Women in the Northeast were almost always expected to conform to rigid social norms and gender roles. Early marriage and child rearing were the only acceptable paths a woman could travel.

The "mill girls" of Lowell, Massachusetts experienced a far different upbringing than their counterparts in the South or in the Northeast. Sent to factories at a young age, these girls experienced a level of independence that more resembled life for slave women than for other women in the Northeast; the pious middle-class women worked hard on domestic chores and child rearing but their work was viewed more as social obligation and gender role fulfillment than as official employment. For the "mill girls," employment became a new way of life for young American females. Working and living conditions were grim for "mill girls." Room and board were provided and combined with their low wages, their living conditions resembled that of...
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