Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardProgressive Era Reforms and Influences

Source: Florence Kelley, address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1905.

"We do not wish to see the children of our land grow up in ignorance, under the weight of excessive labor, while the state fails to provide protection. . . . We have, in this country, two million children under the age of sixteen years who are earning their own bread. They are in the cotton mills, in the coal mines, in the sweatshops, in the glass works, and in the tenement houses of our great cities. No other nation has so large an army of child laborers, and no other nation has so little protection for its young."

Which of the following best explains a major limitation of the federal government's response to the reform efforts inspired by the conditions described in the excerpt during the Progressive Era?

  1. Federal legislation addressing child labor was repeatedly struck down by the Supreme Court, leaving regulation largely to a patchwork of state-level laws.Answer
  2. B
    The federal government enacted the subtreasury system and nationalized the railroads, focusing on agrarian demands rather than industrial labor reform.
  3. C
    A strict adherence to laissez-faire principles prevented the federal government from proposing any legislation to regulate industrial working conditions.
  4. D
    The passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act successfully abolished child labor nationwide prior to the United States' entry into World War I.

Answer

Federal legislation addressing child labor was repeatedly struck down by the Supreme Court, leaving regulation largely to a patchwork of state-level laws.
The correct answer is correct because federal efforts to regulate child labor, such as the Keating-Owen Act of 1916, were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918). The Court ruled that child labor regulation fell under the purview of state police powers rather than federal commerce power, leaving the issue to be addressed through an inconsistent mix of state-level laws until the New Deal.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided historical stimulus.
Identify that Florence Kelley is highlighting the widespread exploitation of child labor and the lack of state protection in 1905.
This establishes child labor reform as the core issue being targeted by Progressive reformers.
2
Evaluate federal legislative attempts to address this issue during the Progressive Era.
Identify the Keating-Owen Act of 1916, which sought to address child labor by prohibiting the interstate shipment of goods produced by children.
This represents the primary federal policy response to the reformers' advocacy.
3
Examine the constitutional and legal obstacles encountered by federal child labor legislation.
Recall that the Supreme Court ruled the Keating-Owen Act unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918), arguing that regulating labor was a state power under the Tenth Amendment.
This identifies the constitutional limitation that restricted federal intervention and left child labor laws up to individual states.

Key Concept

The constitutional challenges and judicial limitations faced by federal social and labor reforms during the Progressive Era.
Rate this question

Topics

Progressive Era Reforms and Influences

More questions from this topic