The development of the textile mills in the U.S. in the 1980s had a profound impact on the lives of women. Historians believe that by 1840, there were over thirty mills with the estimated value of more than 10 million dollars. One of such mills, Lowell, provided employment for more eight thousand women in the nation. The women who were part of the nation’s working force experienced a new form of freedom compared to their counterparts who lived in the rural areas i.e. in the farms.
The women who worked in the mills experienced a totally new world. Their everyday life revolved around the activities or rather roles in the mills. They had to develop close relationships both at the work place as well as in their places of residence. They resided in houses that were provided to them by the mills. The tight bonds within the women in the mills enabled them to thrive in their work place. Their compensation was per piece i.e. they were paid according to the amount of work they had done. This meant that they had to stay at work all day to ensure that they received their salary, which supported their stay in the urban areas. To most of the women, this was a form of slavery an aspect propelled them to develop new means of survival. On the other hand, any aspect that required them to forge some survival mechanisms did not bind the women who lived in the farms or rather rural areas.
One of the elements that distinguished the type of freedom between the workers (women employed in the mills) and the farmwomen is the mode of their impression on the society. On getting a job in the mills, women had to adopt the dressing style required of them by their employers an aspect that some of them felt that was a deprivation of their freedom. Additionally, their ‘rural’ dressing especially for newcomers made them to have a low self esteem and they had to buy outfits that would show the ‘urban woman’ in them. Similarly, their rural accent was also a basis of discrimination. This forced them to learn and adopt a different accent.
Whereas the farm women did not feel bound to their domestic work, the mills presented some form of psychological bondage to the working women. They were having a difficult time in adjusting to the new routines as well as having to meet all the requirements of their employer as noted by Elizabeth Perver I her Intemperance and Its Evils:
The next morning she went to the mill; and at first the sight of so many bands, wheels, and springs in constant motion, was very frightful. She felt afraid to touch the loom, and she was almost sure she could never learn to weavethe shuttle flew out, and made a new bump on her head; and the first time she tried to spring the lathe, she broke out a quarter of the threads (Curtis and Farley 69)
The women felt that the mills tied them down to a rather difficult lifestyle. Although any one taking a new responsibility should be able to go through the learning process whole heartedly, it seemed like a punishment to them. On the other hand, the women who remained in the farm had an easy time in the execution of their duties and were willing to learn any skill that would enable them to better their work in their everyday activities. One of the women working in the mills expressed her hard/difficult experiences by saying “you cannot think how odd everything seems. They set me threading shuttles, and tying weaver’s knots, and such things” (Curtis and Farley 170).
The living conditions of the two groups of women differed significantly, as far as their freedom was concerned. As aforementioned, the Lowell mills provided accommodation or rather housed most of their female employees. However, the space allocations were very limited such that in some cases, approximately eight people shared a room. This deprived them of their privacy as well as freedom of expression. Writing about her experience in the residential places provided by the Lowell mills, a certain Edith who worked in the mills:
a factory house seemed something dreadful. The room looked strange and comfortless, and the women cold and heartless; and when she sat to the supper table, where among more than thirty girls, all but one were strangers, she could not eat a mouthful (Curtis and Farley 169).
On the other hand, women in the farmhouses had sufficient space i.e. they did not have to crowd in a small room for their accommodation. The women in the farm setting did not have such experiences especially the aspect of having to cope with strangers due to lack of an alternative.
The ability to manage their own free time was considered a form of freedom for the women working in the mills. They had could choose the places where they spend their time as well as their company. This was not the case with the farm women.
In conclusion, the women who lived in the farms had a better life than their counterparts did in the mills. They were not tied to a machine for most of their time. They did not necessarily have to form close relationships with strangers to help them with their work and maintain a constant pay. Additionally, farmwomen were not discriminated based on their dress code or even their accent an aspect that was rampant in the mills. It is evident from the above discussion that even though the women in the mills faced a rather difficult life compared to the women in the farms.
Works Cited
Curtis, Harriot F., and Farley, Harriet. The Lowell Offering. Washington: Jordan & Wiley, 1845. Print.
