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Explain Why Women Went To Work In New England Textile Mill Dbq

525 Words3 Pages

For these young women that went to work in the mills, leaving the family farm to live and work far from home in the textile mills was a huge change. In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution happened because Francis Lowell brought it to America. Women started working in textile mills to make money, but the hours were long and they could injure themselves. The work conditions were not the best, but they still did and some women even wrote for newspapers or were in literary clubs. Why did women go to work in the New England textile mills? Young women went to work in New England textile mills for at least three reasons: they could earn money, they could gain independence, and they could support their families. One main reason New England young women sought work in the mills was that wages were able to earn money.The women in the mills made more money than salaries paid to domestic services, seamstresses, and school teachers (Doc B). The daily pay at the mills made it possible for workers to actually save money. On average, women make 60 cents a day (Doc A). Room and board cost the women about 1.20 per week. (Doc A) This allowed them to …show more content…

Factory Girl said, “one of the most lucrative female employments should be rejected because it is toilsome, or because some people are prejudiced against it. Yankee girls have too much independence for that” (Doc B) because Orestes Brownson said that factory work is immoral for women. Another worker, Lucy Ann, said “if I go to Oberlin I take comfort & forget all those long wearisome mill days & perhaps I prepare myself for usefulness in this life. ” (Doc F) because her parents and neighbors keep taking her hard earned money instead of it being hers. Rather than staying at home on the farm, or working as a domestic or school teacher, these young mill workers were able to make money for themselves and not give it all away to family

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