Working in Mills
The industrial revolution was rushing on at full steam and manufactured goods were at record demands. At a time when men were needed to dig the ditches build the bridges and do heavy manual labor there was still a need for lighter more tedious and just as perilsm jobs that required a specialized worker that of a smaller stature and with nimble hands and bodies that could navigate the crouded workspace of the "modern day" factories.
The cotton mills in Lowell, Massachusetts were home to many young women that were in need of work. Girls as young as ten years old were off working in the cotton mills trying to earn money for their families. The girls couldn't work out on the farms in the fields so they had to resort to the mills to make a living. Life was not easy for these young girls, but because their families were so poor they had to deal with it so that they were able to send money home. The girls were pushed to their limits by the people running the mills, yet they continued to work and work hard. The working conditions were almost unbearable in the mills because the girls received poor pay, the work was dangerous, and they worked extremely long hours.
The wages for the mill girls was extremely low for how much work they were putting into their jobs. Women didn't have much independence at all during these times and that was one of the main reasons their wages were so low. Also, women were not exp...
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The mills, although by todays standards would be considered practically cruel and unusuall punishment, was the starting place for many of the rights, safety codes, and work ethics that we now have in place today. The factories of yesteryear laid birth to the manufacturing mega plants, unions, health and other inspectors put in place now to protect the modern laborer in the work force today. With out the hardships the trials and tribulations of the many who braved such unforgiving work enviroments of the mills and many other factories just like the Boott Mills, we today would be a far cry off from the safety the just wages and safety of the workplace now.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the industrial revolution was rushing on at full steam and manufactured goods were at record demands. there was still a need for lighter, tedious and just as perilsm jobs that required specialized workers of smaller stature and nimble hands.
- Explains that the cotton mills in lowell, massachusetts were home to many young women that were in need of work.
- Explains that the mill girls' wages were low for how much work they were putting into their jobs. women were not expected to be supporting families so their wages could be lower.
- Explains that the women working in the mills received poor wages, and the work that they did was extremely dangerous. the younger kids had to do this job because they had the smallest fingers and arms to fit their hands into the hard to reach parts of the broken machines.
- Explains that the women working in the cotton mills were treated practically like slaves. they were put to work almost everyday of the week and they worked about 14 hour days.
- Explains that the mills were the starting place for many of the rights, safety codes, and work ethics that we now have in place today.
Related
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- The Lowell Textile Millsexplanatory essayThe Lowell Textile Mills The Lowell textile mills were a new transition in American history that explored working and labor conditions in the new industrial factories in American. To describe the Lowell Textile mills it requires a look back in history to study, discover and gain knowledge of the industrial labor and factory systems of industrial America. These mass production mills looked pretty promising at their beginning but after years of being in business showed multiple problems and setbacks to the people involved in them. Lowell mills were located in Lowell, Massachusetts and specialized in manufacturing cotton cloth.
In this essay, the author
- Explains how long working hours were instituted tiring the workers and making the days longer. the machinery in lowell's massive textile mills was dangerous and loud.
- Explains that lowell textile mills were one of america's first experiments with women being involved in industrial labor and the factory system.
- Describes the lowell textile mills as a new transition in american history that explored working and labor conditions in the new industrial factories in america.
- Explains that the company's boarding houses provided spiritual opportunities for the workers. the first sign of trouble at lowell occurred in february 1834, when 800 women waked off their jobs to protest a 12.5 percent wage reduction.
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains that andrew carnegie, john d. rockefeller, and thomas edison contributed to the era and played important roles.
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- Explains elias howe, elisha otis, christopher sholes, alexander g. bell, thomas a. edison, and orville and wilbur wright's inventions during the gilded age era.
- Explains that in the gilded age ear new types of organizations were made and they were corporations which are companies chartered by a state and recognize in law as separate "persons".
- Explains that the gilded age era had poor conditions of labor, their average workday and work week was 10-14 hours a day, but immigrants were willing to work for less. many workers were injured or killed in industrial accidents each year because of the unsafe conditions.
- Explains that the gilded age era brought new inventions and the skills of american entrepreneurs by increasing the country's industrial capacity. railroad lines and telegraph wires helped to the emergence of a national market.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains how lowell's cotton mill was built in 1821, and how the factory owners were able to recruit farm girls as laborers.
- Describes how lewis and other union leaders broke away from the afl and formed the congress of industrial organizations (cio).
- Cites brody, david, fink, gary m., ed. biographical dictionary of american labor.
- Explains that this document was provided by the united states information agency in the about the united states series.
