View source for Keating–Owen Act

{{Short description|U.S. federal legislation prohibiting child labor}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
|shorttitle= Keating–Owen Act
|othershorttitles=  An act to prevent interstate commerce in the products of child labor, and for other purposes
|colloquialacronym= 
|nickname= Wick's Bill
|enacted by= 64th 
|effective date=  September 1, 1917
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|title amended= <!-- {{unbulleted list|[[Title 16 of the United States Code|16 U.S.C.: Conservation]]|[[Title 23 of the United States Code|23 U.S.C.: Highways]]}} -->
|sections created= <!-- {{unbulleted list|{{Usc-title-chap|16|2|I}} § 503|{{Usc-title-chap|23|1}}}} -->
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|introducedbill= <!-- {{USBill|64|H.R.|10660}} -->
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|signedpresident= [[Woodrow Wilson]]
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|SCOTUS cases= ''[[Hammer v. Dagenhart]]'', {{ussc|247|251|1918}} in which the act was '''[[Judicial review in the United States|struck down]] by the Supreme Court''' on June 3, 1918.
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The '''Keating–Owen Child Labor Act of 1916''', also known as '''Wick's Bill''', was a short-lived [[statute]] enacted by the [[U.S. Congress]] which sought to reduce [[child labor]]. It did so by prohibiting the sale in [[interstate commerce]] of goods produced by factories that employed children under 14, mines that employed children younger than 16, and any facility where children under 14 worked after 7:00&nbsp;p.m. or before 6:00&nbsp;a.m. or more than eight hours daily. After its original failure to be enacted, the bill was revised and re-introduced to Congress, where it was finally accepted. The basis for the action was the [[Commerce Clause]], a constitutional clause giving Congress the task of regulating interstate commerce.

The Act specified that the [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]], the [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]], and the [[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]] would convene a board to publish from time to time uniform rules and regulations to comply with the Act. To enforce the Act, the Secretary of Labor would assign inspectors to perform inspections of workplaces that produce goods for commerce. The inspectors would have the authority to make unannounced visits and would be given full access to the facility in question. Anyone found in violation of this Act or who gave false evidence would be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.

[[File:AddieCard05282vLewisHine.jpg|thumb|[[Lewis Hine]]'s photography focusing on labor in America was among the factors that led to a change in attitudes about labor policy. This image was used on a 1998 US stamp to commemorate the passage of the Keating–Owen Act.<ref>[http://usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=d4351ef21f203a2aa1397904f4fef7f45539adec US Stamp gallery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210203939/http://usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=d4351ef21f203a2aa1397904f4fef7f45539adec |date=2015-02-10 }}.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2022}}]]
The bill was named for its sponsors: [[Edward Keating]] and [[Robert Latham Owen]]. The work of [[Alexander McKelway]] and the [[National Child Labor Committee]] (NCLC),<ref>Sandy Hobbs, Jim McKechnie, Michael Lavalette. ''Child Labor: A World History Companion''</ref>{{full citation needed|date=November 2022}} it was signed into law in 1916 by President [[Woodrow Wilson]], who had lobbied heavily for its passage, and went into effect on September 1, 1917. However, nine months later, in ''[[Hammer v. Dagenhart]]'', [[Case citation|247 U.S. 251]] (1918),<ref name=EB>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|title=Abbott, Grace|edition=15th|year=2010|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|volume=I: A-Ak – Bayes|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-1-59339-837-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/13 13]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopaedia2009ency/page/13}}</ref> it was ruled unconstitutional by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] (see also [[Lochner era]]).

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=59# Keating Owen Child Labor Act of 1916]
* [http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_109.shtml Keating Owen Child Labor Act, 1916]
* American Government Roots and reform AP Edition by O'Connor Sabato Yanus

{{Woodrow Wilson}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keating-Owen Act}}
[[Category:1916 in American law]]
[[Category:64th United States Congress]]
[[Category:Child labor in the United States]]
[[Category:United States federal labor legislation]]
[[Category:Presidency of Woodrow Wilson]]
[[Category:Progressive Era in the United States]]
[[Category:1916 in labor relations]]