American History

Industrialization affected all areas of American life, from the social to the economic aspects. Before this industrial boom, most men and women worked on farms located in urban areas. However, with the sudden boom of the textile industry and the building of several factories, many workers moved from the urban areas to sprawling cities. The building of these textile factories forced many business owners to hire several hundred employees if not thousands to run these factories. The increase in the workforce also increased the unemployment rate as well because the demand for the factory jobs was incredibly high. As a result many of the employees who were fired or displaced to some other location usually didnt receive compensation or any provisions from their employers. Unfortunately, obtaining another job was very difficult because of the competition and as a result, many families were unable to sustain their way of living.

Although the work shifted from the outside to the inside, the workload was just as laborious if not more laborious. The amount of hours that the typical mill girls worked ranged from 14 to 16 hour days. The environment that these girls worked in was horrible. The factory was often crowded and had very little lighting. Not only was the environment unsuitable and uncomfortable for these women, but the overseers of the factories only allowed them two half-hour breaks one for lunch and dinner. . Not only were they forced to work long hours but they also worked 8-10 months out of the year, which meant very little time to spend with family and friends so that they could enjoy themselves. In addition to standing on their feet all day, many of the women also risked their health because many of the factories lacked proper ventilation and natural open air that most of the breathed in the cloth dust that would come the spinning looms.

The physical conditions within the factory were a lot worse than most people imagined. Although the factory seemed large, the equipment was even bigger and as a result there was very little space to maneuver. Furthermore, the lack of maneuverability also put many of the mill girls in harms way because there was always the possibility of getting limbs caught in the machinery if the girls were not careful. On top of the health concerns and the fear of losing limbs, many of the factories also lacked proper sanitation facilities. Many factory owners including Francis Cabot Lowell refused to make the necessary changes to improve the working conditions of the mill girls because many of them wanted to save more money so that they could continue to build factories for cheap and high hundreds of young women to do the work.

Overall, the working conditions for many young women were terrible but many of them needed to work to make money especially if their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers were not making enough money to make ends meet. Although many women needed to work some of them wanted to work because they felt that working at a textile factory was better than being home all day long cooking, cleaning, and doing other chores. For many of the women, the mill work was a way for them to gain a sense of freedom and independence from the confines of their home life.

Young women were better suited for the factory jobs because they were more efficient and as a result factory owners increased productivity as well as profits because female employees were paid far less than the male counterparts who performed the same tasks. For instance, Francis Cabot Lowell was an eccentric but shrewd business man compared to his competitors because he only hired young women between the ages of 15-35 to work in his factories. His employment of young women from surrounding farms became known as the Lowell System. Even though female employees were paid less wages they had some benefits from working in textile factories. Some benefits included decent rooms at company boardinghouses accompanied by daily meals provided by the company. Furthermore female workers also had the opportunity to take advantage of educational activities as well as religious activities provided by Lowell.

Other than housing and meal accommodations, women didnt receive any other type of compensation besides what they earned. In addition, living at the boarding houses had some restrictions that the mill girls had to follow. For instance, single young women between the ages of 15-21 werent allowed to fraternize with gentlemen at the boarding houses. If a young woman was caught fraternizing with a young man at her place of residence by other employees or the owner, then she would be fired immediately and sent back to the farm that she was recruited from.

Several labor issues whether it was cutting wages or improving working conditions eventually led to the strikes in 1836 and 1840 by hundreds of young women. In 1836, many of the factory owners wanted to cut wages by 15 because of the major economic downturn of that time period. However, many young women objected to these wages cuts because they felt that the owners were already paying them so little that with the wages cuts they would hardly receive any monetary compensation for their 14 hour days. In addition, they wanted shorter worked days. They wanted their work days cut from 14 hours a day to 10 hours a day maybe even 8 hours a day. Not only did the female employees demand more pay and fewer hours, but they also wanted the owners to improve working conditions because many fear they would lose a limb to one of the machines or worse.

Unfortunately, even with all their protesting and demands, the factory owners refused increase wages and shorten the working day, and to make matters worse the owners also didnt want to improve the working conditions because they thought it would be too much money to spend.   The combination of the wage cuts and disputes over shortening the work day strained the relationship between female workers and their owners. Many of them got tired of protesting that many went back to work and decided to get less pay and still work long hours in a crowded, unsanitary, airless room.