The Changes of Canadian Children Since the 1800's Essay

The various essays comprising Children in Colonial America look at different characteristics of childhood in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Children coming to the American colonies came from many different nations and through these essays, authors analyze children from every range of social class, race, and ability in order to present a broad picture of childhood in these times. While each essay deals with an individual topic pertaining to childhood, they all combine to provide a strong argument that children were extremely valued in society, were not tiny adults, and were active participants in society.

Childhood is a social construct that has been weaved together by societal norms and domineering perspectives. Childhood is not a physical or mental state but an abstraction that has been melded by society as time has progressed. In Karen Sanchez-Eppler’s excerpt titled “Childhood” from the novel Keywords for Children’s Literature, she explains how the attitudes and atmosphere surrounding childhood have vastly changed throughout history to yield the general, modern conception of childhood. Children have been deemed adults in the Middle Ages and childhood has been a vaguely regarded concept. However, as society has become more progressive and developed, an interest in distinguishing the young from the older individuals

Throughout history, children have always worked, either as apprentices or servants. However, child labor reached a whole new scale during the time period of the Industrial Revolution. Throughout the time frame of late 1800s-early 1900s, children worked long hours in dangerous factory conditions for very little wages. They were considered useful as laborers because their small stature allowed them to be cramped into smaller spaces, and they could be paid less for their services. Many worked to help support their families, and by doing so, they forwent their education. Numerous nineteenth century reformers and labor groups sought to restrict child labor and to improve working conditions.

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

After the Church union in 1925 and the federal government establishing formal partnerships with the church led to a nationwide system of residential schools for First Nations children. The system already had origins in the laws enacted before Confederation, but was activated following the passing of the Indian act in 1876. In 1884 an amendment to the Indian act was implemented making it mandatory for attendance, before this, in 1874 the Canadian Government under Prime minister Alexander Mackenzie, began removing First Nations children from their families and communities and placing them into indian Residential schools. The federal government argued that because they had a responsibility for educating and caring for the First Nations people, these people would have to learn english and adopt Christianity and settler customs. A assumption that it would carry through the generations and thus, within a generation or two, First Nations cultures would disappear. Distance of residential schools from most communities was a long journey. This was due to the remote nature of most communities and the intentional reasoning to keep families apart. It was thought that families would interfere in the assimilation process. First nations

From quitting school and getting paid a minimum of 25¢ to continuing school and getting paid a minimum of $4.25. During the Industrial Revolution, children would seek work in order to provide for their families and leave school doing so. History.com claims that “In 1900, 18 percent of all American workers were under the age of 16.” Many employers would hire children because they were easier to manage and ultimately could be paid less than adults. Today there are many restrictions on child labor that provide a safe work environment and rights for the youth. Labor conditions have changed since the Industrial Revolution thanks to reform movements and have paved the way for the safer modern day conditions.

One of the main features of childhood studies is the idea that childhood is socially constructed. This means that not all childhoods are the same and that it may differ depending on the time in which it is taking place, as well as the social environment or the place that it is taking place. This can be seen at the Museum of Childhood, and how different times have shown changes in the way children act, play, dress, or ultimately are treated in society. Additionally it draws on key differences in the human societies affecting different childhoods in any given period or place, and can examine how the childhood in that given period is constructed. Furthermore a social constructionist looks at the consequences of any given factor and the impact it has on children.

In the article “Advancing the Canadian Ideal” by Hugh Segal, he argues how Canadian history mirrors it’s Canadian ideal, but in order to defend this our challenge is to adapt to our policies (Segal 170). He further describes the way we move forward as a society, is to determine what the canadian ideal is allowing us to sustain it (168). In this essay I will argue that Segal makes a good argument because through my evaluation and assessments of his premises, it supports his main idea and his main allegation. Canada is a country full of history discovered by the Europeans, and civilized by the Aboriginals (Segal 169). A country known for its fur trade, lumber and minerals, and the greatest national debate over the Trans Canada pipeline

This research explores how the residential schools established in the 19th century affected the Native population and the Canadian government. This has been done by examining primary sources such as digital archives, books, statistics and reports. Upon examination of these events, it becomes clear that residential schools had a long term negative impact on the Aboriginal communities and created a negative image to the Canadian government. Despite the government’s goals of assimilating the Native population, that nation was able to survive and will keep passing on their beliefs to the future generations.

In the late 1700's and early 1800's, power-driven machines began to replace hand labor for the production of nearly all manufactured items. Factories began to pop up everywhere, first in England and then the United States was soon to follow in their footsteps. There were numerous factories and to meet the needs of the owners of these factories they had to get creative and find people of all walks of life to put to work. Sadly, their solution to the in demand workers was putting children, sometimes as young as three years old, to work. Operating the machines did not require adult strength, and children would work for much less than adults would. By the mid-1800's, child labor was a major problem.

The Residential School System was formed in the 1880’s, and ended in the last few decades of the 20th century. These schools were implemented by the government and aimed to educate aboriginal children by the church’s teaching. The actions taken to integrate aboriginals into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of a normal Canadian society, were often damaging to the students. This system forced children to separate from their families for a long period of time, and most who attended ended up being abused by those who worked there. Assimilation is inevitable to an extent, but a culture may be able to stay alive while following the nations collective ideas and laws.

“The demand for labor grew, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many children were drawn into the labor force. Factory wages were so low that children often had to work to help support their families. However, child laborers rarely experienced their youth” (National Archives). Child labor was a “normal” thing to many people

Axelrod, 1997, p.108). That Canadian public schooling being for both boys and girls in the nineteenth century, was not contestable. What was, however somehow puzzling, was the hidden curriculum in the system. The public education system was universal, irrespective of their sex, socioeconomic status, native-born or immigrant and culture. The growth of the public school system, accessible as it appeared to all and sundry, did not stop the manifestation of discrimination in the

The documentary 7 Up! provided insight to 14 children’s lives whom have vastly different backgrounds in the 1960s and the follow-up video 7 Plus Seven, allows us to see the changes that have or have not occurred. Comparatively to all children, these 14 lives have multiple influences effecting their thoughts and decisions. Particularly I will discuss the influences of class, family, race, and gender and determine whether or not the patterns demonstrated at age seven correspond to the patterns at fourteen.

Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution.There was a big impact on the daily life of a child labourer as poor children often worked full time jobs with minimal pay in order to help support their families. Young children worked long hours in factories under dangerous conditions. children were easier to manage and control than adults because their size was perfect as it allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines.The practice of child labor continued throughout much of the Industrial Revolution until laws were eventually passed that made child labor illegal.