Aspirations and Anxieties This page intentionally left blank ASPIRATIONS AND ANXIETIES New England Workers and the Mechanized Factory System 1815-1850 DAVID A. ZONDERMAN New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1992 Oxford University Press Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Petaling Jaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1992 by David A. Zonderman Published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zonderman, David A. Aspirations and anxieties: New England workers and the mechanized factory system, 1815-1850 / David A. Zonderman, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-19-505747-3 1. Labor—New England—History— 19th century. 2. Working class—New England—History— 19th century. 3. Factory system—New England—History—19th century. 4. Industrial sociology—New England—History—19th century. 5. Machinery in industry—New England—History—19th century. 6. Labor movement—New England—History—19th century. I. Title. HD8083.A11Z66 1992 331.25—dc20 91-8192 CIP 24689753 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Patty and Andrew This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements This book has been many years in the making. During these years, I have received generous assistance from a number of institutions and individuals for my research and writing. Without their support, this book would not have been possible. A Sullivan Fellowship from the Museum of American Textile History and sev- eral graduate student travel grants from the American Studies Program at Yale Uni- versity supported the research for this project. Salary support from the Research Committee of the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison enabled me to devote time to revising the manuscript. The staffs of the Yale University libraries and the library at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin were always considerate and helpful in assisting me. The fol- lowing archives and libraries also gave me permission to publish materials in their collections: American Antiquarian Society, Andover (Mass.) Historical Society, Bailey/Howe Library—University of Vermont, Baker Library—Harvard Univer- sity, Canfield Library (Arlington, Vt), Canton (Conn.) Historical Museum, Con- necticut Historical Society, Connecticut State Library-Archives, University of Connecticut Library, Fall River (Mass.) Historical Society, Lancaster (Mass.) Town Library, Manchester (N.H.) Historic Association, Massachusetts State Archives, Museum of American Textile History (North Andover, Mass.), New Hampshire Historical Society, New Hampshire State Archives, Old Sturbridge Village (Mass.) Research Library, Rhode Island Historical Society, Schlesinger Library—Radcliffe College, Sheldon Museum (Middlebury, Vt.), Slater Mill Historic Site (Pawtucket, R.I.), State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Stowe-Day Library (Hartford, Conn.), and Yale University Library. This book began as a doctoral dissertation in the American Studies Program at Yale University. David Montgomery was my advisor, and his meticulous reading of the original manuscript guided many of my subsequent revisions. David Brion Davis and Alan Trachtenberg also read the dissertation and provided valuable com- ments. Thomas Dublin, Jonathan Prude, and Sean Wilentz all read the manuscript at various stages in the revision process—each made rigorous and generous remarks that helped me reshape the project. viii Acknowledgements Portions of this study were also previously presented in several conference papers, and I am grateful to the following commentators for their remarks, which also helped me sharpen my arguments: James Barrett, Iver Bernstein, Mary Blew- ett, Michael Folsom, Ken Fones-Wolf, Bruce Laurie, and Kathy Peiss. My col- leagues in the History Department and the Industrial Relations Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have also listened to my ideas at various colloquia and lunchtime discussion groups. In particular, Stan Schultz has answered many questions about writing and rewriting, and Diane Lindstrom gave the last draft of the manuscript a very vigorous reading that challenged me to rethink several of my ideas. At Oxford University Press, Sheldon Meyer, Rachel Toor, Karen Wolny, and Gail Cooper have all guided this project from manuscript to book with patience and generosity. Finally, this book is dedicated to my wife, Patty Williams, and my son, Andrew. They have supported me through the all the trials and tribulations of publishing my first book. Most important of all, they have nurtured my love of knowledge and my knowledge of love. Contents Introduction 3 PART I 1. Terror and Wonder: Workers and Machines 21 2. The Quest for the Middle Ground: Workers and Factory Buildings 63 3. Harmony and Antagonism: Workers, Managers, and the Social Relations of Production 97 4. Solidarity and Fragmentation: Workers' Social Dynamics on the Shop Floor 119 5. Rules, Schools, and Prisons: Workers and Factory Regulations 144 6. Paying the Price: Workers, Contracts, and Wage Labor 163 PART II 7. To the Streets and the Halls: Workers, Protest, and Organizing 195 8. A Time to Labor: Workers, the Workday, and the Ten-Hour Movement 234 9. Means and Ends: Workers and the Value of Work 261 Notes 303 Bibliography 339 Index 349