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Lucy Larcom's Life As A Mill Girl

485 Words2 Pages

No I do not think her feelings towards working in the mill were typical. Lucy Larcom was born March 5, 1824 in Massachusetts. Her father was a sea caption and her mother stayed home and took care of the kids. She grew up on Wallis Lane her entire life, in a rural area. When her father died in 1832, the family was facing form money problems. It was at this time, at the age of 12, they moved to Lowell and Lucy and her sisters had to work at a mill, to maintain a steady income. A typical person would dread going to an unsafe, dangerous, and unsanitary work place, like a factory. They would be tired and have long days with little pay, even though many people back then were happy with their pay. Lucy Larcom, on the other hand, thought being a mill girl benefited young women in many ways. …show more content…

She believed it gave more women free time and independence. To have independence it means you don't rely on other people. Working as a mill girl you could earn more money and have more time to yourself, even though she worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Her feelings were joyful. She loved being a mill girl because she felt like she could do everything and not want help from other people. The wages were better then what you get for farming a day. Although every mill girl was being watched extremely closely inside and outside of the mill factory by their employees, it was a better alternative then being a servant. They didn't have to be told what to do every second of the day. They would show up to work and already know what to do. Having independence for these young women meant a lot to them. Lucy once

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She hints at this when the textbook states “We are exploited more ruthlessly than men. Wherever wages are to be reduced the capitalist class use women to reduce them” (American Yawp). From this quote one can see that because of their gender, women were social and political targets during this time, as a result of men from the capitalist class implementing laws that only benefited them but affected women. This can also be connected back to chapter 19 of the textbook when it mentions the story of a young woman named Margaret McLeod who, in 1903, was in need of income and met Alexander Mac Willie who presented her a job working essentially as a model for the product he was selling in hopes to gain popularity (American Yawp). Opportunities for women were very different during this time as well.

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In the quote, Lyddie’s friend, Betsy, is sent away with her uncle to Maine for being too weak to work at the factory due to being sick. Her illness was caused by all the dust and lint in the factories. The factory takes in workers when they are young and strong, and when they can’t work anymore, they fire them without another thought. If Lyddie

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When Samuel passed, Lucy was eventually sent to live with Ebenezer Wells of Deerfield, Massachusetts. With the Wells family, Lucy became a devout Christian. She was baptized and became a full-time church member by her teen years. Lucy also learned how to read during her time with the Wells.

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The novel Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson, is about Lyddie, the protagonist. After her family’s farm goes into debt, she goes to work in the Cutler’s Tavern where she works, almost like a slave as she doesn’t earn money for herself. Lyddie then gets fired and goes to Lowell, Massachusetts to get a job at the textile factory. She manages to become one of the factory workers at the factory and works with Diana, a fellow worker. Diana started a petition for getting fewer work hours and better working conditions because they have bad working conditions.

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For example, in paragraph twelve, in the article, Lyddie, the author states, “Nearly half the mealtime was spent simply going up and down the staircase, across the mill yard and bridge, down the row of houses-just getting to and from the meal.” This quote proves that fifteen and thirty minutes were not enough for the mill girls to have healthy meals. The second awful condition that the mill girls had to experience while working was that the young mill girls spent almost the whole day working and they couldn’t even sit down. They were standing up for hours without rest, which is very unhealthy for their legs and arms. I know this because in paragraph seven of “Lucy Larcom and Harriet Hanson,” the author stated, “Most stood all

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Girls from Lowell, Massachusetts, worked hard for around 14 hours each day in dust and lint filled air in the mid 1800’s. In the book, “Lyddie”, by Katherine Paterson; the main character, Lyddie, is one of the girls from the factory. Lyddie is a young teenage girl who grew up on a farm in Vermont with her mom and her three younger siblings. Her dad left her at a young age which caused her mom to go crazy, leaving Lyddie in charge of taking care of the rest of the family. Her dad left her family with so much debts making her have to rent out the farm and work at Lowell.

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That shows that herself and the others may start to waive from the petition. Lyddie is wanting to be independent and find a good job to support her family besides the mill, then she is reassured by a new friend . another quote says. “ You would do well in the mill you know. You would clear at least $2 a week.

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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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because it taught women a new way how to live and work. The Lowell Mills Girls had half an hour for breakfast every day. They worked for about 13 hours each day and they had very little pay. The girls were supervised by older woman called “Matrons.” next the young girls were expected to educate themselves.

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