Child Labor Through the Eyes of an American Women

During an essential convention on the day July 22, 1905 a women eager for a necessary change in her country strongly reminds her fellow citizens, “We have, in this country, two million children under the age of sixteen years who are earning their bread.” United States social worker Florence Kelley passionately brings the issue of child labor and provides an abrupt awakening to the community through her famous speech as she delivers focused rhetorical strategies as she fights effectively for child labor laws and much needed improvements for working women.

As Kelley relentlessly reminds Americans that while they are having a good night's rest, their very own children are working evenings through early mornings and she artistically describes the children’s scene during these harsh night hours. She states “..Several thousands little girls will be working in the textile mills...in the deafening noise of the spindles and the looms spinning and weaving cotton and wool, silks and ribbon…” While Kelley uses the phrase “little girls” it reminds her audience how young the workers are and plays on the listener's conscious and morals, striking emotion. Farther into the speech, Kelley creates the a vivid image of “A little girl, on her thirteenth birthday, could start away from her home at half past five in the afternoon, carrying her pail of midnight luncheon as happier people carry their midday luncheon, and could work in the mill from six at night until six in the morning…” While comparing a child who just turned thirteen to “happier people” Kelley is making a point of one that asone of the two is bringing food for a normal lunch as the other one is packing for a “midnight luncheon”, shows how unfair the children are being treated. One may even compare how young the children who are working to the long hours they are employed. Kelley is able to show through the passage that a girl just at thirteen years old is able to work twelve hours, almost equivalent to her own age. During the heartfelt speech Kelley skillfully paints pictures with her speech that takes a sharp jab at a listener's heart and she is able to share a sense of strong empathy for the children as she plants the images in one’s head.

After creating vivid images, Kelley is able to tie the misfortunes of the children working during the late hours of nights to the the anxious audience as she uses certain simple yet striking phrases. Throughout Florence Kelley’s work she states “While we sleep…”.Through the repetition the single word “we” is branded in one’s mind as the listeners are now forced to take fault in the unfortunate situations young people are forced into. It is written, “The children make our shoes in the shoe factories, our knitted underwear in the knitting factories...our cotton underwear...our