Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (Child Labor)

6/2/1924

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After two previous bills of restricting child labor were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, Congress next tried to regulate child labor through a constitutional amendment.

The House of Representatives passed the joint resolution on April 26, 1924, by a vote of 297–69. The Senate passed it on June 2, 1924, by a vote of 61–23. The proposed constitutional amendment was then submitted to the state legislatures for ratification.

After a few state ratifications in 1924 and 1925, the amendment stalled due to a successful ad campaign to discredit it. The amendment fell short of the required three-fourths threshold and eventually faded away. However, Congress obtained Federal protection for children in 1938 when it passed the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Transcript

(Passed by the House of Representatives on April 26, 1924. Passed by the United States Senate on June 2, 1924)

H.J. Res. 184

Sixty-eighth Congress of the United States of America;
At the First Session
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the third day of December, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three.

JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution:

"Article —.
"SECTION 1. The congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age.
"SEC. 2. The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Congress."

FH Gillett
Speaker of the House of Representatives

Albert B. Cummins
President pro tempore of the Senate

This primary source comes from the General Records of the United States Government.

National Archives Identifier: 7741400

Full Citation: H.J. Res. 184: Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (Child Labor); 6/2/1924; Laws of the United States, 1923-24, 68th Congress, 1st Session, Public Resolutions 1-37; Private Acts 1-65; Private Resolution 1; Concurrent Resolutions 1-17; H. J. Resolution 184 (Constitution); Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789 - 2013; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/joint-resolution-proposing-an-amendment-to-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-child-labor, October 13, 2024]

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