ABSTRACT
“The only animal alive that lives upon its young.” How did America come to this? Generally, animals suckle and nurture their young until they are able to hunt, hide, fly or freely contract for their labor. How and when did child labor become a commodity to be bought and sold on the labor market for the household’s succor? The short answer is industrialization. It is true, in the historical sense, that children have always worked. Indeed, depending on how work is defined, all children continue to do work today. But child labor is another matter. Child labor conjures up images of something unwholesome, unhealthy, unholy. What is it that distinguishes beneficial child labor—to the child, the household, and society—from the child labor we condemn?
