“The Lowell System required hiring of
young (usually single) women between the ages of 15 and 35
. Single women were chosen because they could be paid less than men, thus increasing corporate profits, and because they could be more easily controlled then men.
What jobs did the Lowell mill girls have?
Most of the women who came to Lowell were from farms and small villages. Some had
labored in small textile mills
. Others had produced cotton or woolen goods or shoes for merchants who employed men and women in their homes and paid them by the pieces they produced.
Who are the workers in Lowell?
The Lowell mill girls were
young female workers
who came to work in industrial corporations in Lowell, Massachusetts, during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The workers initially recruited by the corporations were daughters of New England farmers, typically between the ages of 15 and 35.
What were Lowell mills known for?
In the 1830s, half a century before the better-known mass movements for workers’ rights in the United States, the Lowell mill women organized, went on strike and mobilized in politics when women couldn’t even vote—and created
the first union of working women in American history
.
How did working in the Lowell Mills benefit its female workers?
Working in the mills allowed women to earn money for the first time. Many women used this money to
help their families pay their mortgages and complete repairs around the family home
. Since most women were widowed, many daughters saw mill life as an opportunity to help out their families.
What caused Lowell to start to decline?
Economic instability in the 1830s as well as immigration greatly affected the Lowell mills.
Overproduction
during the 1830s caused the price of finished cloth to drop and the mills’ financial situation was exacerbated by a minor depression in 1834 and the Panic of 1837.
How long was the work day and work week for a mill girl?
Employees worked from 5:00 am until 7:00 pm, for an average
73 hours per week
. Each room usually had 80 women working at machines, with two male overseers managing the operation.
Why did factory owners replace mill girls with immigrants?
Instead of hiring local New England girls to work in the mills,
the factory owners discovered they could hire newly arrived immigrants
. The immigrants, many of whom had come from Ireland, fleeing the Great Famine, were content to find any work at all — even for relatively low wages. McNamara, Robert. … Lowell Mill Girls.
Who invented the factory system?
Discover how Richard Arkwright kick-started a transformation in the textiles industry and created a vision of the machine-powered, factory-based future of manufacturing.
How much did mill workers get paid?
The men paid $2.25 per week and the women paid $1.50
, both including washing. Mary does not say why the women paid less but perhaps they were expected to help serve the supper or help with the washing up. The mill owners built small houses on their “grounds” which they rented to the workers.
How does the Lowell Mills work?
The Lowell Machines
Waterwheels
, wheels that rotate due to the force of moving water, powered the mills; the rotation of the wheel is then used to power a factory or machine. Belts ran up from the wheels to all floors to run the machines.
What was the result of the Lowell strike?
It is hardly necessary to say that so far as results were concerned this strike did no good.
The dissatisfaction of the operatives subsided, or burned itself out
, and though the authorities did not accede to their demands, the majority returned to their work, and the corporation went on cutting down the wages.
What does a mill girl do?
By 1840, the factories in Lowell employed at some estimates more than 8,000
textile
workers, commonly known as mill girls or factory girls. These “operatives”—so-called because they operated the looms and other machinery—were primarily women and children from farming backgrounds.
When did all the Lowell mills close for good?
The wartime demand for labor seemed to bring an end to the depression in Lowell that had begun with the mill closings in
1926
.
What was a unique feature of the Lowell System?
What was a unique feature of the Lowell system?
Young farm girls were employed as factory workers and lodged in company boardinghouses
. What was one reason textile manufacturers hired women? Spinning fiber for cloth had been traditional work of women.
When did the Lowell System end?
The arrival of the Irish in Lowell, beginning in 1846, also contributed substantially to the demise of the Lowell System of Labor. With unskilled labor available and willing to work for low wages, the system was no longer needed. By the
1850s
the Lowell System was a failed experiment.
