One of the key elements that influence the development and progress of society is the presence or absence of social justice in it. This aspect includes different stratums and spheres of society and each stratum controls it to make sure that its interests are satisfied. However, not all social members have enough authority and power to protect their rights independently. Among them are children who suffered from social injustice and ill treatment of their rights especially strong in the early 19th century in the USA. There were numerous cases during this historical period, when children were deprived of any protection of their rights. They suffered from social unfairness in many spheres, beginning with educational opportunities or medical care, and finishing with labor conditions. As children are those, who build the country in future, it is of crucial importance to provide them with all the necessary conditions so that they can become decent members of society. It is possible only with the respect to their rights. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze different aspects of childrens rights in the 19th century, and the development of their protection.

Historical preconditions for raising the issue of social justice for children included the following. First of all, it was triggered by the cultural and moral values, which were dominant at that time. Their description can be based on the approach for creation of a family and its structure. The ideal family consisted of a father as a breadwinner, mother as a housekeeper and children, who were entirely dependent on their parents.

The beginning of the 19th century in the USA is a time of the Industrial Revolution, which brought its changes in the society. Thus, families worked and lived at the farms less, and men began to move to cities and work in offices. Those families whose financial situation was less successful had to use not only men as breadwinners but also wives and children. At the same time, there were also families, in which it was of a principal importance to let the wives keep the house. Subsequently, children were forced to provide financial assistance under such circumstances. Another variant was to give education to one of the children in a family, meanwhile the other one earned money for it. Moreover, it was commonly believed that boys needed education more than girls, so the last would rather work in sewing factories than study at schools. It is the way, in which hard and dangerous child labor started.

Child labor became a distinctive feature of the society in the 19th century. Even though the experience of using child labor was not new in the world history, the Industrial Revolution marked the new level in this process. Children worked enormously long during a day and earned a very little amount of money. Although the government took steps to restrict the usage of child labor, all the attempts failed to be successful. Despite the prohibition to use children under nine years old at textile factories and the establishment of the definite amount of working hours, appropriate for children, hardly anyone followed these norms. According to the historical records of that time, about 18 percent of all workers in the USA were children under 16 years old. It is what official data in the 1900s show. The real situation in the early 19th century was significantly worse, as there were almost no laws, protecting children and even those, who were under six years old, were actively used as a labor force. The conditions of their work were rather dangerous and had a negative impact on health, and there were no legal controls, which could effectively protect children from this social injustice. Meanwhile, children were the most preferable workers at mines because of their small stature which let them get to the places, unavailable for adults. In addition, it was easier for employers to pay children much less than necessary, referring to the lack of professional skills and absence of education. In such a way, the flagrant injustice developed in the society. American community under conditions of the Industrial Revolution deprived children of a normal childhood with its usual advantages, education, and possibility of self-development. Moreover, children could not earn salaries high enough and their lives and health were unreasonably endangered.

Child custody, related to abuse and neglect, was another issue of social justice, which was especially urgent for children in the 19th century.One fifth of all child population at the beginning of the 1800s were slaves. Most children arrived in the USA under terms of irregular agreements or even illegally. Some children had indentures, while others did not. Treatment of children depended on the colony. For instance, there was a legal rule in Virginia, which stated, that children above sixteen years old, who had indentures, had to serve four years, meanwhile those, who did not have indentures or covenants and were under 16, had to serve until the age of 21. At the same time, other colonies settled the rule, according to which the end date of indentures was the day child reached age 18 or got married. The law did not oblige masters to give children at least basic education or explain the details of trade. However, there was a requirement to give a child an opportunity to choose the kind of service, in which he or she wanted to be engaged. Moreover, a master had to give clothes and basic provisions at the end of the indenture term. According to the common practice of that time, children were not separated from their parents, but still different situations occurred. It often happened so that children lost their parents because of death or abandonment. Slave children could be sold away from their parents at any time at the beginning of the 19th century. Such a situation was unacceptable from both moral and cultural point of view, as it influenced childs psychology and future development as a person. The possibility to be separated from a family and the obligation to serve the needs of unknown and, very often, cruel people led to low self-esteem, and lack of confidence among children. Moreover, they were treated not as decent persons with appropriate rights, but as things and possessions of a master.

The problem of child abuse and neglect was urgent enough in the society of that time, but there were poor laws to solve this issue. However, there were separate court cases, which placed the start of the fight against cruelty towards children. State authorities began to observe families on a regular basis to check whether children were provided with the proper life conditions. This tendency developed more at the end of the nineteenth century. The process of child protection may be divided into few phases. The first one covers the period from colonial times to the year 1875. In brief this period may be described as the one without organized and systematic child protection, but it is wrong to say that children were unprotected at all. Criminal prosecution for the cruelest abuses was practiced for a long time. At the beginning of the 19th century, there was a criminal court case in New York, in the result of which, the man was imprisoned for a sadistic assault on a slave and her three-year old daughter. Another woman was sentenced for murdering of her newborn child. In 1869, in Illinois a father was brought to court for keeping his blind son in a cellar in the middle of winter. The court recognized the father to be guilty and put the emphasis on the fact that despite the right of parents to raise children as they consider to be appropriate, this right is limited by the bound of reason and humanity. This decision of the Supreme Court became a remarkable one in further treatment of children.

Another aspect, which clearly shows the status of children in the society, is mortality rate and level of medical care.The point is that the mortality among infants was dramatically high. Especially acute this question was for African-American infants, who suffered from a wide range of diseases and died before the age of 1 year old. The high rates of mortality were caused by a few basic reasons. First of all, there were not enough professionals, who could successfully treat new and fast growing viruses. The viruses spread very fast and there were no remedies to cure them. As infants had less strong immunity, they were the first victims of different epidemics. Second, the growth of population was increasing, and the government could not provide the appropriate amount of financial aid. Third, children were mostly dependent on the financial support of their families, which had significant difficulties with money at times of the Industrial Revolution. In addition, not all parents treated the illnesses of their children seriously. The situation in many families was so difficult that parents simply could not afford to provide their children with necessary medical care. Therefore, the frightening statistics of those times shows that there were about seven or nine children in the family, but only two or three of them managed to live to the adult age.

As many children had dangerous places of employment, such as mines, there were numerous cases with lethal outcomes. Moreover, there were many kinds of work, injurious to health, which also led to death among children. Employers, in their turn, did not assume any responsibility for such conditions of work for children.

In conclusion, the attitude to children as members of the society and respect for their rights and freedoms were not developed well enough at the beginning of the nineteenth century. However, the important fact is that the problem of child labor and other related issues attracted attention of the world community as urgent and serious problems. Therefore, the beginning of the nineteenth century became a determinant of solving crucial problems in the sphere of children protection. It led to further working on this issue and introduced positive changes. Court practice, newly adopted laws, and attempts of the government to restrict child labor were the bright evidence that showed the willingness to overcome social injustice towards children. Therefore, the existing problem of childrens treatment was solved step by step by the common efforts of different social groups and organizations.

About author
Monica is the author at https://essaysleader.com/500-word-essay/ . She always dreamed of working in this position, working with texts and new information. After all, her credo in life is to develop daily in different fields and be an interesting person. She is fluent in three languages and holds a Masters Degree in Philology and Translator, and is also trying to master new fields in order to be knowledgeable in everything.

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