The Lowell Mill's Impact On Family Farm Women

In the first year of the American industrial development much of Americas technology was copied directly from Britain with the help of British artisans. This technological advancement created a demand for workers. Even though women didn’t possess much rights and were not allowed to own property or have a say in the distribution of family assets. They were still obligated to work in the family farm, attend the house and raise the children. Women were seen as cheap labor and were paid little for their work. As stated by Harriet Robinson, “in the eyes of her overseer she was but a brute, a slave, to be beaten, pinched and pushed about.” Yet, as the demand for labor increased, factory owners began to see young farm women as an ideal labor force. As a result, “In 1814, Lowell opened the world’s first integrated cotton mill in Waltham, near Boston”
Many of the women who began working in the mill “were not over ten years old; a few were in middle life, but the majority were between the ages of sixteen and twenty-¬five” (Harriet Robison). Their work day began at 5 in the morning and stretched till 7 in the evening. They were allowed half an hour for breakfast and another for dinner. The youngest of the girls where called “doffers.” They acquired the name from their duty of removing “the full bobbins from the spinning frames, and [replacing] them with empty ones” (Harriet Robison). Each hour within the 14 hours work day they were expected to work approximately 15 minutes. If the supervisor was feeling generous the girls would be allowed to participate in recreational activities. Many women work for 8 to 10 months yet, they enjoyed living in the Lowell Mill housing. There they were able to create close relationships with the other women. Giving them a sense of belonging. (Harriet