Lowell Factories/Factory System 1813 (jan 1, 1813 – nov 14, 1814)

Description:

-1st characteristic of a factory: water is used to power the factories.
-2nd characteristic of a factory: mostly derive from the use of machinery or economies of scale.
-3rd characteristic of a factory: In contrast, factories practiced division of labor, in which most workers were either low-skilled laborers who tended or operated machinery, or unskilled laborers who moved materials, semi-finished and finished goods.
-4th characteristic of a factory: Factories produced products on a much larger scale than the putting out or crafts systems.

-In 1790, Samuel Slater, a cotton spinner's apprentice who left England the year before with the secrets of textile machinery, built a factory from memory to produce spindles of yarn. The factory had 72 spindles, powered by by nine children pushing foot treadles, soon replaced by water power.

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