Textile Industry In The 1800s

Do you think that English textile factories were bad for the health of working class families. Use evidence from at least two of the documents to support your claim.

Back in the 1800s the people would use water to power the mills. They would use waterfalls and rivers to power the mills. The St. Anthony river had enough water to power the mill. There was also Turbine and water wheels to power the mills.

Workers went on strike to earn a fair living wage and in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt stepped in. His commission saw the truth awarded mine workers a wage increase and a nine-hour day. The department of Labor formed to help fix problems of the American worker. New York banned children from working under the age of sixteen for more than nine hours in a factory. To improve safety, in 1911, New York passed laws requiring fire escapes, fire drills and wired windows in all factories. In the next year, New York also passed a law requiring factory workers to have a “one-day-of-rest-in-seven”, meaning they needed to have at least one day break each week. After that, New York also made it illegal to hire children to do factory work in tenements or canneries, and made a fifty four- hour workweek the maximum for any working person under eighteen. (Doc 2)

American textile manufactures were at an advantage compared to British manufactures, and they were very successful. America persuaded Britain to prohibit the export of textile machinery and the emigration of mechanics. Yet, still many British mechanics migrated over to the United States because they were lured by the higher wages. In competing the British mills, America had the advantage of an abundance of natural resources. America’s farmers were able to produce large amounts of cotton and wool, and they had fast flowing rivers that provided good

In such a unique nation where the average person is family oriented and running a family owned farm and/or business their was bound to be room for change. In 1793 Samuel Slater, a born European created the first cotton spinning factory in Pawtuckett. This is said to be one of the many things that sparked Industrial Development in America. This project alone sparked the need for more cotton to be produced at a faster rate which brought upon the creation of the cotton gin. New growth in any field brings more than what meets the eye. The cotton gin producing more cotton made it neccassary for a new form aof transport to be developed. Shortly after the country started to adapt textile mills started to pop up

In the 19th century, America saw major expansions and technological advances that paved way for the grand expansion of agriculture that boosted the nation’s economy. Regardless of the fact that Great Britain had tried to keep secrets regarding machinery and inventions, most of America’s advances were propelled by inventions such as the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, steel plow by John Deere, railway, steamboats, telegraph, and canals. In addition, technology’s profound effect on agriculture also led to the rise of the textile industry whereby factories produced materials such as cotton thread and cloth. Many of these initial factories are recognized in historical texts, but the Lowell factory system is one that is famous – precisely the

“The water-frame used the waterpower from fast-flowing streams to drive spinning wheels.” (course reader 102) Then there was the introduction of the steam engine and power-loom. Due to an expired patent, James Watt decided to create his version of the steam engine for use in a cotton mill plant and introduced a system for the factory that was revolutionary. As a result, wages and manufacturing of cotton and iron really increased. This helped get more work done in less time and gave people jobs. (Document 2) The steam engines also helped get the economy ramped up by being able to bring supplies to the cities and more jobs to people. The steam engines provided jobs because they needed miners, engineers, and sailors who could build the canals and railroads for this transportation. As a result, they could bring supplies to the cities which also increased farmland available to produce more food for everyone. (Document 3) The steam engine brought in railroad development, industrialization and changes to the population. (Document 9) With the growth of railways and transportation, from 1801-1851, many cities were developed within the central part of Great Britain and the population

Textile mills grew because of new inventions that would make the product and people willing to work for a living. In the 1790’s, Samuel Slater built the first factory in Rhode Island, which had a machine that could spin thread and yarn. This allowed an increase in the New England area of spinning mills. In Lowell, Massachusetts, factories were created on the Merrimack River combining all parts of cloth production, such as combing, spinning, shrinking,

Starting in the early 19th century,the United States underwent a process of industrialization. Two technological changes from this process of industrialization had a big impact on the lifestyles of Americans. Also,a transportation improvement made from this process of industrialization helped the United States expand towards West. The first of these technological changes from this process of industrialization is the textile mill,specifically the first textile mill opened in the U.S.This had an impact on the lifestyles of Americans by being the first invention to kickstart the U.S Industrial Revolution. This is because the Industrial Revolution first started in Britain and was brought to America by Samuel Slater who memorized some of the inventions.

Considered to be a landmark, in 1938 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act. The nation was experiencing social and economic development of judicial opposition and depression. This law set national minimum wages and maximum hours workers can be required to work. Incorporated into this law are overtime pay and established standards to prevent child-labor abuse. Consequently, in 1963 an amendment was made to this law, which prohibited wage discrimination against women.

Nowadays we take cotton for granted. We use it in our everyday life, and some people may not even realize it. In the 1800’s Cotton was the next big thing in America. Now that Britain, America’s main export country, had a new indigo supplier, we needed to find another way to make money. Little did we know that it was right in front of us.

In the early 1900s, many immigrants had left their home country and came to America in hopes of starting a new life. In order to do so, they had to get a job and start supporting the new life in which they hoped for. During this time, the industrial field seemed to be the most common occupation of any immigrants, especially in New York City. There were hardly any working requirements and basically anyone could be hired in these sweatshops or factories. The garment industry in particular, hired immigrant women and children with a very low wage, strenuous labor hours, and awful working conditions. Without any regulations or codes, the working environment could’ve been considered a death trap and was not being appreciated when it came to pay day.

The textile mills developed in New England because the role of farmers started to decline, as well as their numbers, and the cities started to see exponential growth. It was also easier to have products being made in one single area rather than having them made in multiple areas and having to coordinate with each company. These cities needed factories to keep up with the demand. They needed to keep cranking out the products to make overhead. Their impact on the economy was that although at some points they didn’t make overhead/profit, machines were doing most of their work, and they were paying their workers very little, even cutting wages. So although it failed at points to make its own profit, the effect on the economy was considerable, as

Be the 1750's, the Industrial Revolution had begun. In the beginning, inventions were limited to cotton weaving. This quickly changed with new inventions such as the spinning jenny and the water powered frame. A problem existed in which yarn was not being fed fast enough to the weaver, but in 1769 the spinning jenny and the water powered frame solved this problem by providing yarn faster. Edmund Cartwright, in 1880, invented the power loom, and it combined both the machine's characteristics and purposes in one machine. Cleaning cotton was always an extremely difficult and time consuming job. In 1793, Eli Whitney created a brilliant invention, the cotton gin. This marvelous invention could clean cotton 50 times faster then the average person. These new inventions all assisted the manufacturing of cotton goods by speeding up the process. (members.aol).

In 1968, Eric Hobsbawm said: “Whoever says Industrial Revolution says cotton.” Among many historians the Industrial Revolution is considered as the process in which technological changes led by the mechanized factories of the cotton industry created large profits for innovators that continued in succeeding decades. It was the key event in the emergence of modern economic growth, which led to shifting manufacturing from people’s houses and shops to factories. It was a time of vivid change, from hand tools and handmade items, to the products which were produced by machines. Nevertheless, life improved, the industrial revolution had some harmful consequences, such as increased pollution, harmful working conditions, employment of women and children, who were made to work long and hard hours, etc.