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Extensive History Of Labor In America

        The Industrial Revolution was dawning in the United States. At
Lowell, Massachusetts,   the construction of a big cotton mill began in
1821. It was the first of several that would   be built there in the
next 10 years. The machinery to spin and weave cotton into cloth  
would be driven by water power. All that the factory owners needed was
a dependable   supply of labor to tend the machines.   As most jobs in
cotton factories required neither great strength nor special skills,
the   owners thought women could do the work as well as or better than
men. In addition,   they were more compliant. The New England region
was home to many young, single   farm girls who might be recruited. But
would stern New England farmers allow their   daughters to work in
factories? The great majority of them would not. They believed   that
sooner or later factory workers would be exploited and would sink into
hopeless   poverty. Economic "laws" would force them to work harder and
harder for less and less   pay. How, then, were the factory owners able
to recruit farm girls as laborers? They did it   by building decent
houses in which the girls could live. These houses were supervised   by
older women who made sure that the girls lived by strict moral
standards. The girls   were encouraged to go to church, to read, to
write and to attend lectures. They saved   part of their earnings to
help their families at home or to use when they got married.   The
young factory workers did not earn high wages; the average pay was
about $3.50   a week. But in those times, a half-dozen eggs cost five
cents and a whole chicken cost   15 cents. The hours worked in the
factories were long. Generally, the girls worked 11 to   13 hours a
day, six days a week. But most people in the 1830s worked from dawn
until   dusk, and farm girls were used to getting up early and working
until bedtime at nine o'clock.   The factory owners at Lowell believed
that machines would...