Lowell mills
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With the invention of the power loom, running off the river, a series of mills or factories were built along the Merrimack River by the Boston Manufacturing Company, an organization founded years prior by the man for whom the resulting city was named, Francis Cabot Lowell. Construction began to in 1821, and the mills were at their peak roughly twenty years later. For the first time in the US, these mills combined the textile processes of spinning and weaving under one roof, essentially eliminating the putting-out system in favor of mass production of high-quality cloth. The workforce at these factories was three-quarters women.
A workforce of thousands, composed primarily of women, came from struggling farms willing to put their daughters to work to bring in extra income. The typical Lowell girl was young, between 15 and 30; unmarried; white; of neither aristocracy nor the homeless; and from a farm that would benefit from extra income. Most Lowell girls sent the majority of their income home for the benefit of their menfolk. Many believe that the women working at this mill were deprived of many rights. The long work days for little pay showed wage differentials between men and women.
The Lowell System, as it was called, was impacted by economic instability and by immigration. A minor depression in 1834 led to a sharp reduction in wages, which in turn produced organization by the female workers and two of the earliest examples of a successful strike. A feature of such organization was the magazines and newsletters put out by the girls, the most famous of which was the Lowell Offering. Then later, when the Panic of 1837 necessitated a true drop in wages, many Lowell girls were replaced by the cheaper Irish “biddies,” or “Bridgets.” By 1850 the majority of workers at Lowell factories were poor immigrants. One result of this large scale laying-off was that now there were many adult, single women in society, who were used to earning their own money. It was only sensible that they seek other positions (teaching, etc) in which to make money; and by doing so they further contributed to the birth of the working woman.
[edit] References
- The American Pageant, 13th Edition.
