Young Brunette Girl Near The Old Iron Factory

New England factories in the 19th century
In New England in the early to mid-19th century, many cotton and textile factories employed large numbers of female adolescent laborers from the New England area. The girls came from families of middling farmers. Factory employment offered an alternative to rural lifestyle, and many women labored, not only to send money back home, but to gain greater social & economic independence. They were able to earn enough at the factory to cover their living expenses and still have spending money and savings for dowries.
In 1834 New England textile factory owners decided to cut the wages of these young women in order to save money. In response, the young factory laborers organized turnouts (strikes) in an attempt to force their employers to raise wages again. These young women viewed themselves as equals to their managers. They saw their wage reductions as attempts to take away their economic independence and force them to become completely dependent upon factory employment for survival—to make them "slaves" to their employers. Because of bad timing and poor organization their 1834 factory turnout was unsuccessful, but it did lay the foundation for successful strikes that helped shape factory life in the future.