SOURCE: Horn, Pamela. “Introduction: 1780-1850s.” In Children's Work and Welfare, 1780-1890, pp. 1-11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

In the following excerpt, Horn provides an overview of child labor in the first half of the nineteenth century in England.

(i) Differing Perspectives of Childhood and Child Employment

At the end of the eighteenth century two opposing philosophies underpinned contemporary attitudes towards childhood. The first, and most widely held, stemmed from a belief in the innate sinfulness of all humanity and the consequent need to curb and control youthful high spirits. Habits of industry must be inculcated since ‘idleness’ was equated with moral weakness, and each child had to be trained so as to ensure that the correct values and beliefs were absorbed.

For the upper classes this disciplined approach meant an emphasis on drudging memory work and the ‘culture of the mind’ (Cruickshank, 1981). For the lower orders, it...