Lowell Mill Girl

Timeline
		1821 Boston investors select Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River as the site to expand textile production.
1822 Construction and operation of canals, mills, boardinghouses, machine shops & businesses creates an unprecedented demand for Yankee and Irish workers both men and women.
		1826 Town of Lowell incorporated with a population 2,300 of which nearly 2,000 are textile workers
1834 Lowell textile corporations cut wages resulting in one of the first strikes led by female workers.
		1836 City of Lowell incorporated as the 2nd largest City in Massachusetts with a population of 17,633 of which nearly 9,000 are textile workers.
1840 Working women begin writing and publishing their own magazines and newspapers like "The Lowell Offering".
		1845 Reform leaders like Rev. Theodore Edson propose sweeping changes in labor conditions, temperance, slavery, education, and suffrage.
1847 Famine in Ireland force thousands of men, women, and children to emigrate to cities in New England.
		1850 The Fugitive Slave Law is passed in the Congress requiring escaped slaves to be turned over to federal officers.
1853 As a result of strikes and protests, Lowell textile corporation reduce the workday to 11 hours.
		1856 Lowell textile companies are producing 115 million yards cotton and wool cloth a year.
1861 Sectional tensions over issues of slavery and the union lead to Civil War.