The national minimum-wage in the United States was first imposed in 1938 (by the Fair Labor Standards Act) chiefly because

1. owners of textile mills in the northeastern part of the country pressured ("lobbied") Congress to impose a national minimum-wage
2. poorly paid workers throughout the country (but especially in the south) pleaded with Congress to impose a national minimum-wage
3. many people in Congress believed that inflation would result, and that inflation would finally rescue the U.S. economy from grips of the Great Depressionthe U.S.
4. government was required to do so by the League of Nations