Florence Kelley's Speech On Child Labor Summary

Throughout history, individuals have fought for more justifiable working conditions. Florence Kelley, a social worker and reformer, fought to gain more adequate working conditions for the children of the United States. At this time nearly twenty percent of American workers were under the age of sixteen. Kelley delivered a speech in Philadelphia on July 22, 1905, during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, that strived for more fair-minded hours, rather than the long, unhealthy, and tedious shifts thats children were put through overnight. Kelley utilizes both appeals to logic and appeals to emotion, in order to rally up her audience in joining her to fight for more rational, more healthy, and more just hours.

The nineteen hundreds: children were working through the night while the adults were sleeping. Florence Kelley, a United States social worker and reformer, spoke out against this harsh reality. Fighting to improve child labor laws, she delivered her speech in 1905 at the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention, in Philadelphia. By incorporating anecdotes to emotionally appeal; shocking state statistics; and showing a strong, direct, and compassionate attitude towards children working, Florence Kelley reveals the harsh child labor laws and fights to improve their conditions.

In the middle of the speech, Florence Kelley states the situation regarding the legality of child labor in many states, using firm facts, doleful repetition, and ironic diction to arouse within the audience a sympathetic response to want the children removed from their harmful situations along with the logical response of wanting to repeal the laws associated with allowing children in damaging manufacturing industries. Kelley employs several examples of different laws in different states allowing children to work long hours at young ages. One example given describes even the lack of restrictions on child labor whatsoever. “In Georgia there is no restriction whatever! A girl of six or seven years…may work eleven hours by day or by night.” Utilizing

In 1905, in the United States, some children as young as six years old are working in factories and women aren’t allowed to vote. Florence Kelley is a fiery and inspiring child labor activist and also a suffragette. On July 22, 1905, in Philadelphia, she gives a speech to the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to try to rally them to assist her in her main cause which is fixing the child labor system. In her speech where she doesn’t hold back, Kelley lets the audience know why the child labor system is atrocious and why they should get involved. She also tells them the steps that they should take to try to right these wrongs, in convincing their husbands to vote for child labor

During the 1900s, America’s children went to school and played. Children spent their summer in the sun by doing outside activities like swimming as well as reading books and enjoying an ice cream break. However, as recently as the early years of this century, there were many poor children that did not live the same lifestyle. These children did not have time to play because they spent their days in factories, coalmines, and in fields. Over two million children in America under the age of 16 had jobs that consisted of twelve hours without stopping. Many children were forced to work because many came from poor families who needed the extra help. The brutal conditions of working long hours and unsafe environments lead some individuals to

In Florence Kelley’s speech delivered to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1905, the author employs empathetic repetition, strong facts, and piteous diction to inspire as many people as possible to work against child labor.

Initially Kelley conveys her message about the corrupt child labor laws by criticizing the practices of the states in a way that incites change by using examples and rhetorical devices. She begins by providing specific evidence of child labor statistics to add to her credibility. Explaining that “two million children under the age of sixteen” are working just to survive, alludes to the

Throughout the 1700’s and the early 1800’s child labor was a major issue in American society. Children have always worked for family businesses whether it was an agricultural farming situation or working out of a family business in some type of workplace. This was usually seen in families of middle or lower class because extra help was needed to support the family. Child labor dramatically changed when America went through the Industrial Revolution. When America’s industrial revolution came into play, it opened a new world to child labor. Children were now needed to work in factories, mills, and mines. These were not ordinary jobs for young children, these jobs required much time, effort, and hard work. “American

cause she believed in, Kelley moved up in society by serving as the head of the National

Florence Kelley, an active social worker and reformer of the 20th century, rants over the horrendous working conditions kids must endure. She presents this in her speech before National American Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, which provides context and credibility for her argument. Kelley argues clearly of the terrible conditions and work hours kids suffer to bring about her message of, “enlisting the workingmen voters.” This is essentially to free the kids from the disastrous issue through her usage of credibility, empathetic tone to strike the audience, and her usage of examples of their conditions and state rules to support her message and purpose.

Kelley identifies to the crowd at the convention that both men and women need to get involved in order to save the children. Kelley compares the children to “little beasts of burden”, which indicates that the children have the same working conditions as a mule or donkey. Kelley compares children to a donkey to present the image that the children are treated like animals used for physical labor. Kelley generates the feeling of guilt in the parent’s minds because they feel that if anyone should be suffering it should be them. Through her metaphors, Kelley calls the parent to end the injustice and to fight for the freedom of their children. In response, the parents understand that the only solution is to achieve voting rights for women, so that they can vote against abusive child labor laws. Kelley’s sinister metaphor helps her attain her purpose to galvanize the parents to fight for women’s voting rights in order to save their children from being treated like donkeys. Both men and women are inspired to take charge and gain women's rights, so that they can vote to grant children the freedom of attending school rather than working . Kelley also suggests another way

Florence Kelley was a United States social worker and reformer who fought successfully for child labor laws and improved conditions for working women. Throughout her speech to the Philadelphia Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she stresses the importance of changing the working conditions that are in place for children. By using child labor as her baseline, Kelley is able to talk about her main point, which is her suggestion for women’s rights with the help of repetition, strong word choice, and opposition.

Florence Kelly, the author of the speech appeals to logic and emotion, along with the use of rhetorical devices to evoke the tragic reality of child labor and what is means. Kelly starts off by giving examples of dangerous places where children had to to work. Places such as coal mines, cotton mills, and textile mills. These places have been proven unsuitable for even adults to work in, let alone children. Kelly also states that young girls in the workforce, from age fourteen to twenty, have received rapidly increasing wages, meaning more people want them to work. In fact the girls were earning the highest income at the time and made enough money to bring food to their homes and were described as “bread winners.”

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During the time, children worked countless hours on dangerous jobs to earn a few cents to a few dollars. This is known as child labor, where children risk their lives daily for money. Today, child labor continues to exist around the world and even in the United States, where children harvest fruits and vegetables in difficult conditions. According to the article "What is child labor"; He claims that approximately 215 million children all over the world work between the ages of 5 and 17 in harmful workplaces. Child labor continues to exist, because many families live in poverty, and with large working hands, income increases. Other families take their children to work in the field because they do not have access to childcare, and additional money is beneficial for acquiring basic needs. Despite the existence of laws and regulations that protect children from child labor, more strict enforcement of laws is required, since child labor not only exploits children, but also has a detrimental effect on health, education and the people of the nation. Currently, there are laws and regulations that protect children from working in dangerous jobs at a young age. As per the Fair Labor Standards Act, adopted in 1938 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, not only set the minimum wage, but also prohibited children under the age of sixteen. This act Led to a decrement in child labor in the United States for a certain time. For the first time after a long time, children did not have to work in hazardous jobs and risk their lives. Childhood and did not need to grow so fast. Some people say that work and earnings can be a positive experience in the development of the child. Children face the difficulties of life, and they become more mature. Secondly, employers have benefits for employing children, because children don’t require lot of money or insurance. They also add that it is wrong to propose to stop all forms of child labor, as so many poor families depend on the income their children earn.