Working Women

            Recently, we learned about an experiment that was used during the Industrial Revolution to convince girls to work in the Lowell mills. This experiment was used because unlike Great Britain, the U.S. did not have an abundance of cheap labor. The Lowell Experiment was a way to convince young girls and their families to let the girls leave home and come work in the mills. The mill recruiters would promise families to watch over the girls and instill a mature code of behavior. The girls would get paid and send home some money that would help their families cover their debts and expenses. Mill recruiters would make going to work at the mills seem like an amazing experience. The girls benefited from going to the mills by being bale to get some spending money themselves so they could buy whatever they would want. Also, the girls time worked in the mills were temporary and they would leave as soon they were old enough to marry. The downside to working in the mills were that the girls were separated from their families and would miss part of their childhoods. The girls would also face wage cuts and get little pay for all of the long hours of work. Lastly, the mills were a very dangerous place to work. Many cases of working in mills would often lead to serious injury or even death. During this time, mill owners would feel that they could do anything they felt would improve their own status because they knew that working in the mills were the only jobs most of the girls would ever have. This reflected views of women during this time because it shows that women were not valued as workers and the mill owners could treat the women as they pleased. Eventually, the wage cuts left women to start revolting against the mill owners. These revolts left a mark on labor rights for the future years of the Lowell mills.

Above is a picture of some girls that worked in the Lowell mills during

The Lowell Experiment and the women's worker revolt.

Google Hangout

     This week in class, we got the opportunity to chat with Jamie, an expert/explainer from the Museum of Science and Industry. To start with this activity, we watched a video of Jamie giving a tour of the museum. He showed all of the old machines that were used during the Industrial Revolution. My class then searched the web for some of the definitions to the machines Jamie was talking about. We then made questions that we could ask Jamie when it was time to video chat him.
 
      After doing some more backup information, we were ready to start our chat. Jamie started by going around to each machine and explained how they were used. Jamie said that the earliest machinery was a loom that was used in houses. When more product was in demand, people were forced to abandon the at-home looms and go to factories. We learned how cotton was turned into product starting with the hopper feeder scutcher and ending with the flyers. Jamie also talked about the living conditions while working in the mills. Children were forced to go work at the mills to pay off their families debt. While working, the workers would get ill and physical deformities from standing all day and breathing in the contaminated air. Eventually, factory owner would take orphans form the local orphanage to do the work because it was cheaper than hiring other workers. Jamie then went on to talk about his work at the museum. He wanted to work at the museum because he has always been interested in the Industrial Revolution. He walks around the museum giving tours and answering questions for visitors. My class was very fortunate to get an online tour.
   
    Overall, I thought this experience was very helpful for better understanding life during the Industrial Revolution. It was helpful to see the machines not in a picture and to have each piece be explained. One drawback to the online hangout was that the Internet would sometimes cut out which would make it hard to hear what Jamie had to say. I hope that in the future my class will be able to do another web chat from and online source because it gives us more first hand information without actually be there in person.