Pics or It Didn't Happen: Child Labor in America (opens in new tab)

Around the turn of the 20th century, about two million children in America younger than 15 were full-time workers. Some were a lot younger than 15, and they worked dangerous jobs, sometimes 12 hours a day or more, just like their parents. The photo above shows two boys at a cotton mill in Georgia. An adult working this machine would have their feet on the floor, but children were assigned such work because they had smaller hands and arms that could manage the machines better. And of course, t...