As a young woman working on a family farm, there were many reasons why you might want to go to work in the factories. It benefited your family in more than one way, such as giving them one less mouth to feed. The girls were often paid a very good amount, and the money was often sent back to the family, and could be used to save for things such as a dowry, so the girl could one day get married and also to help pay off the family's mortgage loans. Working in the factory could also help benefit a girl's future. They would get good work experience, and while living in the mill city, could even meet a man to marry and start a family with. The girls were also benefited. They were given a room to stay in and three meals a day at a boardinghouse for a small price. The work was monotonous but not terrible, and they could afford more than just necessities. Both the girls and the factory owners benefitted because the women were a cheap labor source, and easy for the factory workers to come by.
The jobs given to the women in the Lowell Mills were difficult but easy to pick up on from women with more experience. Common jobs included spinners, warpers, weavers, drawers, and dressers. Although the girls who came to the factories from family farms were used to hard work and long days, the mill work was a completely different experience for them. A regular day of work at a mill lasted around 13 hours. For six days of this, which equaled about 78 hours, they would only be paid somewhere around $3.50, but a good portion of this money went to their room and meals in the boarding house they lived in.
No matter how well the factory was advertised, it didn't always live up the expectations. "Oh! Isn't it a pity such a pretty girl as I should be sent away to the factory to pine away and die? Oh! I cannot be a slave, I will not be a slave, for I am so fond of liberty that I cannot be a slave." This is part of a song that was sung by Lowell women strikers who were not happy with wage cuts and the overall treatment they received. As "daughters of free men", the women believed there were certain right they were entitled to but were being denied by the factory workers.
The first organized protest in Lowell was a strike that occurred in 1834. The workers became outraged when it was announced that there would be a 15% pay cut, but they would still expect the women to complete the same amount of work. 800 women walked it of their jobs and took to the streets to defend themselves and their positions. However, there were many girls willing to come in and work, and the workers were easily replaced. In 1836, the workers went on strike again, and this time they were successful. They were angered by the announcement that the boardinghouse rates would be changed and made higher. They were better prepared this time, and even began shutting down parts of the factory. It took several weeks to wear them down, but factory owners eventually gave up and put the original prices back in place.
The women had to fight for their freedom and voice under difficult circumstances. They had no work unions, because at the time women were usually exempt from these organization, so they had no help in working for their cause. They eventually did create a trade union and an organization called "Workingmen's Parties" to help them fight to gain back their independence. The women were able to work together very well, because they were all fighting for the same cause. Being together all day in the mills and all night in the boarding houses helped them form strong friendships and gave them the ability to trust each other, which made the later strikes end in their favor.
All the mill overseers and owners were men, and in the early to mid-1800s they were considered to be far superior. It was a difficult task for the women to have themselves takes seriously and to have people listen to their ideas. During this time period, the general population was discovering that both men and women had their own roles to benefit society. Many of these beliefs were contradicted because it was widely thought that women, especially in the middle class should be working at home to maintain the house and family, and going to the factories and joining the working class was quite different for them. The women strongly thought that working in the mills was a way to show people that they could push the limits of how they were supposed to be living and how they were fighting to give other women more freedom and options for their lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment