Race Ethnicity And Gender In The Lowell Factory

When women started working in factories, they faced hardships in working conditions. There were dangerous fumes and explosive dangers. There was always the risk of accidental explosions. It was even harder for mothers because there were not any child care policies offered by many companies. Women soon began making unions, such as the National Women’s Trade Union League, where women met and found ways to help raise women wage and have better work

Beginning her speech, Kelley applies her credibility by placing statistics regarding the controversy of child labor laws, revealing that she is informed about this topic. Her credibility has a great connection to her purpose, she claims that the number of working girls doubled from census to census and girls from twelve to twenty years are working when they should not have to. Kelley then manifests her concern over these working girls by explaining that, “tonight,” while everybody else is snoozing away in bed, “these several thousand little girls will be working in textile mills,”(16-17). These words make her audience feel pity concerning those young girls and are a great reason to act against the unfair laws and regulations that violate both their human and women's rights, especially when they aren’t even getting paid fairly. By appealing to their emotion Florence Kelley wishes to push the women to act on her proposal of joining together and helping the poor young girls of their nation. Kelley continues to approach and influence the women’s sentiments and- hopefully- their actions by including her scandalized argument that in “Georgia there is no restriction whatever! A girl of six or seven years, just tall enough to reach the bobbins, may work eleven hours by day or by night,” (29-31). She decides to include the ‘bobbins’ of sewing machines in factories to illustrate how short and how young they are to be working in dangerous factories where their rights are ignored, girls at that age should worry more about going to school instead of sacrificing themselves to bring money for bread to their homes. One would understand that many families are living through poverty due to the economy being at a very depressing state and they need the most they can do to increase their financial position to survive in their society, then again, girls should be

However, not only did women work in the fields they also produce goods, and services; such as clothing, personal hygiene items, and food to be sold in order to build -up their coffer’s through that of their overabundance of supplies. This impact took place during the 1700’s and beyond, when women from all aspects of life filled these domestic jobs while working for very little pay; getting absolutely nothing at all for their work. During the 1800’s, however, this all changed for women and soon these women we’re categorized as being unskilled workers this causing tremendous consequences for these women; especially when the men return for war and once again took on the gender roles to which women were now a custom too.

Though traditional history books paint the workers in the United States as all male, the women were very much a part of the labor force. However, the way in which labor affected gender roles very much differed. In some examples, work broke down gender roles. In the rice fields, both male and female African slaves were forced to work side by side. This is interesting because in rice-producing countries of Africa, women were the sole producers of rice. On the other hand, the British had seen agriculture as a man’s work, and women typically only worked in the fields during

Women’s history in the United States has always been represented as a struggle for rights. Wealth and status were tied to either their fathers or husbands. In the early 1900s, women were afforded the traditional roles of society. The majority of women worked in the home. If they were of the 18% young or poor women, they also worked in factories as laborers, manufacturing items for the booming industrial revolution (U.S. Department of Labor, 1980). During this time period the workplace was not in compliance with current safety standards. There was no minimum wage yet, work conditions were horrible and they worked long hours, “In 1900, the average workweek in manufacturing was 53 hours,” (Fisk, 2003). Women took “pink

Woman along with the children were affected while working during the industrial revolution. During 1834 and 1836 Harriet Martineau, a British feminist and abolitionist, visited America and enthusiastically embraced the social implications of the Industrial Revolution, (DTA, 223). Martineau compared the lifestyle of women to slaves and said the United States contradicted the principles of the Declaration of Independence. She did believe though with some progress that it could become New England’s new industrial order. One of the Mill factories Martineau visited, Waltham Mill, was a prime example of the scheduled lifestyle of women mill workers. Women Mill workers of all ages worked at Waltham Mill, which I compared to a boarding school because of their strict schedules. The ladies had a time to wake up, to be at work, to eat, and to go to school. A lot of women did not mind the harsh conditions they lived and worked in because they fought for their equality of rights for a long time now.

