In the early twentieth century, child labor was a pervasive
phenomenon. Studies estimate that between one-fifth and one-sixth
of all children were employed on a full-time basis, and child labor
was an important economic factor. Instead of attending school,
proletariat children worked as much as sixty hours per week in
unsafe factories and coalmines. Few child labor laws protected the
children from the hazards of their workplace, or from the exploitation
of the factory owners. The situation was especially appalling in
the textile mills, where children worked near powerful machinery
that left many of them severely injured and maimed.
When a strike began in the textile mills of Kensington
in Philadelphia, Mother Jones vowed to expose the crimes of child
labor. The Textile Workers Union had demanded that the work-week
decrease from sixty to fifty-five hours, and that women and children
be prohibited from working night hours. Mother Jones convinced
the leaders of the strike to prioritize the issues related to child
labor, then devoted all of her energy into publicizing this campaign.
She organized a children's march from Philadelphia to New York.
The march, which was made up of roughly two hundred children and supporting
workers, took place over several weeks. Mother Jones made frequent
stops to give speeches and to show the public the effects of exploitation–many
of the children marching were permanently maimed, which provided
real proof of the dangers of their employment. Mother Jones gained
much publicity for the plight of child laborers, but the strike
itself was not successful. Nonetheless, the march was an important
first step toward the government's eradication of child labor in
the United States.
After the Children's Crusade, Mother Jones worked for
the Illinois Socialists, giving speeches and holding rallies. She
continued to organize workers, traveling widely to the most desolate
regions to support workers on strike. In her speeches, Jones espoused
a radical idea of class-consciousness that crossed ethnic and racial
boundaries. She avoided, however, the ideological debates that
many socialist intellectuals indulged in. Even after several bouts
of pneumonia, Jones continued to proselytize. She spoke the jargon
of the miners, and was able to translate the doctrines of socialism
from an ideological abstraction to a concrete reality. Jones also
participated in the formation of the Industrial Workers of the
World, a radical labor organization which emphasized industrial
organization as opposed to electoral politics. The IWW was based
on industrial unionism instead of craft unionism. Some of the leaders
of the WFM, such as Bill Haywood, also participated and became
active members of the IWW, which opposed the more conciliatory
tactics of cooperating with business, which some labor organizations espoused.
Mother Jones also campaigned against the dictatorial Diaz
government in Mexico, which imprisoned and tortured radicals, and was
a persistent violator of human rights and civil liberties. The Partido
Liberal Mexicano (PLM), a radical group that opposed the Diaz government,
was especially targeted, and many of its leaders fled to the United
States. In 1907, four of these leaders, who had been staying in
Los Angeles, were arrested. Between 1907 and 1910, Mother Jones
campaigned furiously on their behalf, raising money for their defense.
After serving prison sentences, the four leaders were finally released
in 1910, and a new government was installed in Mexico. Although
the new government was not revolutionary, civil liberties were
granted, and the new president favored the right to organize unions.
