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.