Women in New England wanted to work at textile mills so they could afford education, support their families, and it was a high-paying job opportunity. Mills became popular in the early 1800s during the Industrial Revolution. They first became a thing in the US when Francis Lowell went to England and memorized how the factories worked since stealing the plans would be illegal; he then remade them in New England. The Industrial Revolution and mills changed how daily life was lived. Before, families attended to their own needs; farmers supplied food, women tended to the livestock, sewed clothing, and did the laundry, and the children helped with any chores around the house. During and after the Industrial Revolution, when mills were popular, women …show more content…
I wish I had more to send you.” During this time period, it was hard for some families to earn enough money to support themselves; the women in the families would go off to work in textile mills to earn more money. They wouldn’t be able to keep it for themselves as their family needed it more. They knew that they would have to send all of their money home and tried to save as much as they could for their family. To sum up, women wanted to work at textile mills to send home money and help support their families. Women worked in textile factories since it gave them a higher-paying job opportunity. In Document C, Sally Rice writes that “It (working in the factory) will be better than doing housework.” Housework didn’t pay as much as an average family needed, so the women had to change jobs for a better opportunity. Document A, explains that the textile mills had a fee on “Room and board (meals) in company boarding houses” which “cost about $1.25 per week”, the average daily wage for women was 60 cents leaving the women with $2.71 each week. Housework didn’t pay as much, and the women thought it was best for them to have more money; ergo, they switched to