1830s+Industrial+America

Look at the images and read the letter below.

Then click below on "Decide Eliza Paige's Future" to play a "choose-your-own-adventure" game about a girl working in the mills of Lowell. Be sure to read all of the directions on the first page of the game and click on the links on the sidebar to learn more through videos, photos, letters, and primary sources.

Add at least one post to the discussion below. You must tell about something new you learned and your opinion or feelings about what you learned. You may also ask questions, answer questions posed by others, and respond to the facts and opinions in other students' posts.



Read this letter written by a girl who worked in the mills of Lowell:

Dear Father,

I received your letter on Thursday the 14th with much pleasure. I am well, which is one comfort. My life and health are spared while others are cut off. Last Thursday one girl fell down and broke her neck, which caused instant death. She was going in or coming out of the mill and slipped down, it being very icy. The same day a man was killed by the [railroad] cars. Another had nearly all of his ribs broken. Another was nearly killed by falling down and having a bale of cotton fall on him. Last Tuesday we were paid. In all I had six dollars and sixty cents paid $4.68 for board. With the rest I got me a pair of rubbers and a pair of 50 cent shoes. Next payment I am to have a dollar a week beside my board...

I think that the factory is the best place for me and if any girl wants employment, I advise them to come to Lowell.

-Excerpt from a Letter from Mary Paul, Lowell mill girl, December 21, 1845.

Decide Eliza Paige's Future

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Here are some sites that may help you find more evidence for your essay.

This page provides information about food at the mills. Everyday Life in the Industrial Revolution

This page has some general information about the mill girls. Lowell Mill Girls

Here is more information about Life in the Mills. Mill Girls

This page has tons of links to primary sources and other information but some of the reading is very challenging. Mill Girls in Lowell

This has lots of information about life in the boarding houses and fashion at the time. Boarding House Life

This is a very positive account of life in the mills written by one of the mill girls, Harriet Robinson. The Characteristics of the Early Factory Girls

These are primary sources about factory rules and conditions in the factories. Life at Lowell Mills