5114 wordsRead More - Summary Of Camelot On The Lowell Textile Mills By Stephen Yafaanalytical essayWhat would one expect to be the sentiment of a young women who worked in the Lowell textile mills? It is just such a depressing story; and the sad heroines are the young women of Lowell - Lucy Larcom- who Stephen Yafa portrays in his excerpt “Camelot on the Merrimack.” A perception through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old Lucy Larcom reveals that, “For her and the other young girls, the long and tedious hours they spent tending to demanding machines robbed them of their childhood.” The imagery in “Camelot on the Merrimack,” from Big Cotton by Stephen H. Yafa disclose the working conditions in those sordid mills.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how stephen yafa's "camelot on the merrimack" depicts the depressing story of a young woman who worked in lowell textile mills.
- Analyzes how yafa's description of the mills presents a setting that is ugly, monotonous, and rigidly regulated.
- Explains that workers worked from 5:00 am until 7:00 pm, for an average of 73 hours per week. mechanized production controlled their actions from dawn to dusk.
- Explains why women chose to work in the mills. they surrendered their freedom for the lure of independent income and became aware of themselves as a working class.
- Analyzes how yafa's emphasis on the lowell textile mills makes it apparent that if you are one of the thousands of young women who worked there you could...
- Opines that the industrial revolution was supposed to bring an easier lifestyle to the world, but in reality only gave factory owners a chance to increase the amount of product they could produce.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how thomas bell's novel, out of this furnace, reflects the hardships faced by his family during the time when the mills ruled the area.
- Explains that european immigrants traveled to the united states in the late nineteenth century in search of a better life and good fortune.
- Analyzes the struggle represented in thomas bell's book, out of this furnace.
- Analyzes how bell's viewpoints contradict those depicted by congressman abram s. hewitt and reverend richard storrs at the opening of the brooklyn bridge.
- Analyzes bell's refutation of the lack of a republican form of government for all people.
1832 wordsRead More - The Effects on the Industrial Revolutionexplanatory essayFirst, during the industrial revolution, bad working conditions were almost for sure. So many people had been stuck with a dangerous job, and on top of that the way they worked was even worse. Even little kids had to work in these terrible conditions. Children were forced to work where adults had a hard time working, mostly things that were easier so that way it wasn’t too complicated to where they couldn’t do it or slowed production. People took pictures to show how children worked in industries and factories. Lewis Hine was one of the people who took pictures. In one of his photographs he captures how just kids are working on big machines, these kids are running around these factories barefoot and with no protective gear on (Hine, 1908). Most of these kids are working for money around machines most parents today wouldn’t let their 16yr old kid go near. Many of these bad working conditions caused people to lose an arm or a leg, literally! Because people would work on machines without safety equipment and get their hand or arm caught in a belt...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the effects on society due to the industrial revolution varied on the person. people who liked their work didn't usually have to do that job, but people forced to work had a bad job overall.
- Explains that the industrial revolution was a time when people were stuck with dangerous jobs and the way they worked was worse. lewis hine took pictures to show how children worked in industries and factories.
- Explains that the hours of the workers were ridiculous and crazy. they could not quit because they didn't like their job or spend enough time with their families.
- Explains that many people had gotten injured due to work or work related tasks and some people even died. bad working conditions, illnesses, working long hours, and loss of family stability played a big role in these injuries and deaths.
- Opines that the industrial revolution did a lot of harm on society and damage to the citizens of the working class.
- Cites the parliamentary committee on the bill to regulate the labor of children in mills and factories, 1832.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that with the gradual advancements of society in the 1800’s came new conflicts to face. england, the leading country of technology at the time, seemed in good economic standing as it profited from such products.
- Analyzes how women miners in the english coal pits, a sub-commissioner of mines in 1842, were forced to work because of the need to survive and put food on the table.
- Analyzes how matthew crabtree explains the dread that the young girls and women had to adapt to the conditions of their workplace.
- Explains that the ridiculous amount of hours the children worked contributed to their fatigue. the minimum age to work in england is 14 and they must not exceed 40 hours a week of labor.
- Opines that the 1800's took advantage of the work of children, often depriving them of food.
- Opines that both the sub-commissioner and the interviewer of the sadler report were out to grab the attention of the english people and parliament.
- Explains that the sadler report of 1832 was carried out to secure a parliamentary investigation of conditions in the textile factories.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that during the industrial revolution children were required to work dangerous jobs to help their families.
- Explains that children of poor and working-class families had worked for centuries before industrialization. large businesses welcomed the increasing number of child workers.
- Explains that children were expected to work any job, and to do that work well. mining was not limited to working down in the mines, boys with small hands were employed to sort coal from other rocks.
- Explains that while working in the coal mines, children were exposed to more dangers than above ground workers.
- Opines that child labor in u.s. history is a public education project.
946 wordsRead More - Northern Middle-Class Women in America Dbqanalytical essayIndustrialization had a major impact on the lives of every American, including women. Before the era of industrialization, around the 1790's, a typical home scene depicted women carding and spinning while the man in the family weaves (Doc F). One statistic shows that men dominated women in the factory work, while women took over teaching and domestic services (Doc G). This information all relates to the changes in women because they were being discriminated against and given children's work while the men worked in factories all day. Women wanted to be given an equal chance, just as the men had been given.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the revolution and the constitutional convention have doubled america's geographic boundaries and population. women were not considered very important to the community.
