Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)–child labor
It’s the year 1900 in the United States, and most children in working class families are forced to work for long days in facilities such as mills and factories in order to provide for the household. This was a very large issue, especially with the typical unsafe and unclean environment, but there was little federal regulation to protect children at the time. The main concern of the public was the effects of this type of long, potentially harmful strain on the body of a child, but many families depended on this income to support themselves. Because of this, several states created laws that banned or limited any form of child labor; however, it would not be until 1916 when the Federal Government decided to intervene to protect its citizens.
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Dagenhart, was brought to the attention of the Supreme Court by Roland H. Dagenhart, a worker at a cotton mill in Charlotte, North Carolina. With his two sons, he sued with the argument that the Keating-Owen Act of 1916 was unconstitutional because it overstepped the purpose of the government's powers to regulate interstate commerce which was backed by the 10th amendment. The Supreme Court majority (5-4) sided with Dagenhart with it’s reasoning that "the commerce clause was not intended to give to Congress a general authority to equalize such conditions.” In its opinion, the Court delineated between the Congress's power to regulate production and commerce. Justice Holmes dissented strongly from the logic and ruling of the majority. He stated that Congress was completely within its right to regulate interstate commerce and that goods manufactured in one state and sold in other states were interstate commerce. That placed the entire manufacturing process under the purview of Congress, and the constitutional power "could not be cut down or qualified by the fact that it might interfere with the carrying out of the domestic policy of any