Textile Industry In The 1800s

In the mid-1800s lots of things were being made by machine. For example: clothing, shoes, watches, guns, and farming machines were made. In 1840 the workday was 11 ½ hours. The workers were very tired and they most likely would have accidents. Workers and even children were hurt a lot by the machines. In the summer they were hot and in the winter they were cold, because there was not air conditioning or a heater in the factories. There were no laws to help the working conditions, and even to protect them. The owners didn't care about the workers, they cared about the money. Children would work six days a week and 12 hours or more a day. In the factories it was really hard and dangerous. Children would work the machines

In 1794, U.S. inventor Eli Whitney patented a machine that transformed the production of cotton by significantly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber called the cotton gin. By the middle of the 19th century cotton had become America’s leading export. This gave Sothern’s the rationalization to maintain and expand slavery despite large number of abolitionists in America. While the cotton gin made cotton processing easier, it facilitated planters in earning greater profits, resulting in larger cotton crops. This in turn increased slavery because it was the cheapest form of labor. As for the North, particularly New England, the cotton gin and cotton’s increase meant a steady supply of raw materials for its textile mills.

In Maury Klein's. “The Lords and the Mill Girls,” industrialization is attempting to rid itself of the horrible standards adhered to at most European and other New England factories through the endeavor of the Lowell Mills. The Associates, who open the Lowell mills, attempt to create an atmosphere which is the best of both worlds. They want to create profit, but don't want to abandon their virtues and principles by creating an industrial district which, “degraded workers and blighted the landscape”(Klein). The key to their success is their working population. They seek civilized workers, who save money, attend church, and adhere to the pious principles of religion and culture(Klein). They find their laborers in women of the New England farmers,

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

The Lowell Mill had started in the early 1900’s and mostly females worked there, it was very hard work and they didn’t get paid much. Mill girls generally worked in hot and difficult working spaces and got paid minimum wage. Also many of the younger kids that worked here went to school then typically go to work after, and this happened almost every day and they got very little rest. I’ll be talking mostly about how the mill girls were treated and their opportunities to go to college for the older people there.

For one, since women were seen as the property of men and as dependent beings, working was not something they would usually do. Thus, working in mills was already something different. However, working in the textile mills were tough. They worked in harsh conditions, in which they worked long hours and had low pay. According to Vera Shlackman, “all the learning I now have gained without instruction, having obtained alone and that too I have labored twelve hours a day”(59), this shows how long they worked for in the mills each day, twelve hours a day. This also shows how despite the fact the mills state that “women working in Lowell’s mills, moreover, could avail themselves of certain education services”(Schug et al. 147), they kept the mill girl’s education at a certain level, in which Vera Shlakman had to resort in teaching herself. To add on, the mill girls had low pay. According to Mark C. Schug, Jean Caldwell, and Tawni Hunt, “the weekly wage for young women in Lowell’s mills was $2.50, of which $1.25 was deducted to pay for room and board. This amounted to pay of less than four cents per hour”(147), showing how low their pay was and how little choices they had, to the point they stayed in these mills. This brings us to the second change. According to the text, these working women were starting to lead industrial strikes. “They walked off their jobs in the the textile

“I shall not stay here… Up before day, at the clang of a bell and out the mill by the bell - just as though we were so many living machines” (Hopkinson 37). Many girls, between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five, worked at textile mills during the Industrial Revolution for eleven to twelve hours a day, with little time to catch their breath and fresh air. The Industrial Revolution started in Europe in the eighteenth century and spread to America during the nineteenth century. Eli Whitney’s invention of interchangeable parts and mass production helped lead the American Industrial Revolution, which started after the War of 1812 and peaked during the 1870’s. During this time period, many factories, mills, and factory cities were constructed, one of which was Lowell, Massachusetts, and employed women because their salaries were lower and therefore cost less. The conditions of the mills and boarding houses that the girls lived in were unpleasant and crowded, and they could easily become ill. Eventually, after the height of the Industrial Revolution, women fought for their rights and better conditions in their workplaces. The Industrial Revolution changed women’s roles in society, as it made jobs that were filled by girls, put them in challenging settings, and united them to work for change in the workforce.

As the American Industrial Revolution began in the first half of the 19th century, girls as young as five left their farm homes to find work, personal independence and adventure. There were good jobs in New England mills. The mill girls of Lowell, MA, became an integral part of the social and economic changes underway. They helped shape mill rules, protested actively for fair wages, improved working conditions and secured shorter hours. They helped establish women's employment possibilities.

During the industrial revolution, Eli Whitney’ development of the cotton gin in the year of 1794, was an extremely popular and widely used invention throughout the United States of America. This particular machine, is capable of completely separating the seeds, from what we know as cotton. Prior to Whitney’s generous contribution, manual physical employment was necessary for this job. The cotton gin allowed quicker expansion of cotton, which quickly lead to an increase in the economy in the South. The fact that slaves were used to produce such cotton was one of the main causes for tension between the North and the South. The opposite sides had opposite views and opinions on

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.

The Lowell Mills, in Massachusetts, before the Market Revolution bosses acted like family and they were paternal to their workers. Prior to the market revolution, paternalism guided the relationships between employers and their workers. Paternalism meant that employers took care of their workers in a similar way to how they would care for their own family members. In times, employers would keep their workers working instead of firing them, and they would overlook transgressions such as tardiness. They would also take care of workers in their old age. As the Lowell Mills exemplified, the demands of the market, however, fundamentally changed this relationship. Between 1822 and 1839, Lowell's population grew from 200 to 18,000 people and the mills rivaled the world's major textile centers. Lowell was unique for its size, but also because it employed mostly young, single women rather than men, like the vast majority of other mills and factories. Lowell chose women because they received less wages since they were perceived as not having a family to feed. They were also seen as more obedient and less rebellious, and their smaller hands were believed to be more dexterous and suitable for detailed textile work. Lured by the potential of the market, the Lowell Mills departed from the traditional paternalism and instead sought to maximize profits. As the women's wages decreased, the pace of work and the regimentation of the work place increased. Moreover, workers became deskilled because they only made one part of the final product instead of the product in its

The Great Depression - an economic downturn that lasted for a decade from 1929-1939 impacted the industries across the globe. It would be unfair to attribute the crash of stock market for the great depression. A variety of other factors such as bank failures, the reduced purchases, Smooth-Hawley Tariff – an American economic policy with Europe and the drought in Missipi Valley to name a few (https://www.thoughtco.com/causes-of-the-great-depression-104686 : Retrieved on 12-05-17). This economic crisis proved to be a threat for the textile industry based in UK as well as in India.

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.

Inside the factory is the next category of how cotton is organized, which is the Industrial cotton production. In the 18th century the water-powered spinning machine helped the United States into producing cotton; it made spinning the fiber more effective and faster. This also the start of the Industrial Revolution (Advameg 2017). There were limits to these mills; they had to be built near channels or rivers in order for them to be powered by the flowing waters (History Learning Sity 2016), which was challenging for fashion companies and transportation of the finished products. These channels and rivers were also being