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 supe

textiles. Some labor leaders believed that a single union should

percentage of minorities and women than before. Employers are

fighting had already ended. In the smoking ruins, they found the

for a 10-hour working day and against child labor. A number of state

helper were generally harmonious. They worked side by side, had the

effectively. The reason,they believed, was that its members were too

Nineteen states established the eight-hour day for children under 16

efforts to include employees of federal, state and local governments

union reached its peak membership of 100,000 in 1912. The IWW had

decrease wages in order to lower the cost--and the price--of finished

Desperately poor immigrants were beginning to arrive in the United

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lowell Massachusetts, AFL CIO, Knights Labor, Industrial Revolution, Anti-trust Act, Labor America, Progressives AFL, Knights AFL, Debs IWW, Lemuel Shaw, labor unions, knights labor, congress passed, craft unions, industrial workers, labor organization, laws protect, union membership, farm girls, organized labor, american federation labor, employers hire union, railway strike 1877, federation labor afl, union represent workers,
Approximate Word count = 5632
Approximate Pages = 23 (250 words per page double spaced)