Why were attempts by Congress to regulate child labor and factory conditions in local workplaces struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in the late nineteenth century?
A) Regulating local workplaces was seen to be inconsistent with the full faith and privileges clause of the Constitution.
B) Regulating local workplaces was seen to violate the 27th Amendment to the Constitution.
C) Regulating local workplaces was seen to violate the comity clause of the Constitution.
D) Regulating local workplaces was beyond the scope of the understanding of interstate commerce at the time and was, therefore, seen to be an unconstitutional exercise of police power by the federal government.
E) Regulating local workplaces was seen to violate the strongly held value of regulated federalism.

Question

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The attempts by Congress to regulate child labor and factory conditions in local workplaces were struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in the late nineteenth century because regulating local workplaces was beyond the scope of the understanding of interstate commerce at the time, and was therefore seen to be an unconstitutional exercise of police power by the federal government. The Court held that it was the responsibility of individual states to regulate such matters, and that federal interference would be too great of a violation of states' rights. This was known as the "police powers" doctrine, which held that it was the role of states, not the federal government, to regulate local workplace conditions.

Why Were Attempts by Congress to Regulate Child Labor and Factory