Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers' Rights

What does the author say was Mother Jones’s greatest ability?

• A. Raising money for her planned march

• B. Speaking to audiences about her cause

• C. Making friends with powerful businessmen

• D. Convincing children to fight for their rights

Choose the direct quote that best proves the children were working in unsafe environments.

• "About one hundred thousand workers were on strike."
• Nationwide, 80,000 children worked in the textile industry."
• "Barefooted little children reached their tiny hands into the treacherous machinery to repair snapped threads."
• "The temperatures rose into the 90s in the mills."

Mother Jones needed publicity to help her gain the attention of the president.

• True
• False

Why did the president not meet with Mother Jones?

• He did not care.
• He did not know about it.
• He did not like Mother Jones.
• He believed that individual states should choose how to deal with child labor.

What was the result of Mother Jones' attempt to change child labor laws?

• She changed it right after she met with the president.
• She kept fighting and within 5 years saw the child labor laws changed to protect children. 
• It took 35 years for the federal government to pass child labor laws.
• Child labor laws never were enforced.

Which sentence from the excerpt most closely shows Mother Jones’s effort to obtain sympathy for child workers?

• A. “‘Well, I’ve got stock in these little children,’ she said, ‘and I’ll arrange a little publicity.’”

• B. “‘Philadelphia’s mansions were built on the broken bones, the quivering hearts, and drooping heads of these children,’ she said.”

• C. “‘Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit.’”

• D. “‘Here’s a textbook on economics.’”

According to information from the excerpt, which inference can be best made about President Theodore Roosevelt?

• A. He thinks Mother Jones should run for an official office so she will have a platform to influence change in the textile industry.

• B. He considers the concerns of business owners of the factories more valid than the concerns of child workers.

• C. He encourages Mother Jones to march even though he must hide his support for her from his voters.

• D. He believes the power to resolve child labor resides with states rather than the federal government.

From the author’s point of view, was Mother Jones’s march most likely a success or a failure?

• A. A success because she brought national attention to unsafe child labor conditions in factories

• B. A failure because President Theodore Roosevelt refused to meet with her and the children

• C. A success because she was able to persuade the federal government to pass an immediate law against child labor

• D. A failure because there were only three children that continued to the final destination of the march

Which sentence from the excerpt most strongly supports the answer to Question 5?

• A. “The president would not see them.”

• B. “In early August, Mother Jones finally took the last three children home.”

• C. “Though she did not meet with the president, Mother Jones had drawn the attention of the nation to the problem of child labor.”

• D. “The federal government finally passed a child labor law (part of the Fair Labor Standards Act) in 1938—thirty-five years after the march of the mill children.”

How did Mother Jones best draw a connection between the children who work in the factories and the people that live in the cities, according to the excerpt?

• A. She explains there are laws that can charge a fee to people in the community when children are injured in factory jobs.

• B. She writes a public letter to the president to remind him that the children who work in the factories are just like his children.

• C. She explains how the possessions that people enjoy are made in factories by children who work long hours under poor conditions.

• D. She explains that the federal government can force any child to work in a factory whether the child is from a poor or wealthy family.