In September 1916 Congress passed the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act, the first federal act to outlaw child labor. This act also prohibited the interstate sale of products made by child laborers. These workers included children under 14 years of age or children between 14 and 16 years old who worked more than eight hours a day. The National Child Labor Board and the United States Children’s Bureau pushed for federal child labor legislation that established a minimum national standard. Some state legislatures had child labor restrictions, but other states lagged behind or remained unregulated. Southern states in particular had inferior laws, because powerful textile factory owners opposed restrictions. In June 1918 the Supreme Court ruled the act unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart. The Court ruled that child labor was a local labor condition and Congress did not have the power to regulate local conditions.