- Explains that many people, especially women, created and sought after societies of reform. they felt very inspired, considering the second great awakening just ended.
- Analyzes how abigail adams wrote a letter to her husband asking him to remember the ladies and to be more generous and favorable to them than their ancestors.
- Analyzes how john adams responded to abigail's letter in a mocking way. he scorned her and laughed at how seriously she was taking the matter.
- Analyzes how industrialization had a major impact on the lives of every american, including women. men dominated women in the factory work, while women took over teaching and domestic services.
- Analyzes how the ladies' repository, created in 1845, indicates the discrimination and stereotyping of women.
- Analyzes how women and education were closely related during this time, but inequality was proven in the schools. the men of america were favored much more highly than the women because of their social status.
- Describes how women of the revolutionary era decided to do something about their inequality. abigail adams and judith sargent murray met with three hundred men and women to discuss the legal limitations imposed on women.
- Explains that the lives and status of the women living in the north changed drastically between 1776 and 1876. the old common law of marriage proves the inequality of women.
961 wordsRead More - Factory Labor and the Domestic Sphere in the Lowell Offeringanalytical essayDublin, Thomas. "Women, work and protest in the early Lowell Mills: `the oppressing hand of avarice would enslave us.'" Labor History 16(1975): 99-116.
In this essay, the author
- Describes how boston merchants and traders transformed a riverbank below the thirty-foot falls of the merrimack river into "the greatest textile manufacturing establishment in the country."
- Analyzes how the magazine's short stories, epistolary narratives, and commentaries seek to legitimize an operatives' role within the feminine ideal of domesticity.
- Analyzes how the economic realities of new england textile work provoked this question from the domestic narratives of the day. young single women experienced social changes resulting from industrialism and the widening market economy.
- Analyzes how women writers linked industrial activity to domestic ties in order to reaffirm a place for the operative within the "proper sphere" of the household economy.
- Analyzes how the offering's feminine attitude is explicable in terms of the operatives' social milieu from the 1820s until 1840.
- Analyzes baker's portrayal of the advantages and drawbacks of industrial life. baker implies that satisfied factory operatives value economic and social independence, the power of cash payments, and the possibility of self-determination.
- Analyzes how the paternalist social contract was subject to the changing social condition of the female laborer in the early nineteenth century.
- Explains that young, rural, unmarried women were subject to two social forces: the morally upright "cult of true womanhood" and the economic advantages of wage work.
- Analyzes how the lowell offering sought to virtuously reconstruct factory life so that female authors could reconcile it with the feminine literary tradition.
- Analyzes how female solidarity can be acquired by eliciting sympathy from the audience. short stories portray operatives as spending money for various things, wise and unwise.
- Analyzes how farley's "the affections illustrated in factory life, no. 1 -- the sister" describes hannah, a newcomer to lowell.
- Analyzes how rosina works to supplement the domestic sphere; industrial wage-work is the most useful role she can fulfill for her faraway home, even when tragedy unfolds there.
- Opines that they wish to see marcia once again, but it is not best. they feel contented here, earning comforts for their sick sister and necessaries for you, than they should be there, and unable to relieve a want.
- Analyzes how the epistolary narrative of harriet farley, which commences eisler's anthology, is the best expression of the fragile, ambivalent link between domestic and industrial contexts.
- Analyzes how farley's newcomer speculates on the motives of her hospitable landlady,' who greets her in a very motherly way.
- Analyzes how the offering contains a legitimate sample of women workers' views, but it is not representative. the ten hour movement was radically different from the earlier labor protests of 1834 and 1836.
- Analyzes how the offering did not proffer radical views partly because of an explicit editorial choice, but also because the underlying narrative strategy we have discussed.
- Explains that they have not thought it necessary to enlarge upon the fact that there was ignorance and folly among a large population of young females.
- Analyzes how farley's editorial policy affirmed the positive characteristics of the operatives. she acknowledges that the factory girl faces a status disadvantage when compared to the condition of other authors and commentators.
- Analyzes how the offering attempted to legitimize factory work as a morally sound complement to the feminine role in household economic life.
- Explains coolidge, john, mill and mansion: a study of architecture and society in lowell, massachusetts, 1820-1865.
- Explains cott, nancy f. the bonds of womanhood: "woman's sphere" in new england, 1780-1835.
- Describes dublin's women at work: the transformation of work and community in lowell, massachusetts, 1826-1860.
- Opines that the oppressive hand of avarice would enslave women in the early lowell mills.
- Explains eisler, benita, the lowell offering: writings by new england mill women (1840-1845).
- Explains welter, barbara, and edward pessen's the many-faced jacksonian era: new interpretations.
3258 wordsRead More