1824 Strike: A Brief History
Growing TensionThe first wage workers’ strike in the United States took place in Pawtucket nearly two centuries ago. This is the story of how Pawtucket, the birthplace of industry, also gave rise to organized labor. In the 1790s, Pawtucket, RI started to transform from a village of craftspeople to a place of advanced industry. Along the Blackstone River, wealthy investors sought to build mills, capitalizing on the talents of local workers and the river’s potential to provide waterpower. These new mills, including Samuel Slater’s Yellow Mill, were subject to suspicion and concern from their inception. Mills created conflicts over established water rights, and significantly changed the daily lives of workers. This led to growing tensions within the community. Workers in mills were subject to the authority of their employers, who asserted control through strict work and behavioral standards. One benefit of working in factories, in theory, was the change to earn wages for work. Throughout the early 1820s, the cotton industry was experiencing economic fluctuations, triggered by the Panic of 1819 and the Tariff of 1824. In response, mill owners looked for ways to keep production high, costs low, and profits going up. 
“This Looks Rebellion”In late May 1824, a group of Pawtucket mill owners decided to make some drastic changes. Citing a “general depression,” they announced a plan to extend the workday by an hour, reduce the worker’s mealtime, and cut wages by 25%. Workers in town did not accept these new conditions. About one hundred women walked out of the mills, causing them to shut down. From May 26th to June 3rd, 1824, a large number of additional textiles workers joined them in going on strike. Fellow laborers in the village of Pawtucket embraced the strike. Some people event went to the homes of the mill owners to shout at them, and demand restored wages. The strike escalated on June 1, 1824, when an “incendiary device” was thrown into Walcott’s Mill, causing a small fire. After the fire, the mill owners and the strikers reached a settlement. No record of this settlement exists, but the mills reopened (with workers at their machines) on June 3rd. 
Courtesy of Old Slater Mill Association Aftermath and LegacyThe walkout of 1824 was the first of its kind. No historical records from the perspective of the workers exist, but their story is not lost. Workers who refused to accept lower wages for more work were reacting to some of the larger social changes that came with the Industrial Revolution. The strike indicated the potential power that laborers could assert against factory owners. This early example of labor unrest was just the beginning of the continued conflict between employers and their employees. In these early years of industrial development, workers enjoyed more autonomy and individual power to assert their rights as laborers. As the decades passed, this became more difficult. Most women were excluded from joining unions as they formed. 
Providence, R.I. May 31 − The citizens of
Pawtucket, have, for a few days past, been in a
state of excitement and disorder, which reminds us of the accounts we frequently read of the tumults of the manufacturing places in England, though unattended with the destruction and damage usually accompanying those riots. TranscriptThe most significant part about this first strike for me is that it was all women in a time where women didn't really have a first anything. I was born and raised in Rhode Island and had no idea that Pawtucket was the place for the first strike. The resolution of this strike was, we don't know what it was. How the community rallied around these women, because oftentimes women were not supported by communities or their towns, they were just hidden away, and to have them realize their own worth and say no we're not going to do this anymore. Those women were resilient and they had to be resilient to get what they wanted. It's such a huge staple of American history and more people should know the story. It's very relevant to today. Not much has changed. Everybody in our world is overworked and underpaid. Control. Power. The equality is still not there. Women are still not valued. It makes me think a lot about the #metoo movement, I wonder how we'll look back at that in years and years from now. [Music] Someone's asking you to work longer hours for less pay and not think anything of it because they think you're disposable, when in reality you're the only one who knows how to do this job. Learning how to work on these machines took time and not anybody could just come in and do it. These women were looked down on because they worked in a factory so that makes them less desirable, and in a sense you would think that would make them less important to their community, but that's the complete opposite of what happened. [Music] I just don't understand why women throughout history have always been lesser. You could learn so much from me and you won't even listen to what my opinion is. And with each thing that I told him he treated me like a nagging wife and talked down to me and got angry with me and eventually told me to just be quiet and do my job. Knowing when it's time to leave. If you are willing to work they will work you, and they will overwork you. Being able to stand up for yourself and value yourself better than anyone else could. I have learned the value of speaking up when you are being objectified at work. How long do you put up with something before you decide you're worth more than that? What's worth the risk? And then one day recognize the only person coming to save me is me and I deserve every ounce of respect that those women did. [Music] The citizens of Pawtucket have for a few days past been in a state of excitement and disorder in consequence of a resolution adopted on Monday week last at a meeting of the manufacturers to reduce the wages of those who worked by the piece, and to require the mills to run an hour longer each day. The street is literally filled with men women and children making a mob of very daring aspect but for the purpose of hindering or preventing the entrance of those willing to work - no force, however, was used. There appears to be a general stir among the working people on account of the new arrangement and most of the laborers refuse to comply with these terms. They visited successively the houses of the manufacturers shouting, exclaiming, and using very imaginable terms of abuse and insult, and broke a window - a window - in one of the Mills. The factory owners appear to persevere in these new ways of oppression.
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A dance film depicting the story of the first industrial strike in the United States, led by women in Pawtucket, RI. 
David Lawlor Join us for our annual First Strike Festival (May 11, 2024)Join us for community celebration and 200-year commemoration of the first industrial worker's strike in the United States. Hosted at Old Slater Mill National Historic Landmark on Saturday, May 11, 2024 from 12 PM - 4 PM in downtown Pawtucket, RI. THINGS TO DO: Tours and Talks
Meet in front of Slater Mill – limited to 25 persons
Meet in the Slater Mill Bell Tower
Outdoor discussion led by a ranger Performance Schedule: 12:00 PM - Acoustic Folk Music and Welcome from J. Michael Graham Additional Demonstrations and Activities
Learn more!
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Last updated: June 5, 2024