The Lowell Mills tried a new strategy. They focused on getting women to work for them in the mills. For one the corporation had an obedient and cheap labor force. Girls were taught to be obedient their whole and this idea takes advantage of this. Also, the women didn't have as high of wages and men so they could be them less in the mills. A large part that boys were not used for the factories is that they had to work the farms, so girls were a perfect candidate. The girls also got a lot of benefits. They could buy clothes with their earnings for working and they gained a lot of independence because they lived in worked away from their families. The fathers of their daughters also had help paying for their mortgage, less mouths to feed and also gave more opportunists to them. Opportunities for women reflected on how they are viewed in that they didn't have a lot of choices, but they did have lots of obligations. Lots of things they should do, but not a lot of things they could choose. They were also usually controlled by their father or a corporation of were they worked, which made a life about being controlled by others. The women did though stand up to the corporations when prices became too low and the women went on strike. This show how the women working in the mills would stand up to themselves, but if they were the ones who started these strike or acted too much like men they would most likely be fired from the mill.
Daughters of Free Men Website:
http://ashp.cuny.edu/ashp-documentaries/daughters-of-free-men/
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