Empires of Industry is a five part mini-series which explores the cornerstones of America's economic might that established the United States as a world leader. Each of the five one hour programs in this remarkable series focuses on an industry which played a unique role in America's rise to world economic dominance. The stories of changing fortunes in the Steel, Coal, Brewing, Ship Building and Textile industries reveal much about our country's past and present. Empires of Industry would be useful for classes on American History, History of Science and Technology, Economics and American Culture. It is appropriate for middle school and high school.

Textiles

Textiles is the story of America's first large-scale automated industry. The textile industry began in England and was transported by Samuel Slater to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the late 18th century. From Slater's first mills grew the industry that would be known as the industry that was the "birth of American industry." Textiles chronicles the textile industry from its ambitious beginnings, through the infamous Lowell Mills and "Mill Girls" of the 19th century, to the industry's move to the South after the Civil War. It follows the textile industry to the present day, with its struggles to remain competitive in a global market, and to survive in the 21st century.

Vocabulary

• strife
• boycott
• agrarian
• hierarchy
• adamant
• embryonic
• obsolete
• meticulous
• depict
• quell
• lacerated
• embargo
• diversify
• tedious
• portfolio
• utopia
• meager
• regimented

Discussion Questions

1. Textile production in considered the "birth of American industry." Why is this thought to be? How did textile production lay the groundwork for the Industrial Revolution in America?
2. Prior to the Industrial Revolution in America, America was an agrarian society. What is an agrarian society? How does it differ from an industrialized society?
3. What is meant by the term "cottage industry?" What other industries, besides textiles, were originally "cottage industries?" Are there any industries today that can be considered "cottage industries?"
4. What was the role of English immigrant Samuel Slater in starting America's Industrial Revolution?
5. The term revolution usually implies an armed conflict or a tremendous change in a society. Why is the process of industrial growth in America called a revolution?
6. What made the United States so attractive to Samuel Slater?
7. Factory owners routinely exploited the labor of children before there were laws protecting children. How did factory owners use child labor? How does the presence of child labor in the 18th and 19th centuries reflect the general attitude toward childhood during that period? How has the perception of childhood changed over the past two centuries?
8. The Lowell Mills were famous throughout the world for their output and production capacity. How did the Lowell Mills surpass Samuel Slater's mill in Pawtucket? Why were the Lowell Mills so successful?
9. Women and young girls comprised the majority of the workers at the Lowell Mills. Why were female workers preferred by the mills?
10. How did the factory bell at the Lowell Mills control and dominate the lives of the Lowell Mills workers?
11. "Linthead" is a derogatory term applied to mill workers in the 19th century. It is a term of scorn and condescension. What is the origin of this term?
12. How have advances in technology during the 20th century changed the textile industry?

Extended Activities

1. Create a paper similar to the Lowell Offering describing the major industry in your area. Like the original, your paper can include poems and essays written by the workers about their work experiences and their experiences of life in the Lowell Mills town.
2. Imagine that you are a young worker at the Lowell Mills. Create a journal or a diary for a week's time that records your activities, thoughts, and anything else you like to include, about your life in the mills and the mill town.