Textile Workers In The 1800s

The lives of textile workers in the Lowell Mills, not unlike most of the lives of mostly everyone else in America at the time, had many challenges. Textile workers were usually single women from age 10 to mid 40’s. The women would be sent to work at the mills to earn a little extra money for their family. Workers had to work very hard for the amount of money they were paid (anywhere from $2 to $6 per week). A textile worker would often begin work before day break and end long after sunset. This eventually hurt the health of many workers. However, the workers would rarely rebel against issue like this one.
Workers were assigned jobs based on their age or size. Younger, smaller girls would be assigned to remove the bobbins of thread from the machines. They would be assigned jobs similar to these mainly because they had the smallest hands and would be able to work with the thread the easiest. Since their job was considered to be dangerous, they would only work for 15 minutes at a time. They would spend the rest of their time in study and play. As a result, their workload was much smaller compared almost any other job.
For example, older women would sometimes serve as ‘mothers’ to the younger girls, weavers, operatives, spinners, or mill hands. The workers who served as ‘mothers’ would also have other occupations.
The workers would be responsible to keep the company boarding houses clean and well-managed. Each boarding house would hold anywhere from fifty to sixty workers. However, the boarding houses, similar to the mills, had poor circulation. The mills had the windows and doors closed throughout the day be
The lives of the workers were not private. They were required to attend Sunday church and performances on Sunday evenings. If they failed to attend either one, they would most likely be fired and sent home.
Workers were served three good-sized meals