The Lowell System

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The paper is written on a book I will upload, 12 pages, DS, bibliography. Reflecting on the primary sources in the book.

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A short history about the rise in the rate of industrialization using the Lowell system.
An account of the early industrialization in the United States of America.
Thesis statement.
Whenever the term industrial revolution is mentioned, a person should think of a lot of things connected to industrialization; the period or the year it started, the starters of the process of industrial revolution, the struggles which were undergone so as to attain this success of the process, the advantages of the industrial revolution process, the major disadvantages of the process of industrialization, and many other things. The season for an economic and social transformation in the United States of America began even before the beginning of the American civil war. Industrialization began in the country in the early 1800s and continued growing even through the intense effects of the American civil war. It is believed that industrialization began growing ever since the introduction of the textile mill in Rhode Island which was started by Samuel Slater who is said to be the father of the American industrial revolution at the beginning of 1793 (Hartwell et al, 2017,P.32). From this time, many companies were able to be formed and run along smoothly up to date. All the successful running and maintenance of these companies and factories was due to the power of the Lowell system of operation. The Lowell system of operation was a system that involved the application of a certain method of operation in the factories and also in the organization of labor which was put into place by various companies dealing with the mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, and all the neighboring communities.
The cities which adopted this system of operation into their daily activities were seen as the fastest growing industries and therefore improved the status of the towns they were in. This system of work brought the cities of Lowell and Massachusetts together in the production of textiles. These companies of production of textiles were the first to be developed in the entire world. For this reason, the production of textile products and other products were able to be generated under the same management. Using the Lowell means of operations, all the phases of production were able to be mechanized. The Lowell system could however not survive alone and it, therefore, needed the support of other highly efficient systems developed by the mills’ companies. The collaboration of the Lowell system of production and other developed systems aided in the success of the production of the textile products and also the success of the companies at large. The Lowell system of working involved the subsequent use of domestic labor which was often provided by young girls from the areas who were known as the mill girls. These girls often came from the rural areas looking for job opportunities which could guarantee them a lot of money that they could not get at their rural homes (Hartwell et al, 2017, P.32).
The founder of this system, Waltham Lowell, normally provided shelter for the mill girls where they could spend their days and nights. The mill girls were held to strict guidelines on their moral cords and for how long they could work in the companies. Under the Waltham Lowell system, there used to be strict guidelines from the extraction of the raw materials up to the extraction of the final textile products. The Lowell system integrated the use of a pioneered mode of working known as the vertically integrated system. This pioneered system of working involved the total authority over all the appearance of the process of production. All the aspects of production were brought and done under one plant. They used such a kind working system intending to increase their rates of production using a low amount of production cost and in all this way to avoid market competition from other companies. The rampant rise in the process of coming up with goods happened so fast to an extension of the total abolition of the localized supply of labor. Wallmart Lowell helped in the reduction of labor insufficiency by employing people from either the country or the foreign country. However, with all these efforts to increase the production of textile products, the cheap and less organized labor from other countries led to the replacement of the local mill girls (Hartwell et al, 2017, P.32).
However, with these changes made, the Lowell system started declining and deteriorating slowly due to the rising of the American civil war. The local mill girls also started declining the job to look for other jobs such as becoming nurses, becoming farmers, and also replacing the jobs that were held by men in the societies as the men moved to be soldiers. For this reason, the girls could not come back to their previous jobs because they no longer needed the mills. “The Lowell system was a labor production model invented by Francis Cabot Lowell in Massachusetts in the 19th century. The system was designed so that every step of the manufacturing process was done under one roof and the work was performed by young adult women instead of children or young men.” Since the new system was designed to monitor every step of production by provision of laborers, the retirement of the mill girls meant a great step back on the efficiency of the system. Before its closure, this model was so successful that the associates of the Lowell business started expanding and opening numerous mills dealing with textiles in the town of Massachusetts.

