Britney Gomez
Dr. Coronado
English 226
22 November 2014
The
Expected Child vs The Reality Child of 1849
The expectations of children have continually changed
throughout time. A large part of the expectations of current society on
children is to receive an education. However, Philadelphia in 1849 had a
different view of the expectations of children. Hubert Lee wrote How a Child May do Good and within this
text a young ten year old boy, Hubert, follows a path of religion and spiritual
guidance. On his path he encounters many obstacles that push the limits of a
young boy. Hubert often thinks about how the word of God can be implemented
within his life and what sacrifices he could make to bring him spiritually
closer to God. Unfortunately, the life of most children in Philadelphia during
this time did not have the same luxuries as Hubert. Instead, children were working
long hard days in spite of the new child labor laws that were to restrict the
amount of hours a child could work. This is in direct conflict with How a Child May do Good because the life
of Hubert was unattainable for most children during that time period. The text
references that a child living a life of God would feel more rewarded than if
they were to obtaining any material possession. Many young children were forced
to work every day and waste away youth and any hope of an education. Hubert
Lee’s book published by the American Sunday School Union illustrated what the
lives of children should be rather than the life that was forced upon them.
How a Child May do
Good should be added to the Great Lakes Canon because the fictional
lifestyle of the young character is directed towards the young children of Philadelphia
in 1849. However, most children were unable to sustain a way a life similar to Hubert
because of the amount of time they worked which also hindered their ability to
read and write. According to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission “40
percent of the eleven hundred workers employed in some thirty nine textile
firms were children” (Wolensky and Rich Para. 2). This astronomical number depicts
the life of children not only in Philadelphia but in Pennsylvania. Thus,
Pennsylvania enacted a new law restricting the number of hours a child could
work. It stated to limit “children to ten hours of work per day and sixty per
week. Children under twelve were also prohibited from working in textile
factories, while those under sixteen were permitted to work provided that they
attended school for three months each year. But the law was poorly enforced”
(Para. 7). This meant that regardless of the child’s age, usually aged eight or
above, they worked more than what current society deems as full time and did
not attend school. Also, the work they performed was dangerous and for little
pay.
Unfortunately,
families in Philadelphia needed the income from their children in order to help
support their families. During this time children “worked eleven or twelve
hours per day, six days a week, earning a weekly wage of one dollar” (Para. 3).
Many children worked from dawn until dusk and were so exhausted they would collapse
at night. The jobs that they performed ranged from running errands to textile
manufacturing, which was done for little pay. According to Measuring Worth the
one dollar income pay of a child is only worth $31.40 in 2013. That is the
equivalent of working for fifty two cents an hour. The most concerning is that
this small amount of money was needed by the family to survive. The life of the
children in Philadelphia was to work so the money could help support the family
which is contradicted within How a Child
May do Good.
During the story Hubert has been working on spiritual
enlightenment which has led him to a path that most children in 1849 could not
have imagined. Hubert, with the help of his mother, spent his money and money
borrowed from his mother on a new shawl for old Sally. This money was given to
him by his father to purchase a new sled. Instead Hubert felt it necessary to
help others in need because of the scriptures he was learning in Sunday School.
This depiction of Hubert and his family spending money on items that were not
essential to everyday living is in direct conflict with the life of children in
Philadelphia during this time. Also, the amount of time that Hubert has to help
others on his path to enlightenment is vast in comparison to the amount of “free”
time a working child had.
One
of Hubert’s first act of kindness was to an elderly woman whom he usually passed
by without a second thought. Her ability to maintain her property and herself
had become apparently clear that she was struggling:
Old
Sally was just opening her door, with her old stump of a broom to sweep off the
snow. She looked very cold and blue, and trembled more than ever, for the
morning was extremely cold. Hubert ran up to her, and with a face beaming with
good-nature said: - ‘You are too cold and too old to shovel snow. I am young –
let me do it for you.’ (Lee 5)
Hubert’s act of
kindness came from the advice that his mother had given him which was to try
and help one person a day. These acts of kindness reflect the teachings of God
which he was learning in Sunday School. With every act of kindness Hubert’s spirit
becomes uplifted. He continues to search for others to help which interferes
with him playing with other children. As a ten year old boy he finds his self
at a point where fights with what he is doing and things his wants to do. Unfortunately,
this was not the same mental struggles many children encountered. Instead the
children did not have the opportunity to attend Sunday School, help neighbors
or play with other children because their life was structured around their ability
to work.
During Hubert’s endeavor on allowing God into his life,
Hubert finds that many children are antagonizing him because he has chosen not
to play outside with them. Instead he stays home to play with his little sister
Effie. Hubert stated “My sister has no one to play with but me, and I think
once in a while I might give one afternoon to her amusement. She is sick, too,
and cannot go out and play like other children, and it would be cruel in me
always to leave her alone” (Lee 20). This passage depicts Hubert as having the
ability to choose whether to play outside with his friends or play inside with
his sister. Again this depiction was not relatable for children in Philadelphia
during 1849. Children did not have to opportunities to play with other children
or even to play with other members of their family. Children were working long,
hard, full days and did not have the time or the energy to play with others.
In comparison to the life Hubert has in How a child May do Good, the children of
Philadelphia in 1849 had a life that many adults in current society could not
imagine. Their young lives were enveloped by the overwhelming need for them to
work. Their days would start before dawn and end after dusk. The children would
be so “exhausted at the end of
the work day, some [children] slept in doorways and alleys near the mills” (qtd.
in Wolensky and Rich Para. 2). Their life was in direct conflict with the
life they were expected to live based on How
a Child May do Good, where the depiction of Hubert’s life has been
surrounded by the word of God which has led him on a journey to spiritual
enlightenment. He encounters many individuals throughout the story which he
offers help to including his sister Effie. During this new path he continues to
have doubt about surrendering what possessions or relations he wants and how to
show God that he is listening to his words and living them every day.
How a Child May do Good
shows a young boy on his own spiritual enlightenment and the acts he performs
to obtain it. As Hubert continues down his path the lessons he encounters
become more elevated. This is surprising because he is a child of only ten
years of age and he is choosing to take a path less travelled by his peers.
Hubert is continually ridiculed by friends and other Sunday School children for
the decisions he has made to follow the preachings of their teacher and the
word of God. He is able to show to his peers that his actions far exceed the
reading lessons of church and Sunday school. His determination for
enlightenment reaches far beyond his age and with this he becomes a young boy
that is highly respected by others within his community. However, the life of
Hubert does not depict the actual society in Philadelphia where young children
surrendered their youth so they could help financially support their families.
Since the children worked six days a week and often ten to twelve hours a day
their ability to read and write was severely diminished. However, the American
Sunday School in Philadelphia published How
a Child May do Good even though the percentage of child workers was high
and most child workers could not read. Thus the reality of the children in 1849
was not the depiction or actions of Hubert but the physical hard labor of many
adults.
Works
Cited
Lee, Hubert. How a Child May do Good. Philadelphia.
American Sunday School Union, 1849. Print.
Hubert Lee: How a Child May do Good
Samuel
H. Williamson, "Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar
Amount, 1774 to present," MeasuringWorth, 2014.
Wolensky,
Kenneth C. and Judith Rich, "Child Labor in Pennsylvania" Historic
Pennsylvania Leaflet No. 43 Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum
Commission, 1998. Web. 21 Nov. 2014.
