Mother Jones Studysync

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

• Raising money for her planned march

• Speaking to audiences about her cause

• Making friends with powerful businessmen

• 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.

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?

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

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

• ‘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.’

• ‘Here’s a textbook on economics.’

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

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

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

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

• 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?

• “The president would not see them.”

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

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

• “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?

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

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

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

• 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.

Mother Jones real name is..

• Fanny Mae

• Mary Harris

• Marie Jones

• Maria Jones

Mother Jones wanted to bring publicity to her cause but...

• there were no newspapers in the 1900's.

• the newspapers were angry at her and refused her service.

• she could not afford to buy a section in the newspaper.

• the newspapers told her that they were owned by the mill owners.