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The Outsiders: The Lowell Girls Of The Industrial Revolution

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The Women of the Industrial Revolution Lowell, Massachusetts is known to be the kickstarter of the Industrial Revolution (“Lowell Massachusetts History |Lowell History”). The Lowell Girls, women who worked in the factories in Lowell, made up almost all of the textile workers of the 1840s (Commons). The friends and families of the Lowell Girls were told that they were treated properly and were given respect (“Lowell Mill Girls and the Factory System, 1840”). In reality, the deaths and accidents inside the factories were as common as ants at a picnic (Commons). The working quarters were densely packed, and diseases spread quickly (Commons). Sadly, not many people know about these hardworking women, and how they impacted the lives of women today. …show more content…

According to Joy Hakim on page 144 of her book, The Outsiders, “Lowell Mill Girls worked twelve hours a day, six days a week.” They were all forced to wear the same clothes (Hakim 144). They stayed in a house similar to a boarding home for most of their time working (Hakim 144). They typically worked three to five years ("Women and the Early Industrial Revolution in the United States"). Sometimes, they worked in the factories for their whole lives, marrying the machinists ("Women and the Early Industrial Revolution in the United States"). They earned around $3.50 per week ("Women and the Early Industrial Revolution in the United States"). The total deaths of the Lowell Girls in 1842 were 473 (Commons). This was caused by diseases like measles, croup, inflammation of the brain, dysentery, and many other things (Commons). The Lowell Girls were fed up with this flawed system of labor. In 1998, Robinson said that they chanted, “Oh! Isn’t it a pity, such a pretty girl as I-should be sent to the factory to pine away and die? Oh! I cannot be a slave, I will not be a slave, for I’m so fond of liberty that I cannot be a slave.” They stopped working, but were soon forced to again (“Women’s History Month: The “Mill Girls” of Lowell, Mass”). They even gathered paperwork to defend themselves (“Women’s History Month: The “Mill Girls” of Lowell, Mass”). The Lowell Mill Girls shaped the way women of the United States work today. Without them,

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