Working Women During the Industrial Revolution

1. How did the working situation of women change during the beginning years of the Industrial  Revolution?
2. Describe the events that precipitated the change.
3. Using the 2 column note format, list professions and occupations that were open to women. In the second column describe the women most likely to be working in that occupation.
4. Select one occupation and create a Top Down chart analyzing the positives and negatives of the position.
5. Using notes from your readings, class discussions, chart, and additional resources as needed, select a specific occupation and create an online journal for a woman working in that occupation incorporating a minimum of three primary sources.

Readings: Chapters "The Stranger in the Gates" and  "Some Causes of the Trouble" from The Servant Girl Question.

"...that the loud complaint in relation to domestic service rings through the land; and it can only cease, and have reason to cease, when between mistress and maid, as between man and master, there shall come to be thoroughly understood the principle of mutual obligation." Spofford, Harriet Elizabeth Prescott. The Servant Girl Question. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1881.

Readings: The Introduction, Section XIV: Family Relationships, p. 122 - p. 147 and Table 18 on pages 220 and 221, statistics for Massachusetts Women in Gainful Occupations 1870 - 1920.
"This monograph is based on the data obtained through the census in regard to women engaged in gainful employment."
Hill, Joseph A. (Joseph Adna). Women in Gainful Occupations,1870 to 1920. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1929. 

Readings: Chapter Four: "Broom, Loom, and Schoolroom: Work and Wages in the Lives of Irish Women" from Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century.
Diner, Hasia R. Erin's Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century.
Baltimore, MD. 1983. Print.