---
title: 'Child Wages in the Cotton Mills: Our Modern Feudalism'
type: pdf
hasMedia: true
requiresPurchase: false
authors:
- 'Alexander Jeffrey McKelway'
date: 1913-05-01
collection: 'Archives'
subcollection: '20th century'
topics:
- 'Economics, Employment, and Work'
- 'Children and Youth'
- 'Social Issues'
scriptures:
- 'Isaiah 1'
- 'Amos 5'
- 'Matthew 19'
url: https://confessional.org/archives/20th-century/mckelway-1913-child-wages-in-the-cotton-mills-our-modern-feudalism
---

# Child Wages in the Cotton Mills: Our Modern Feudalism

1913 pamphlet exposing child labor in Southern cotton mills — long hours, lost schooling, and comparatively high child wages that depress adult pay. Argues this creates a modern feudalism of employer control.

[Download](https://media.confessional.org/archives/mckelway-1913-child-wages-in-the-cotton-mills-our-modern-feudalism.pdf)