American Women In The 19th Century

In the 19th century, the industrial revolution changed the United States and Western Europe. It led to power-driven machines in the textile industry. This came with the expansion of commercial farming areas to provide raw materials, increased wage labor and rapid urbanization. It also changed family life by decreasing family size because were involved in labor force. New England textile firms employed many people including children.
Southern New England mills depended on single rural women who came from countryside. They had to build houses for these women to board. Many rural young women were attracted to these firms in New England because they offered them competitive wages compared with Rhode Island mills. Mills recruiters looked for young women from northern New England because they were key workforce in these textile firms. Their wages were above those other young women who worked in rural farms.
Families in the rural areas got support from their daughters who worked in these textile firms. Young women working in these firms were capable of surviving independently from their family members. They become supporters of their families instead of being dependents to their families as they used to be when working in their rural farms. This made their family members to be motivated to allow them to leave their rural farms to get employment in textile mills.
In the rural farms, young women lacked future opportunities. Their work in farms in rural areas supported immediate needs. They could manage their moderate standards of living but no savings could be made. The desire to work in textile firms provided them with opportunities on supporting their families and saving for their future. Therefore, employment opportunities in textile mills made young women to attain social and economic independence (Dublin,