Why Did Women Choose To Work In The Mills?

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Manal Shafiq Mrs. Maisner Honors US History 9 10 April 2024 Why did women choose to work in the Mills? In the New England scene of industry and modernization, women went to work in the mills because of both monetary reasons and also because of the relative freedom it provided. Many things changed during the Industrial Revolution. In the late 1700s, Francis Cabot Lowell introduced the idea of mass manufacturing textiles and the factory setting to New England society. He had stolen the secrets of such a set-up from British factories. Although the basic machinery and ideas were the same, there was one significant difference. Instead of hiring orphans and other children in poverty, the mills in America decided to hire young women from Yankee farming …show more content…

As the pay for working in the mills is more than other jobs, it would be an obvious choice for women looking to support themselves or their families. Because of the superior pay that came from working in the mills, many girls were drawn to them. Working in the textile mills gave women relative freedom. In a letter home to her parents, a mill girl named Sally Rice wrote, “I have earned me enough to school me for awhile.” She went on to explain the various places her money was going. They could not have gotten this opportunity elsewhere. Women finally had the means to do what they wanted. Working in the mills also allowed women to get a higher education. “In the evening, mill hands gathered to hear speakers from the best universities-” (background essay). The workers would not ordinarily have this opportunity since they did not come from wealthy

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