Labor in America
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 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 someworkers 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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