Women working men’s jobs were not as welcomed in society as they were in factories. People held on to the belief that women should be house wives and not have to do much in the way of work. The man should provide for the family, and the women should take care of the family. Many of the women who worked were lower class and had to help provide for their families, or were the only providers for their families. Women who worked men’s jobs were looked down upon and thought to be no better than dirt. Although women working in factories were still women, men did not show them the same respect as they did a woman working as a secretary or teacher.

The author uses quotes from a variety of people, all of which corroborate the idea the working conditions women faced in Lowell changed from being a positive model of a work environment in a factory setting to a dismal work environment in less than 10 years. (check the time range). Since the quotes were from a wide demographic of individuals, they are fairly reliable because they represent more than one view about Lowell. Klein also discussed the Lowell Offering as a source of information and its impact on the perception of the manufacturer to describe the standard of living in Lowell. The women working in the factory contributed stories to the Lowell Offering. At first, their writing showed that they were interested in bettering themselves by being willing to write for a

al, 1996, p. 65). Minority women faced greater oppression, and were less likely to be hired. If they were lucky enough to find a job, it was usually low-ranking, part-time, and short-term, as employers eagerly replaced them with Caucasians, men or both (Frances et. al, 1996, pp. 69-70). Part-time work was very common, with 25% of female workers part-time in 1989 (Frances et. al, 1996, p. 66), displaying an employer’s reluctance to allow women employees. Even as more females entered the workforce despite resistance, they were still discriminated against due to the current powers in charge.

Labor Unions have had an effect of American history as well as world-wide history from the time they became popular. Following WWII Americans were predominantly pro-labor, however, as time went on union’s credibility fell short of perfect. Union strikes proved to be bothersome to both the general public and company. Unions were also suppressing to employees through fraud and lack of worker rights (in earlier years, before Acts were passed). Although Union labor had its shortcomings, this type of labor is noted to be the most productive and economically beneficial. With both sides shown, I feel Unions will again thrive in the future with a few key adjustments made.

Unions in America today have grown smaller and smaller in the past 30 years. There are many reasons for this. The major one is that industries in other countries that are non-union have much cheaper labor costs, and therefore can offer products and materials at a much lower price than our US union-run, high wage cost factories. “During the 1970s and 1980s, a fifth of large unionized companies in the United States went bankrupt, unable to compete against companies with lower wage costs.” (Rachman, 308)

According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, a labor union is an organization of workers formed for the purpose of advancing its members' interests in respect to wages, benefits, and working conditions. With elected representatives in respected places, union reps negotiate labor contracts and disputes with employers. Labor unions have had an effect of American history from the time they became popular. Prior to the 1800’s, there were few unions in the United States. Most Americans worked as craftsmen or owned a

If unions are that beneficial to workers, why the increasing decline? Several reasons come into play. One issue being, there has been a rapid growth within particular categories, such as women. There are more women currently in the labor force, who are more prone to working sporadically and half the time compared to others. Secondly, there has been a decline in union’s actively engaging new members, as well as their being a steady increase in the employer’s unwillingness to take part in unionization attempts. Additionally, because society has shifted from unionized corporations with a manufacturing-based economy to a service-based economy has made it more difficult to unionize. Although, there have been uncontrollable and controllable forces that have led to the decreasing popularity of unions, they have still managed to make up for it in vital areas, such as wages, benefits, working conditions, and others. Whether or not individuals view labor unions as positive or negative organizations, they will always matter.

It has definitely changed over the last hundred years. We have fewer companies joining unions now that we had before, according to The National public Radio in the Article “ 50 years of shrinking union membership, in one map”. The union membership rate has dropped in the last few years, starting from 1983 until 2008 according to the U.S bureau of Labor Statistics from 20.1 percent to 12.4 percent in the article “How union Membership has changed over 25 years” (2009)

During Britain’s Industrial Revolution, a multitude of different jobs were opened to the working class of men, women, and children. While this era offered a wide variety of new opportunities for everyone, women were somewhat excluded in areas such as occupation availability and wage due to the cultural norms of the time period.