Pawtucket Post
By: Lauren and Natalie
Samuel Slater, a skilled British mechanic, took a risk and immigrated to the United States acting as a farmer. He memorized the designs of every textile design. Then, he sent a letter to Moses Brown who owns a textile business, saying he can improve the way textiles were manufactured. One of Brown's workers tested Slater and now Brown's son has a partnership with Slater. They opened the first mill in Pawtucket and it became a success. Samuel Slater traveled a long way to open up his first mill.
Help Wanted! The textile industry is in need of help! We need more workers for simple tasks. We used to thread by hand to make cloth, but now the water frame is created! Threading by hand was very time consuming which would make the job hard, but… Now the water frame this job much easier! Also, Great Britain has the best production of textiles in the world. Join us today for simple jobs that pay money.
Eli Whitney was a well known inventor. In 1798, he tried to address some of the many problems that were going on. He gave many officials an idea for mass producing guns using water powered machinery. Whitney also came up with the idea of using interchangeable parts. He thought that using interchangeable parts made machines easier to assemble and broken parts easier to replace.
Overall the Industrial Revolution is a period of rapid growth in using machines for manufacturing and production that began in the mid 1700s. We depended on the hard work of humans and animals. Then new technology brought a change for us. It began in Great Britain and soon spread to the United States.Spread of mills and workers lives, Lowell System vs Rhode Island System, Labor reforms and trade unions.
Something good about mills that affected the workers lives positively is that the workers did not have to have the specific skills of the craftspeople to run the machines of the new mills. Many mill owners in the United States could not find enough people to work in factories because other jobs were available. Eventually, Slater began to hire entire families who moved to Pawtucket to work in the mills. The Rhode Island System was Slaters strategy of hiring families and dividing factory work into simple tasks. But, the Lowell System was the system that employed the young, unmarried women from local farms. The Lowell system was based on water powered textile mills. The Lowell system included a loom that could both spin thread and weave cloth in the same mill. The Rhode Island System and The Lowell System were very similar yet very different. Trade Unions are groups that tried to improve pay and working conditions. Most Employers did not want to hire union workers. As for Labor Reform Efforts, President Martin Van Buren granted a 10 hour workday for many federal employees. Many working people supported the 10 hour workday. Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a few other states passed 10-hour-workday laws.
Workers lives
Lowell System vs Rhode Island System
Labor Reforms and Trade Unions
Changes of the Transportation Revolution, Steamboats and Railroads
The Transportation Revolution treated us well with many changes. Railroads and Steamboats helped us to trade with distant markets and now we have a national economy. People have access to all areas now and to places where goods are grown. I think the Transportation Revolution is one of the best things that happened to us. It helped us out a lot and I don't know what would happen if this never happened.
Robert Fulton tested out his first steamboat in France. Years later, he tested the first full sized commercial steamboat, called the Clermont. In 1807, the Clermont traveled against the current of the Hudson River. More than 500 steamboats were used in the United States by 1840. Steamboats were also being used to carry people and goods across the Atlantic Ocean.
Peter Cooper built a small and powerful locomotive called the Tom Thumb. He entered Tom Thumb in a race, but sadly Tom Thumb broke down and lost the race near the end. Railroad fever spread. By 1840 railroad companies laid about 2,800 miles of track. More railroads were built and by 1860 about 30,000 miles of railroad linked almost every major city in eastern United States.
Railroads were a big part of transportation. What the steamboat did for water travel, the train did for overland travel. Trains began to be commonly used in the 1800s. In 1830, Peter Cooper built a small locomotive called the Tom Thumb. He raced the Tom thumb and lost because the Tom Thumb broke down. As more railroads were built, engineers and mechanics overcame many tough challenges. For example, most British railroads ran on straight tracks across flat ground, however many railroads had to run up and down steep mountains around tight curves, and overs swift rivers. By 1860, about 30,000 miles or railroad linked almost every major city in the eastern United States.The telegraph, Steam power, farm equipment, Inventions at home.
Long distance communication is now here and better than ever! The telegraph got invented by Samuel F. B. Morse. The telegraph is a device that could send information over wires across distances. Operators used the Morse Code to send pulses of electric current through a wire for other operators to hear and translate words. I think the telegraph is one of the best inventions yet.
Factories are now starting to switch from water power to steam power. This means that now our factories can be built almost anywhere! Most factories decided to move closer to cities and transportation centers, that reduced shipping costs. Now, New England has as many factories as the entire South did.
More and more new inventions are coming, which means we have a better future for us! John Deere invented the plow, and Cyrus McCormick invented the mechanical reaper. These inventions made farming easier and more efficient. Farmers now can plant and harvest huge crop fields. Also, farmers are now producing more than 170 million bushels of wheat and more than 800 million bushels of corn each year.
Elias Howe, a factory apprentice in Lowell, Massachusetts invented the sewing machine. Isaac Singer then made improvements to Howe's design. By 1860, Singers company was the world's largest maker of sewing machines.