Cotton Textile Production in the United States

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Cotton Textile Production in the United States

• The Development of Americas first large-scale
  manufacturing industry

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Stages of Textile Production

• 1. Picking
• 2. Carding
• 3. Spinning
• 4. Warping
• 5. Weaving
• 6. Finishing

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Picking

• Remove cotton from plant and remove foreign
  debris from fiber.
• By Hand Tedious removal of seeds, leaves, etc.
• By Machine Rotating teeth produce a thin lap
  for Carding.

4
Carding

• Comb fibers and align them into a smooth rope
  called a sliver. Slivers combined to create
  roving.
• By Hand Pull fibers between teeth set in
  boards. Slivers twisted together.
• By Machine Rotating cylinders perform same task.

5
Spinning

• Twisted and drew out roving winding resulting
  yarn on a bobbin.
• By Hand Spinning wheel used to spin yarn from
  roving.
• By Machine Rollers used for task on machines
  called throstles and spinning mules.

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Warping

• Gathering of yarns from a number of bobbins and
  wound close together on a spool or reel. Then
  transferred to warp beam and mounted on loom.
• By Hand Yarns drawn together by hand.
• By Machine Drawn in by machine.

7
Weaving

• Crosswise woof threads interwoven with lengthwise
  warp threads on a loom.
• By Hand Handloom used for weaving.
• By Machine Actions mechanized with a power loom.

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Finishing

• Finished textiles dyed and pressed.
• By Hand Hand dyed and pressed.
• By Machine Actions mechanized with use of
  roller and surface printing machines. Textiles
  pressed with a mechanical press.

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U.S. Textile Production to 1790

• Sources of cotton
• Household manufacture
• Attempts and failures of large scale production

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Barriers Preventing Large-Scale Mechanization of
Production

• Lack of labor and capital
• British colonial and foreign policy
• Revolution and economic instability
• Lack of Cheap and Efficient Transportation
• Difficulty in obtaining cotton
• Abundance of British imports

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British Textile Manufacturing to 1790

• Exceptional growth in 1770s and 80s
• Hargreaves jenny (1770)
• Arkwrights water frame (1769)
• Cromptons mule (1770s)
• Carding machines (late 1700s)

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British Spinning Jenny (as depicted 1818)
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British Water Frame (as depicted 1812)
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British Cotton Mule (as depicted 1812)
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British Carding Machine (as depicted 1818)
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Samuel Slater and the Rhode Island System

• Slater brings technology from Britain
• First water powered spinning mill established in
  Pawtucket (1790)
• Input - cotton
• Output - yarn and thread
• Rhode Island System

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Mill built for Almy, Brown and Slater in 1793 on
the Pawtucket falls.
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Carding machine used by Slater in the 1790s
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Water frame used by Samuel Slater (1790s) 48
spindle model
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Characteristics of the First American Factory

• Substantial standardized output
• Complex operations carried out with
• high fixed costs
• mechanization
• use of power
• Assembly of workers under organizational
  discipline

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MOVIE 1
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Removal of the Input Barrier

• Eli Whitneys Cotton Gin (1793)
• Domestic cotton production expands

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Transportation

• Canals and Rivers
• Railroads
• Example Lowell and Erie Canal

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Household manufacture of woolen cloth.
Shaded areas indicate the one-third of the
counties with the highest home production of
woolen goods.
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Removal of Competition Barrier

• Embargo Act of 1807
• Non-Intercourse Act
• War of 1812
• Tariff of 1816
• Other periods of protection

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Labor Scarce and Expensive

• Innovations needed to use labor as efficiently as
  possible
• Britain vs. United States
• American mills had only 20 of spindles and 25
  of workers but processed 40 as much cotton as
  Britain
• Example Maynayunk, PA and RI

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Francis Cabot Lowell and the Waltham System

• Lowell travels to England
• Boston Associates
• Boston Manufacturing Company
• Power Loom
• Builds 1st fully integrated textile mill in
  Waltham, MA (1814)

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Boston Manufacturing Company mill on the Charles
River in Waltham (1830)
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One of the early power looms developed in
Waltham and Lowell between 1813 and 1848
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Boston Manufacturing Company

• Vertical integration
• Continuous process
• Division of labor
• Use of unskilled workers
• Avoided organized labor
• Waltham System - recruited daughters of farmers
  as workers

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The Founding of Lowell

• Boston Associates buy land on Merrimack River and
  Pawtucket Canal
• Construction is begun
• Merrimack Manufacturing Company (1823)
• Other companies followed in the 1820s and 1830s

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Lowell Mills

• By 1850 Boston Associates controlled 1/5 of U.S.
  cotton production
• 1846 mills turned out nearly 1 million yards of
  cloth a week
• Overlapping of Investors and Boards of Directors
• Profit averaged 24 a year (1824-1845)

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Map of Lowell
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Lowell Mills

• 1850, 10 large complexes employing 10,000
• By 1850, 2nd largest city in MA
• 1890 surpassed by Fall River as industrial center

Lowell Population
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Lowell Workers

• 3/4 young farm women (in early years)
• Lived in boarding houses
• 1830s typical wage 12-14 /month
• Worked 14 hour days with only Sunday off (until
  1853)
• Very dangerous conditions

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Mill workers outside a Lowell boarding house
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Mill Workers

• Feb. 1834 - Strike!
• 1836 - more protest
• 1840s - petitions for 10-hour day
• New influx of immigrants
• By 1845 Irish immigrants dominant

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Lowell Machine Shop

• Built in 1824 based on Waltham
• Outfitted Lowell mills with machinery but sold
  many units to mills in other cities
• George Washington Whistler builds steam
  locomotive (1835)
• James B. Francis - hydraulic turbines

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Lowell Machine Shop

• First Generation of American mechanical engineers
• Most important contributions
• Use of standardized interchangeable parts
• Development of precision machine tools

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MOVIES 2 3
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Rapid Growth of Textile Mills
Spindles in the United States (1805-1860)
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Distribution of Manufacturers (1860)
Spindles
Value of Product
Establishments
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Early Water Power

• Undershot Wheel
• Overshot Wheel

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Early Industrial Water Power

• Breast Wheel
• Used in Lowell and other large textile mills
• Example Merrimack Manufacturing Company

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Industrial Water Power

• Turbines
• Invented by Uraih Byden evolved and implemented
  by 1850s

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Typical Turbine and Drive Gear Arrangement
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Other Developments
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Steam Power

• 1870s became very popular power source
• By 1880 total steam power had surpassed water
  power in textile mills
• Other industries led into steam age by textile
  mills

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Immigrant Labor

• New England began shifting to immigrant labor by
  the 1840s and 50s
• Civil War hastens labor shift
• Nationalities included Irish, German, and others

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Conclusion

• Textile Industry led the way into the industrial
  revolution
• First American factory
• Catalyzed transportation and power improvements
  as well as the creation of precision machine
  tools and interchangeable parts
• Also provides efficient clothing production

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Questions and Comments