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Primary
Other

Spartacus Educational: British History: Child Labor: William Whatton

For Students 9th - 10th
A House of Lords interview in 1818 investigating the effects of child labor in the factories in England. Dr. Whatton was a doctor who inspected the working conditions and health of the employees.
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Website
Other

Spartacus Educational: British History: Edward Baines

For Students 9th - 10th
Edward Baines is featured in this biography. Baines was a business man in England who vocalized his argument against those fighting for child labor laws.
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Website
Other

Spartacus Educational: British History: Child Labour: Andrew Ure

For Students 9th - 10th
A scientist who studied many things is best known for two particular studies, one peculiar and the other focused on the conditions of factories for the employees during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.
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Handout
Other

Illinois Labor History Society: Early Days of Coal Mining in Northern Illinois

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the coal boom of the late 1860s and learn about the difficult lives of the miners and their families.
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Website
Other

Spartacus Educational: American History: Child Labor in America

For Students 9th - 10th
Child Labor controls weren't established in America until nearly the early part of the twentieth century, several years after they had laws in place in Britain. This article goes into depth presenting the historical developments of child...
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Unit Plan
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: The Problem of Child Labor in the Progressive Era

For Students 9th - 10th
After analyzing primary and secondary resources about the child labor, the students should be able to draw conclusions about the need to reform child labor practices.
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Website
University of Washington

Digital Collections: Society and Culture Collection

For Students 9th - 10th
The Social Issues Collection is an image database of the Western United States and the Pacific Northwest region. The collection covers a variety of political and social topics, from women's issues, government, labor organizations such as...
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Handout
Other

Key People in Labor History: Mother Jones (1837 1930)

For Students 9th - 10th
Once called "the most dangerous woman in America", Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was one of the great organizers of the labor and union movements.
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Handout
Library of Congress

Loc: America's Story: Reformer Grace Abbott

For Students 3rd - 8th
America's Story site gives brief story of Grace Abbott, Chief of the Children's Bureau of the Department of Labor.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: Yearning to Breathe Free: Mary "Mother" Jones and Child Labor [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the life of activist Mary "Mother" Jones and the methods she used to change conditions for laborers, especially for child laborers....
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Lesson Plan
University of Arizona

Pulse: Industrialization, Chemicals and Human Health

For Teachers 9th - 10th
While students gain an understand of basic environmental toxicology, they explore the health impacts of industrialization on society in these lessons. This is a cross curricular unit that addresses standards for eleventh grade in math,...
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Website
Britain Express

Britain Express: History: The Victorian Age: Chartism

For Students 9th - 10th
A history of the Chartist Movement in England from its origins in 1838 with the "People's Charter," to its demise in 1848.
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Website
University of Iowa

Child Labor in u.s. History

For Students 9th - 10th
Article that summarizes the history of child labor in the United States with a timeline of events that occurred in the U.S. labor movement and with child labor reform from 1832 up to 1938 and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Provides links...
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Interactive
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

For Students 9th - 10th
A virtual tour of an exhibit about sweatshops in America, from 1820 to the present. The tour includes graphic images and text about sweatshops and their history.
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Website
Other

Channel 4: Victorian Children

For Students 9th - 10th
The question of "what was it like for children living in Victorian England" is answered in this website teacher resources are included.
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Website
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Harcourt: Biographies: Cesar Chavez

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about this leader who helped bring many important changes for farm workers in the U.S. Following the peaceful examples of King and Ghandi, Cesar Chavez helped much needed improvements take place.
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Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: After the Civil War: The New South

For Students 9th - 10th
After the Civil War, there was some impetus to modernize the South's economy to make it more industrialized and less agrarian. It never gained traction while sharecropping and tenant farming did, ensuring the persistence of rural...
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Unit Plan
TED Talks

Ted: Ted Ed: Where Babies in Movies Come From

For Students 9th - 10th
What hoops do you have to jump through to cast a baby in your movie? Vox explains how babies end up in the industry.
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Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Learning Page: Labor in America

For Students 9th - 10th
A rich collection of resources, including primary sources, student activities, and lesson plans, to support study of Americans at work in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: The Industrial Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
Summarizes the events of the Industrial Revolution in Britain by highlighting what happened in the cotton industry and the mining industry.
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Unit Plan
CommonLit

Common Lit: Book Pairings: "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

For Students 8th - 9th
Lyddie is a young girl who is separated from her family and made to work in order for them to keep their farm. Selected (6) reading passages (grades 8-9) to pair with the novel "Laddie" by Katherine Paterson. [Free account registration...
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Website
Other

Images of Child Labor

For Students 9th - 10th
Photographers travel the world to document cases of child labor. Solutions to these situations vary as explained in the text of the photographs.
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Article
Other

The History of Child Labor During the American Industrial Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
Child labor, the practice of employing young children in factories and in other industries, was a widespread means of providing mass labor at little expense to employers during the American Industrial Revolution.
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eBook
Other

Phmc: Keith C. Wolensky: Child Labor in Pennsylvania

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed leaflet descibing the history of child labor in Pennsylvania. Across the state it was never uncommon to find children working difficult and dangerous jobs in factories restaurants, on railways, in mines, as well as on farms....