The quote is essentially picking at how horrible imperialism is a society as it can control daily lives through fear. It is a government’s way of controlling their people through political and economic power.
They shaped the government by creating a constitution .
Children performed all sorts of jobs including working on machines in factories, selling newspapers on street corners, breaking up coal at the coal mines, and as chimney sweeps. Sometimes children were preferred to adults because they were small and could easily fit between machines and into small spaces.
source: https://www.ducksters.com/history/us_1800s/child_labor_industrial_revolution.php
