THE MILL
What Massachusetts city became famous for its textile mills in the early 1800s?
Lowell
What did the Lowell mill workers receive in exchange for their labor?
Wages
What is the year this primary source was created?
1834
What is the title of this primary source?
"Union is Power"
Why did the Lowell mill women use the language of American independence and the Revolutionary generation when protesting their working conditions?
To compare their struggle to American ideals of liberty, independence, and resistance to oppression.
What type of products were the Lowell mills mainly known for producing?
Textiles
What change in their pay helped lead to the Lowell workers' 1834 protest?
Their wages were going to be reduced.
The workers call themselves "daughters of freemen." What major American event are they connecting themselves to?
The American Revolution
Why did the Lowell workers believe it was important to act together?
They believed workers had more power when they acted as a group.
Why did many young women come to Lowell to work in the mills?
To earn wages and gain financial independence.
What did the Lowell women do to protest the proposed wage reduction?
They went on strike, also called a "turn-out."
The workers describe the "oppressing hand of avarice." What does the word "avarice" mean?
Greed
The workers said they would not return unless they were accepted "all as one." What does this show about their strategy?
They believed solidarity and collective action were necessary to pressure their employers.
What was one major problem with working in the Lowell mills?
The work was difficult / The hours were long.
Why was earning wages especially important to many of the young women who worked in Lowell?
Wages gave them more financial independence.
Why do the workers describe their employers' actions as an attack on their "rights"?
It threatened their ability to remain economically independent and was unfair to workers.
What did the Lowell workers hope to accomplish by refusing to return to work individually?
They hoped that other women would also agree to not return to work in order to form enough pressure against employers.