The Industrial Revolution was dawning in the United States. At
             Lowell, Massachusetts, the construction of a big cotton mill began in
             1821. It was the first of several that would be built there in the
             next 10 years. The machinery to spin and weave cotton into cloth
             would be driven by water power. All that the factory owners needed was
             a dependable supply of labor to tend the machines. As most jobs in
             cotton factories required neither great strength nor special skills,
             the owners thought women could do the work as well as or better than
             men. In addition, they were more compliant. The New England region
             was home to many young, single farm girls who might be recruited. But
             would stern New England farmers allow their daughters to work in
             factories? The great majority of them would not. They believed that
             sooner or later factory workers would be exploited and would sink into
             hopeless poverty. Economic "laws" would force them to work harder and
             harder for less and less pay. How, then, were the factory owners able
             to recruit farm girls as laborers? They did it by building decent
             houses in which the girls could live. These houses were supervised by
             older women who made sure that the girls lived by strict moral
             standards. The girls were encouraged to go to church, to read, to
             write and to attend lectures. They saved part of their earnings to
             help their families at home or to use when they got married. The
             young factory workers did not earn high wages; the average pay was
             about $3.50 a week. But in those times, a half-dozen eggs cost five
             cents and a whole chicken cost 15 cents. The hours worked in the
             factories were long. Generally, the girls worked 11 to 13 hours a
             day, six days a week. But most people in the 1830s worked from dawn
             until dusk, and farm girls were used to getting up early and working
             until bedtime at nine o'clock. The factory ...