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Summary: The Combination Act Of 1800

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Great power in the hands of an individual faces the ever-present threat of misuse. Evils are born from the deep desires of the human consciousness. Those with power could develop a growing ego, and abuse their privileges against those that work under them. During the 1700s and 1800s in England, the middle class came into great influence. They horribly mistreated the working class until they finally stepped over the line. With the formation of labor unions and the worsening conditions in factories bringing people to their breaking points, it was time to address these evils. The government responded with new laws, the people with petitions and unions, and economists with new, revolutionary proposals. Change must be made. As unions developed …show more content…

In 1802, Parliament issued the Health and Morals Act. Under this act, no child under nine could work. Furthermore, children under fourteen could not work for over twelve hours. The Health and Morals Act lessened the heavy burdens put on children and began major changes in the workforce. In 1833, another act was issued to address the young workers’ labor. The Factory Act assured that no child under eighteen worked more than twelve hours a day. It also forbid children from contacting machines at night. To enforce the Factory Act, the king appointed royal inspectors to ensure the law was followed. The government was protecting children from the Industrial Revolution’s dangers. Safety grew into a top …show more content…

Influential economic thinkers like Adam Smith had their own solutions to the problems. Smith popularized the idea called capitalism. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith discusses a free market that included little to no government intervention. The government’s only role in the economy was to aid consumers. Moreover, society should focus on benefiting the consumer. The greatest possible product should be made and sold at the lowest possible price. Smith believed that to conquer the evils of the Industrial Revolution, a nation should be capitalist and receive no interference from the

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Before reforms were passed, some children worked upwards of 12 hours a day, and safety was the least of a business owners’ cares. Luckily, the Factory Act and other similar reforms reduced

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These reforms included stricter safety standards, shorter work hours, and the elimination of dangerous working conditions. As a result of these efforts, New York and other states began to pass laws that regulated child labor and improved working conditions for all workers. In New York, for example, the state passed the Labor Law of 1913, which prohibited children under the age of 14 from working in factories and required employers to provide safety equipment and training.

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Business owners had children working unsafe jobs, and that was a problem. In the 1900’s child labor laws went to effect, Laws came from all corners of the world to make sure children are at the appropriate age to work. By 1899, 28 states had passed laws due to child labor. Then, in 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act. This changed the age of work for a minor dramastically.

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They limited the hours of work for children, of certain ages, children from 9 – 13 were only allowed to work 8 hours a day, those who were 14 – 18 could only work 12 hours a day, and the children under 9 were not allowed to work at all. The government made sure of that the act was carried out. After a while in the 20 century the government went further to protect the children’s rights, the labour unions did not want children to work in the factories anymore due to danger being involved. In 1850 the government made the hours increase the women and children worked to 10 and a half hours a day, but not allowed to work before 6am or after 6pm. Plus in 1874 the government made the another labour rule for all women, children, and men that no worker was allowed to work more than 56.5 hours per week.

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Before Adam Smith’s push for this, it was common for governments to make most the decisions about what to trade and how much everything was. He wrote The Wealth of Nations to help this cause change. He also wrote that if individuals pursue their own self-interest, they would help the society (Doc C). Individual freedom is the key to a better economy as well.

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In the Factory Act, it states, “no person under eighteen years of age shall [work] between half-past eight in the evening and half-past five in the morning.” This law helped place restrictions on who could work during these night hours and the amount of work the children could achieve. The Factory Act also placed laws that made it illegal, except in mills for silk production, to employ children have not completed their ninth year in school. (Document 4) This is because, by the ninth year, children are already being trained to work in the factories and mills for when they need a job and are already trained.

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Adam Smith, an enlightenment thinker at the time, shared his thoughts on the economic situation in document C, The Wealth of Nations, 1776. According to the provided source, “Every individual necessarily [contributes to] the annual revenue of the society as great as he can.. He … neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it”. Smith offers his viewpoint in order to make the intended audience (rich, educated people) realize that self-interest and greed essentially help the economy progress whether or not individuals realize it; individuals should be free to pursue whatever they wish. As debates about the economic system in Europe developed, out came new social concepts that were flawed in Europe’s

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Stated in The Factory Act of 1833, they say, “ The factory act of 1833 was a major accomplishment for the proper rights of child workers. With this act, children who worked in factories would now be given more safe regulations. Some of the new laws that would focus on the youth in the factories were no child workers under the age of nine, children are not to work at night, two hours schooling each day…” (Weebly). In other words, Factory Acts allowed rights to child workers and it limited their work hours.

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Children worked in mines, factories, and fields. They would work long hours and receive very little pay. Some kids as young as five years old worked in factories. They worked in poor, dangerous conditions with harmful fumes, gasses, and equipment. Wilson saw what was happening throughout the country and decided to pass the Keating-Owen Act in 1916.

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In a market economy, people can work for themselves and can receive everything they worked for. It says in the document by Adam Smith, "It advocates the liberation of economic production from all limiting regulation in order to benefit the people. " This is an extremely powerful quote because this is addressing the problem that is ubiquitous. The government should not work for their gain, but for the gain of the people of their

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The 1900 census recorded about 18.2 percent of the nation’s ten to fifteen-year-olds working. While most adult workers were underpaid, the children were grossly underpaid. Greedy business owners took advantage of children and their families that were unable to shield their children from the harsh life of labor. Before the passing of the federal legislation, many states enforced their own rules and laws about labor regulation. Most states set a minimum age for child laborers and a maximum number of hours they could work.

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From the cooperation among civilians by a division of labor, to the limitations of government in an effort to achieve a free and competitive market, to the prioritization of the individual profit motive and accumulation of personal wealth, Smith argues that society can succeed in such an environment. Even though Smith’s economic platform revolved around a pre-Industrial Revolution era, his solutions to economic prosperity via the free economy allowed for an adaptable and flexible system. Nowadays, the idea of pursuing one’s own self interest is viewed as narcissistic, and oftentimes overlooked due to the accumulation of personal wealth. Government regulations force wealthy individuals to give a higher portion of their wealth for the betterment of the society, which some may view as unproportionable to their benefits from living in society. Simpler, fairer ways of devising a tax regulation have been proven to promote economic growth, however the current economic platform is seen to be arbitrary and obscure.

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Some things that are also seen in Smith’s philosophy are the general ideas of human rights and democracy. In Smith’s idealized viewpoint of the world, a capitalist economy would stabilize itself by each person holding out for themselves and acting in their own self-interest. The prices of things would regulate at the lowest possible, yet practical rates, supply would quickly react to its demand, and employment would shift to the areas in which it was most

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Free markets, the protection of private property, and a government presence in the economy lead to prosperity. In fact, as said in Foundation for Economic Education, “Adam Smith made the case that prosperity is produced through a competitive market economy”. This validates the point that if a free market environment was formed and sustained, the overall economy would grow and flourish. Adam Smith had acknowledged that the invisible hand in a market, if placed in an atmosphere of economic freedom, would successfully allocate resources. This type of economy will appeal all types of investments.

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Smith disagreed and after nine years of work and research, challenged this idea in his book, The Wealth of Nations. Here, Smith proposed that economics should be measured by a country’s overall production and commerce, an idea that is known today as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Smith also discussed the concept of division of labor, explaining how productive the economy would become if people became specialized and focused on working in one area such as in an assembly

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