Women and Workers During the Market Revolution How were women and laborers affected by the Market Revolution?

Warm-Up Try to imagine that you are working in a large factory. Write 2-4 sentences about what working in the factory is like. What do you hear? What do you feel? What kind of temperature is it in the factory? Do you like the work? Why or why not?

Stickers Reading Circle 5 important vocabulary terms from the reading Underline the most important sentence in each paragraph Put a sticker next to the sentences that describe how work and the way products were made changed in the 1830s. Put a sticker next to the sentences that describe how “mill girls” responded to their poor working conditions. Put a sticker next to the sentences that describe why workers decided to start joining labor unions.

The Factory System Better Communication and Transportation Cheap Cotton More People (immigration) Factory System for Textiles (clothes) Why is it better to make things in a factory?

The Factory System (cont’d) With the introduction of the factory, people started to work longer hours for a wage The early factories mostly employed unmarried women and immigrants Most of these early factories were in the North Textile Mills: early factories that made clothes

Lowell Mills Towns like Lowell, Massachusetts contained large mills that employed many young women Women lived in boarding houses, had strict schedules, and constant supervision Aspects of their life: Working Sleeping Eating Praying

The Cult of Domesticity The idea that: Men = provide for the family with work Women = take care of the home Requires women to be submissive to men Women who worked were considered to be “lower class”

Immigrant Labor Growth of Production  Need for more workers Most immigrants came from: Ireland (especially during the potato famine) Germany England Most immigrants settled in the North and worked factory jobs Most immigrants lived in neighborhoods with people from the same home country

Early Labor Unions Labor Union: an organization of workers with the intent to seek their goals collectively (together) The factory system deprived many people of freedom Growth of business = Growth of inequality Many laborers worked in poor conditions for low wages Workers started to create labor unions in order to protect themselves