Social History for Every Classroom

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Social History for Every Classroom

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Jacob Riis Describes "The Street Arab"

In this excerpt from How the Other Half Lives, his famous 1890 book about urban poverty, Jacob Riis describes the army of young newsboys and bootblacks who worked and lived in Manhattan's streets. Later in the book, Riis praises the work of the [...]

A South Carolina Textile Mill Owner Explains Child Labor

In 1914 members of Congress were preparing to vote on the the Palmer-Owen Child Labor Bill, which would have banned interstate commerce in goods produced using the labor of children. Lewis Parker was the owner and manager of several textile mills, [...]

A Southern Cotton Mill Owner Justifies Child Labor

Daniel Augustus Tompkins was an owner and investor in numerous cotton mills in North Carolina. His beliefs reflected those of many mill owners, who argued in favor of child labor.

The Brooklyn Eagle Defends Some Kinds of Child Labor

In this 1902 editorial, the Brooklyn Eagle describes the conditions that require some children to work for wages to support their families.

"Colored Troops under General Wild, liberating slaves in North Carolina"

In this journalistic sketch, a group of African American soldiers liberates a plantation in eastern North Carolina. The troops were the so-called "African Brigade" composed of black recruits from Massachusetts and newly freed contraband slaves from [...]

FDR's Tree Army: The Civilian Conservation Corps

This short documentary overviews the Civilian Conservation Corps, the New Deal's first relief program. It focuses on the experiences, both positive and negative, of the nearly 3,000,000 "soil soldiers" who labored in CCC camps.

Childhood Lost: An Overview of the Great Depression

The Great Depression cut childhoods short as poverty and unemployment soared. Young people struggled to stay healthy. Millions moved--sometimes with their families, sometimes on their own--in search of jobs. Many found relief in New Deal programs [...]

A Union Army Captain Testifies Before the Freedmen’s Commission (with text supports)

In May, 1861, Union General Benjamin Butler offered military protection to runaway slaves in Virginia, declaring them wartime "contraband." In every region touched by the war, African-American men, women, and children flocked to the protection [...]

Harriet Tubman Warns "Kill the Snake Before It Kills You" (with text supports)

Harriet Tubman was among the best known conductors of the Underground Railroad, a network of enslaved people, free blacks, and white sympathizers that assisted thousands of runaway slaves escape north. During the Civil War, Tubman offered her [...]

A Runaway Slave Predicts "Freedom Will Reign" (with text supports)

During the Civil War, John Boston took advantage of the nearby presence of Union troops to runaway. But in this case, Boston had run into a Union camp in Maryland, a slave state fighting on the side of the Union. This meant that the regiment from [...]

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