Labor in America

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

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

. . .

The next day 600 militiamen arrived from Philadelphia.

For a while, the factory system at Lowell worked very well.

They even supplied strikebreakers against each other. Many more workers had only part-time jobs.

Leaders of the AFL and the CIO merged their organizations in 1955.

They pledged to stop working for employers who would not pay that amount.

The Progressives were also concerned with the hours worked by women in industry.

The young factory workers did not earn high wages; the average pay was about $3. Newspaper stories usually exaggerated the strength of the order. Yet some

workers secretly formed a Trainmen's Union to oppose the railroads.

The Progressives were concerned about labor's problems. They wanted

workers to be paid for accidents regardless of cause. They invaded

each other's territory, encouraged revolts and welcomed each other's members into their own ranks. These successes led to big increases in union membership.

KNIGHTS OF LABOR

The Railway Strike led many workers to join a growing national labor organization.

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Approximate Word count = 4789
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page double spaced)

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