owners at Lowell believed
             that machines would bring progress as well as profit. Workers and
             capitalists would both benefit from the wealth created by mass
             production. For a while, the factory system at Lowell worked very
             well. The population of the town grew from 200 in 1820 to 30,000 in
             1845. But conditions in Lowell's factories had already started to
             change. Faced with growing competition, factory owners began to
             decrease wages in order to lower the cost--and the price--of finished
             products. They increased the number of machines that each girl had
             to operate. In addition, they began to overcrowd the houses in which
             the girls lived. Sometimes eight girls had to share one room. In
             1836, 1,500 factory girls went on strike to protest wage cuts. (The
             girls called their action a "turn out.") But it was useless.
             Desperately poor immigrants were beginning to arrive in the United
             States from Europe. To earn a living, they were willing to accept low
             wages and poor working conditions. Before long, immigrant women
             replaced the "Yankee" (American) farm girls. To many people, it was
             apparent that justice for wage earners would not come easily. Labor
             in America faced a long, uphill struggle to win fair treatment. In
             that struggle, more and more workers would turn to labor unions to
             help their cause. They would endure violence, cruelty and bitter
             defeats. But eventually they would achieve a standard of living
             unknown to workers at any other time in history. In colonial America,
             most manufacturing was done by hand in the home. Some was done in
             workshops attached to the home. As towns grew into cities, the demand
             for manufactured goods increased. Some workshop owners began hiring
             helpers to increase production. Relations between the employer and
             helper were generally harmonious. They worked side by side, had the
             same interests and held similar p...