Mark of revolution and industrial revolution.
The growth of industries in America which started in the early 1800s continued steadily until the beginning of the American civil war. Before the invention of the mechanized means of industrial production, hand labor had remained widespread in the industries and the companies. The involvement of hand labor in the industries caused a significant effect on the production cost and also the number of products that could be produced (Hartwell et al, 2017, P.32). Most of the industries lacked the capital they needed for business expansion and therefore served a small market within the regions they were situated in. since the start of the era of the industrial revolution, there has been a lot of industries which have had a great impact on the lives of most Americans. Industries such as the textile industry have had a great impact on the lives of the Americans ever since it was started in the late 1700s.
A major industry that gained a lot from the increasing revolution was the industry dealing with textiles. This industry had its roots in the manufacture of clothing materials and clothing. The production of the textiles was being conducted on a small scale until the revolution of industries start ed. In the Lowell system, individuals were able to come up with goods of all types including wool from both their homes and their farms, and then they would later sell the goods to the local community. This manner of goods production was too slow and it was inefficient and the management and workers had to struggle to maintain the pace and speed that was there in the growing market and demand. In comparison, the growth of industries created a chance for goods manufactured to be produced in one location and promoted mass production of the goods.
Industrialization also enhanced coming up with new inventions which aided the increase in the speed of production of many goods and more sore in the textile industry (Hartwell et al, 2017, P.32). The textile industry and other major industrial plants have had a great uplift to the economy of the country. The textile industry in America was the first to be set up and therefore it gained a lot of interest and concentration from all over the parts of the country. The one textile industry that was built and set up in the early 1800s nearly became the three thousand textile industries in the late 1800s. As is known, the American textile industry is mainly centered on the production and growth of cotton.
This kind of textile industry gained popularity and it grew rapidly in the country because throughout that era, the south of America was known to be the largest producer of cotton in the country and it was therefore responsible for supply of the cotton to the industry. Another reason that led to the rampant growth of industrialization and mainly the textile industry was the rate of demand for the products. However, the rate of demand of the textile products could not be matched to the number of the hand labor needed. There was a limited supply of hand labor in the industries. Child labor was another great impact of the limited labor. Young children were taken from the societies and brought to work in the industries. This caused torture and it also involved children suffering under extremely horrible situations. The exploitation of the rights of children through child labor was common in the beginning of the eighteenth century, and especially during the first stages of the rise in industrialization (Hartwell et al, 2017, P.32).
The manufacture of these different goods and products was important to the economy of America between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Before the beginning of the evolution of industries, the production of products from the textile industries was done under the same putting-out system. This system involves the merchants putting into practice their hard work in the works they did from their homes. The rate of production of goods was however limited due to the overreliance of the spinning wheel; for the amount of goods produced to increase, there must be a significant rise in the amount of labor supplied. At this particular time, the cities which held these major industries started growing rapidly due to the movement of many workers, farmers, and their family members who were in town for job seeking. The conditions of living in the cities and towns were extremely poor and the following had to be experienced in these cities: overcrowding which happened in most streets of the city, lack of proper sanitation measures leading to the spread of harmful diseases, and all types of pollution. In the same way, the people who worked in the industries received a very low wage to an extent t hat it could not support the cost of their living in the cities.as a result of the failure of enough upkeep by the parents, the parents introduced their children to the industries to supplement their upkeep. Some factors led to the employment of the children.
First, the children made a less demand for funds and money as compared to the adults and therefore this was a convenient chance for employment. Estimations indicate that these employed children used to receive a payment equivalent or less than ten percent to twenty percent of what was being earned by the adults. Therefore, this was an encouraging factor for the employees to take in children. Secondly, the discipline and the rate of obedience among the children were high as compared to that of the adults. The past stories and success of this city of Lowell is based on its location along with the source of water: Pawtucket Falls of the Merrimack River, which serves a great importance in the provision of water for use in the factories. The city of Lowell is believed to be the epicenter of the revolution in industrialization in America since it was the first region in the country to produce textile products on a large scale.

