Growing up in North America

Arianna Chand

215558869

HIST 1080

Growing Up in North America

Prof.M Ladd-Taylor

E.Moretto

Part I: Explain The Reading

      Children of the City focuses on innocent children who worked hard for their family and

themselves.

David Nasaw’s Children of the City talks about the memoirs and autobiographies of immigrant

and native-born children in America who work to make a living in the period of the nineteenth to

twentieth century. Nasaw speaks about the innocence of the children and how their childhood is

taken away from them because of the work that they do. Children would do work like selling

newspapers, Hershey’s chocolate, gum, and crackers (Nasaw.,pg.81). The most hard working

ones would be in mines, and factories until a new child labor law came into effect after there was

activists who made a deal to end that type of terrifying work.

Trying to make a living for their family would be a hard job because they would also have to

juggle school and work. Fortunately, children whose families could afford to keep them in

school had to work part time instead of full-time. Children had to try their best to sell products

because if they weren’t good salesmen, they wouldn’t get any money. Boys were very different

from girls when it came to work. Girls were mostly found clustered in doorways, in the middle

of the streets, or closer to home. They were called the ‘little hustlers’ or ‘little mothers’.

Girls would usually be at home helping their mothers cook or clean.  Overall, all the children

worked very hard to earn income for their families.

David Nasaw’s main evidence was about children working hard throughout the day to make

some income for their families and wellbeing. He also spoke about Jewish, Italian, Polish,

German or Irish people, religion, and ethnicity. Primary sources were memoirs and photographs.

David Nasaw’s assumption were about the big differences and the experiences between gender,

gender roles and the history. David believes that child nature is about children being able to

actually enjoy their childhood, and that gender whether it is about boys or girls are still children

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