Question

Imagine yourself in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1840 where either you or a close family member works as a factory girl in the textile mill. Discuss what you (or your close family member) experience and see. Consider how technology has made the town distinct and if women affiliated with the mill were treated better or worse in society than their peers elsewhere.

200 words

Answer 1

Lowell Mill at the wake of industrial Revolution came to the rescue of women who wanted to support their family and those who wanted to escape from the controlling fathers and husbands. Few women had other reasons such as supporting the family, pay for a family member's educational expenses and improving overall life style etc. Although the wages was half of what the men got, it was just enough to make them independent. Mill owners didn't want to employ children for that much amount, so they hired women who somehow wanted to become economically independent. Although the working conditions and the demand to work fast was stressful, women felt the importance of gaining economic independence. In 1845, the women who worked in the Mill was able to form a Union which fought for the rights of the women. By then, one third of the Mill workers were women. This is one of the many revolutions that brought sea of change in the workplace and in the social space. Women started to fill the labor force and started to become equal to men. Women in the Mill also started a monthly magazine where they wrote lots of critical analysis of their workplace thus making the owners to think of better workplace with all the facilities.

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