched workers die, and the worst economic collapse in American history to finally draw a line. But the line they drew left millions of children on the other side — and some of them are still there today. This is the untold origin story of child labor laws in America. Subscribe for more deep dives into the hidden systems that shape your world. #ChildLabor #AmericanHistory #LewisHine #FLSA #LaborHistory #HiddenHistory #ChildLaborLaws #FrancesPerkins #FactoryWorkers #CoalMines #Documentary