"Slavery" isn't about quality of life. It's about being forced (by the threat of violence) into servitude. Most of our forefathers lived a harsh existence. But, a harsh existence does not make slavery. Slavery is about not being permitted to make choices for yourself.
Consider what we're facing today: Suppose the president mandates community service for young people, senior citizens, anyone... The conditions might not be nearly as harsh as the conditions slaves and child laborers in the past faced. But mandating community service would be forced labor (slavery).
To put it another way: If the government begins requiring by law people to sweep the streets, that would be slavery/forced labor. But, if a person willingly accepts a job sweeping the streets, that's not slavery.
A child laborer was either sent to a factory willingly by his parents (or he seeked employment on his own) so that he could help earn money for his family. But, the factory owner wasn't forcing him to be there. One could make the argument that parents treated their children like slaves, but that's a different discussion.
In cases where children are/were held as slaves and forced to work in factories - THAT was slavery/forced labor. But, that wasn't the case most of the time, according to what I've read and was told. (Maybe you've read/heard something different.)
“I owe my soul to the company store”.
Still haven’t convinced me.
“The 1890 census revealed that more than one million children, ten to fifteen years old, worked in America. [5] That number increased to two million by 1910. Industries employed children as young as five or six to work as many as eighteen to twenty hours a day.
Breaker Boys, Pennsylvania
Physical ailments were common. Glassworks employees were exposed to intense heat and heavy fumes. Young miners sat on boards in cramped positions, breathing heavy dust, sifting through coal. Seafood workers stood for hours shucking oysters at five cents a pail. The sharp oyster shells sometimes cut their hands.
Industrialization did not create child labor, but it did contribute to the need for child labor reform. The replacement of skilled artisans by machinery and the growth of factories and mills made child labor increasingly profitable for businesses. [6] Many employers preferred hiring children because they were quick, easy to train, and were willing to work for lower wages. “
Are you stating that these children weren’t in forced servitude.
Couldn’t read or write, to young to make an informed decision about anything and beaten on the job.
Still a distinction without a difference.
Whereas slavery was ended in 1865 , Child labor continued well into the 20th century.