Final answer:
Economic hardship and the need to supplement household income forced families like the Meishell family to have their children work. Children often forwent education to work in harsh conditions, and families used strategies like piecework at home to make ends meet. Historical societal pressures and economic needs dictated the necessity of child labor.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Meishell family, like many others during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, likely said their children had to work because they faced economic hardships that required all members of the family to contribute to the household income. At that time, child labor was prevalent, and young children were often employed in demanding and unsafe environments like factories, mines, and sweatshops for meager wages. This was a time when the economic necessity often overrode the educational needs of children, leading many to forgo schooling in favor of work to help their families survive.
Out of the need for financial stability, working-class children were pulled into labor, with many only receiving a basic education or learning skills at Sunday school before joining the workforce. As John Spargo pointed out, boys as young as ten to twelve years of age undertook arduous work, with some never having the opportunity to attend school. In addition to factory work, families found other means like piecework at home to supplement their income, often involving the entire family in such efforts.
Even in rural areas, the challenges of inheritance and scarcity of land pushed families, particularly in New England, to encourage their children to seek employment elsewhere, like the textile mills, to support their economic well-being. The economic structure and societal pressures led families to rely on their children's labor, a trend that eventually evolved as labor laws and social norms shifted away from child labor.