The Act of Congress was a response to the exploitation of immigrant children dependent on forced begging which criminalized the practice of enslaving, buying, selling, or holding any person in involuntary servitude.

According to the US Department of State brochures and resources on human trafficking and slavery, the 1874 statute is recognized being a milestone legal force as regards to the vulnerabilities of human chattel condition and law of the United States.

In the chronology of slavery, the University of Houston shows that in 1874 Congress enacted the Padrone statute "to prevent the practice of enslaving, buying, selling, or using Italian children" as street musicians and urchins.

[4] 1948 Federal criminal law is amended to enact 18 U.S.C.

[6] United States legislation establishing criminal punishment and penal code as related to peonage and slave trade purposes for the contiguous United States.