Industry in the 1800's
By Karyme Perez
Improvement in Transportation
Developments in Manufacturing and Industry
During the first half of the 1800’s American Industry in the North was
truly born. This new era introduced factories, with machines and predetermined tasks, producing items to be shipped and sold elsewhere. The first important breakthrough took place in how textiles were made. Before 1800 the making of clothes was very time consuming and took many people. Technological improvements sped up the process and merchants began to build large textile mills, or factories, near rivers and streams.
Working Conditions in the Factories
The early mill girls were of different ages. Some were not over ten years old; a few were in middle life, but the majority were between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. They were paid two dollars a week. The working hours of all the girls extended from five o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening, with one half hour each, for breakfast and dinner. Even the youngest children were forced to be on duty nearly fourteen hours a day. This was the greatest hardship in the lives of these children.