The city was started in the early eighteen twenties basically as a place where ventures in the making of money and many other projects could be carried out and within that time, this city rose and became the biggest center of textile production. However, after a short period of about one hundred years, the industry declined and therefore caused a great recession. Invention dramatically changed the nature of textile work. The flying shuttle, patented by John Kay in 1733, increased the output of each weaver and led to increased demand for yarn. This prompted efforts by others to mechanize the spinning of yarn.
The initial advancements in industrialization occurred in 1767 when the spinning jenny was invented and therefore creating the room for one single spinner to be able to give out multiple yarns when spanned once. After two years, a person named Richard Arkwright came up with another spinning machine that was responsible for the production of a coarse yarn. Working together with the machine known as carding machine, this machine led to the ushering in of the modern textile factory.
The initial textile mills which needed waterpower to conduct the operation sand it was therefore set up along the cores of moving water and moving streams. Immediately after the end of the nineteen-eighties, the knowledge about the power produced from the streams helped to grow the mills in urban centers. The mills relied on labor, and for some time, mills had a difficulty and a hard time recruiting new workers. Despite all this, the industry expanded, leading to an increase in production. (Austin et al, 2014, P.45)
The English Industrial Revolution had important consequences for Americans. It spurred the cultivation of cotton in the South to meet expanding English demand for the fiber. The growth and profits of English textiles also caught the imagination of American merchants, the more farsighted of whom sought to manufacture cloth and not simply market English imports. But the degraded conditions and social unrest in English mill towns made many Americans wary of manufacturing. The formidable challenge was to import the innovations without bringing social ills with them.
Effects of the revolution in industrialization to the society.
The upgrade in terms of industrialization has so far made up a deal involving a change in society and impacting changes to the social lives of all people. One of the major changes brought by the revolution was the transition manual work of cottage at home to work being conducted on a large scale in factories. There were harsh and unsafe working conditions in these early factories. The industries also had a significant threat to the works such as the machines had a possession of a significant threat to workers’ lives. Even more deadly was work performed in coal mines. Owners of mines and factories had considerable control over the lives of laborers who worked long hours for low pay. An average worker would work 14 hours a day, six days a week. Fearful of losing their jobs, workers would typically not complain about the horrible conditions and low pay. Owners realized that they could pay women and children less than men.
Child labor increased because it kept the costs of production low and the profits high (Austin et al, 2014, P.45). As a result, the working class lived in poverty, while the bosses who made up the middle class grew wealthy. The Industrial Revolution had many positive effects. Among those was an increase in wealth, the production of goods, and the standard of living. People had access to healthier diets, better housing, and cheaper goods. Besides, education increased during the Industrial Revolution. Due in part to the Edward Jenner’s invention of the smallpox vaccine and Louis Pasteur’s discovery of bacteria, health care increased, and people began to live longer. The middle and upper classes benefited immediately from the Industrial Revolution. For workers, it took much longer. However, during the 1800s, workers formed labor unions and gained higher wages and better working conditions. As a result, they began to see the benefits of the Industrial Revolution as well. It developed the economy. It led to the emergence of machines. It caused the mechanization of agriculture. Communication and transportation improved dramatically. Telegraphs and railroads emerged. Improvements in insanitary conditions and medical care gradually occurred, although they were quite slow.
However, Industrialization has both advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
The growth of industries has resulted in large scale production of goods that are available to the consumer at much cheaper rates (Austin et al, 2014, P.45). There is saving of time and labor. Industrialization has resulted in a considerable rise in the standard of living of the people. Several substitutes in consumer goods are available. The customer gets a wide variety of choices. There are means to control and check the colossal wastage of human energy that can be used otherwise. Industrialization creates new job opportunities, leading to the removal of poverty to a great extent. Industrialization has also resulted in the development of new modes of transport making quick export and import possible. The world has become a small place.
Disadvantages:
The immediate result is in the gradual disappearance of many natural resources, the pollution of land, water, and air. The increase in vehicular traffic, launching of space ships and rockets by competing nations, the incessant working of machines in factories have brought in noise-pollution and dust and smoke. The general dirty and unhealthy conditions in and around the industrial sites have affected human health and happiness. Diseases, unheard of before, are spreading far and wide.
There have been instances of child labor in factories. The exploitation of the poor by the rich has increased the crime-rate, isolation, and sense of loneliness. The gradual displacement of manpower in industries is ultimately leading to unemployment. There has been a steady decline in spiritual values and well-being of man consequent upon the growth of an artificial, mechanical and materialistic civilization brought about by industrialization (Austin et al, 2014, P.45).
The grave uncertainties in the money-market sometimes bring misfortunes for the common people. Inflation sets in, the value of money goes down and the poor working-class becomes poorer. Class conflicts, strike, dharma, gheraos and bandhs and then lockouts cause hardship and unrest. Society faces its impact in various ways. Large scale heavy industries lead to a sharp fall in the number of cottage industries and their gradual disappearance. Regional and local artisans and workers of various trades and professions suffer a great deal.
Conclusion.
It is time that emphasis is put on a planned and balanced industrialization keeping in view the preservation of the environment. Man should be less dependent on the machine, which once a slave, tends to become the master. Excessive dependence on the machine makes a man unfits for many things and renders him a helpless creature. Heavy industries and cottage industries must be complementary to each other, so that sustained development would be possible. It would be a move in the right direction. It will employ local and regional manpower and utilize the local and regional resources. The industrial revolution was a time of great imagination and progress. The inventions that allowed new products to be manufactured created a demand that caused a vicious cycle that propelled some people to prosperity, while at the same time held people down in poverty. It was rarely the intent of the inventors, scientists, and other brilliant people to cause such a chasm between the working class and the industrial machine, but it was, nonetheless, created.
Despite the severe limitations of the surviving evidence of child labor, some general conclusions may be drawn. First, the employment of very young children was never widespread in British society. Child labor below the age of 10 invariably formed part of the survival strategies of the poor (Austin et al, 2014, P.45).
The demographic structure of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain led to an increased burden of dependency among poor families and early employment might be explained as a rational response by households to structural dependency and endemic poverty. Child labor at abnormally young ages was associated especially with lone-parent households, orphans, and children formally in the care of parish authorities. Such children were often victims of a failure of local welfare arrangements to provide adequate care to the destitute.

References

Hartwell, Ronald Max. The industrial revolution and economic growth. Vol. 4. Taylor & Francis, 2017.
Labor, Child. “Industrial revolution.” Bloomington: Indiana (2013).
Koenker, Diane P. “Factory Tales: Narratives of Industrial Relations in the Transition to NEP.” The Russian Review 55.3 (1996): 384-411.
Robinson, Harriet H. “Loom and Spindle or Life Among the Early Mill Girls. 1898.” Kailua, HI: Press Pacifica (1976).
“The origins of the Lowell system, 1811-1859, P.1-6”
Life among the early mill girls, 1831, P.8-14
The turnout at Lowell, 1834, P.29
The factory girls at Lowell, 1836, P.35
The causes of the strike of 1836, 1836, P.36