Lowell solved the problem of labor by employing young women (usually single) between the ages of 15 and 35, who became known as “mill girls”.
How did the Lowell system impact society?
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
How did the Lowell system make life easier?
The Lowell system was a labor system that was new and enticing to young farm girls. As an employee of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the girls were offered a safe workplace, a place to live, and a good environment. The company was able make great technological advancements and turn cotton into cloth in one place.
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 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.
Is the Lowell system still used today?
In the decades following Lowell’s death, industrial towns with mills that used the Lowell system were established throughout New England. Although the factory system became a permanent part of production in the United States, Lowell’s version of it eventually lost favor.
How much money did mill girls make?
On average, the Lowell mill girls earned between three and four dollars per week. The cost of boarding ranged between seventy-five cents and $1.25, giving them the ability to acquire good clothes, books, and savings.
What did Lowell mills produce?
Cotton cloth
Cotton cloth was always Lowell’s major product. But from its earliest years, the mills turned out a variety of textile goods. The Middlesex Company, for instance, manufactured woolen cloth. The Lowell Manufacturing Company was a leading producer of carpets.
What was the purpose of the Lowell offering?
The Lowell Offering, both as a general proposition and in its specific contents, used the idea of literary work to ease the cultural tensions associated with the movement of rural women from the family to the factory.
What was the main reason the Lowell girls 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.
How did the Lowell factory system change after the Panic of 1837?
How did the Lowell factory system change after the Panic of 1837? Factory owners increased the pace of work, cut wages, and began to hire immigrants to replace the farm girls.
What impact did the textile mills have on the US?
The factories provided a wide variety of textile products to everyone, everywhere. They were also an important source of new jobs. People moved from farms and small towns to larger towns and cities to work in factories and the many support businesses that grew up around them.
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.
What was life like for a Lowell mill girl?
Difficult Factory Conditions
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.
Why did the Lowell mills prefer to hire female workers?
To find workers for their mills in early Lowell, the textile corporations recruited women from New England farms and villages. These “daughters of Yankee farmers” had few economic opportunities, and many were enticed by the prospect of monthly cash wages and room and board in a comfortable boardinghouse.
How did mill work and workers change in the 1830s?
The mills provided many young women an opportunity to experience a new and liberating life, and these workers relished their new freedom. Workers also gained a greater appreciation of the value of their work and, in some instances, began to question the basic fairness of the new industrial order.