United States 1824

Synopsis

The textile strike in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was the first strike of women workers in the United States. Female loom workers joined with male weavers to protest the attempt by mill owners in Pawtucket to reduce wages by 25 percent and increase the length of the workday. Largely because of community support in the village, mill owners were forced to rescind the proposed wage cut, as well as the attempt to increase the work-day, until they were able to consolidate their political position within the village and in the state of Rhode Island. This strike was the result of deeper concerns than a wage reduction and increase in the workday, however; it also reflected the growing concern of workers over the increasing influence of factory owners and the workers' own change in status as they were forced to work harder for their...