Growing up in North America
Essay by arianna123 • November 27, 2018 • Essay • 580 Words (3 Pages) • 1,131 Views
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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