What happened at Lowell mills in 1834 and 1836?
Mill owners reduced wages and speeded up the pace of work. The young female operatives organized to protest these wage cuts in 1834 and 1836. Harriet Hanson Robinson was one of those factory operatives; she began work in Lowell at the age of ten, later becoming an author and advocate of women’s suffrage.
What is one reason that the workers at Lowell went on strike?
In 1834 and 1836, the mill owners reduced wages, increased the pace of work, and raised the rent for the boardinghouses. The young female workers went on strike (they called it “turning out” then) to protest the decrease in wages and increase in rent.
What was significant about Lowell Massachusetts?
The city became known as the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution because of its textile mills and factories. Many of Lowell’s historic manufacturing sites were later preserved by the National Park Service to create Lowell National Historical Park.
Why was Lowell unique in its workforce?
The Lowell System was not only more efficient but was also designed to minimize the dehumanizing effects of industrial labor by paying in cash, hiring young adults instead of children, offering employment for only a few years and by providing educational opportunities to help workers move on to better jobs, such as …
Why did the mill girls protest?
What was life like for a Lowell girl?
These women worked in very sub-par conditions, upwards of 70 hours a week in grueling environments. The air was very hot in these rooms that were full of machines that generated heat, the air quality was poor, and the windows were often closed.
What were the 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.
What role did the Lowell girls play?
Who invented the Lowell system?
Francis Cabot Lowell
Francis Cabot Lowell (1775-1817) first used the system in his textile mill in Waltham, Massachusetts, and some scholars credit his approach with bringing the modern factory to the United States.
Who invented Lowell mills?
Why did the Lowell girls live in boarding houses?
In order for parents to agree to let their daughters move to Lowell for a job, the mill owners had to guarantee their physical and moral safety, and they did so by building churches, schools, and women-only boarding houses with chaperones. There were approximately 70 corporate-owned boarding houses.