The 1st Industrial Revolution CH 8 Section 4 The 1st Industrial Revolution

Cottage Industry: System in which manufacturers provided the materials for goods to be produced at home.

By the 1830s, factories had replaced the cottage industry system By the 1830s, factories had replaced the cottage industry system. The thread and clothes were made in the factories.

In the early 19th century, artisans made goods that a family could not make for itself. These included such items as furniture and tools. New machines allowed unskilled factory workers to make goods that skilled artisans once made.

In the mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, most factory workers were young, unmarried women. Factory owners hired mostly young women because they could pay them less than men. Factory work paid better than other jobs for women—teaching, sewing, and being a servant.

Throughout the early 1800s, working conditions in the textile mills steadily grew worse. In response, 800 “mill girls” went on strike. The women eventually lost their strike and were forced to return to work.

Strike: A strike is a work stoppage in order to force an employer to respond to demands.

Irish immigrants had come to the US to escape the Great Potato Famine Irish immigrants had come to the US to escape the Great Potato Famine. Because they were poor, the Irish were willing to work for low wages. As a result, employers used the Irish when their regular workers went on strike.

To increase their power, workers joined trade unions, or unions specific to each trade. Factory owners opposed the union movement. They had help early on from the courts—which declared strikes illegal.