These famous cotton mills were built in Massachusetts during the early 1800s as part of the first planned factory town in the United States. Owned by one company, the mills emphasized mechanization and (unlike other mills) the completion of all the stages of textile production under one roof. The company hired young, unmarried women as laborers and housed them in dormitories with strict rules. Initially viewed as a model of labor and production, the system fell apart when the "mill girls" engaged in labor strikes over low pay. By the mid 1800s, this female labor system was replaced by the use of poor immigrant labor.

Then try StudyFetch, the AI-powered platform that can answer your questions and teach you more about it!