S3E3 - "Cotton Mill Fever"

Hello and welcome to the Story of Rhode Island. The podcast that tells you the story of Rhode Island’s fascinating history. In last week’s episode we witnessed Samuel Slater battle through a series of challenges at Slater Mill before ultimately achieving industrial success at Slatersville. These novel institutions have given Rhode Island the blueprints it needs for industrialization and as we’re about to see in this week’s episode it now has a reason to use them. It’s a fall afternoon in 1808 and the once bustling mercantile city of Providence is in the middle of a severe economic depression. With most of the city’s sailors, merchants, and craftsmen elsewhere looking for work, Rhode Island’s founding city looks like it could be a ghost town. The few individuals that remain simply wander around aimlessly with a hopeless look in their face. Even the ships lining the docks paint a bleak picture. Instead of embarking on international trading voyages, they just sit there idly, moving only when the waves cause them to bob up and down. Such a dreadful economic situation is one that is not unique to Providence but shared by coastal communities throughout America. And although it might be hard to believe, president Thomas Jefferson, leader of the democratic Republican Party, has intentionally put the United States in this precarious position. For the past several years, Great Britain—and to a lesser extent, France—has been violating American sovereignty. It began with them confiscating goods from American ships but escalated when Great Britain started boarding American vessels in search of deserting British sailors. Jefferson and the democratic republicans were hesitant to start a military conflict so they decided to ignite a trade war instead. They hoped that by establishing trade restrictions with the French and English their economies would suffer so badly that they’d have no choice but to respect America’s sovereignty. Unfortunately, the trade restrictions, commonly known as the Jefferson Embargo, are doing far more harm to the American economy than to its foreign adversaries. Since the start of the Jefferson Embargo, American imports have declined by 60% and exports by 80%. And since Rhode Island’s economy is centered around maritime trade it’s feeling the effects of the trade war more than any other state in the Union. Towns like Providence, which once prospered from trade, are now filled with unused ships, struggling businesses, and swaths of unemployed individuals. From 1806 to 1808 the number of vessels arriving in Providence from Europe has dropped by over 80%. And so this is why Rhode Island’s founding city and the rest of the state's coastal communities now look like a place that’s been hit with a horrific plague and as you might expect, this plague has given the people a raging fever. However, the symptoms of this fever are quite atypical. Instead of chills and a throbbing headache many of the state's leading citizens are consumed by an infatuation with manufacturing. With maritime commerce no longer a reliable source of income, long-time merchants have begun investing their capital in textile manufacturing, a trend Moses Brown calls “Cotton Mill Fever”. It’s a fixation that as of 1808 is still in its early stages but one that will grow even more fervent when America decides that in order to protect their standing in the international community they must go to war with their former mother country. Once this happens, maritime profits will plummet even further and Rhode Island businessmen will turn their infatuation with manufacturing into a long term obsession; a new commitment that will thrust Rhode Island into the depths of the Industrial Revolution and forever change its economy, demographics, and political atmosphere. The story of Rhode Island turning its back in the sea and becoming an industrialized society is what we’ll cover in this week’s episode of The Story of Rhode Island Podcast.

Intro Music

It’s the fall of 1810 and we find ourselves where we started out this season, standing beside Moses Brown at his Elm Grove estate in Providence. In case you need a refresher, Brown is the man who brought Samuel Slater to Rhode Island in 1790 so that he could build England’s cotton spinning technology. And now, with the Democratic Republican’s economic policies destroying commerce, Rhode Island merchants have made a noticeable shift away from maritime activities and into the business of textile manufacturing, giving rise to the state’s first industrial boom. At the turn of the century, there were only 4 cotton spinning mills in Rhode Island and now just a decade later there are over 25, most of them located in the Blackstone River Valley. And alongside those cotton spinning mills are a few mills producing woolen products as well, another move towards industrialization that was started by the Hazard family in South County. Further illustrating this growth in textile production is the astonishing fact that in the past year alone the number of spindles, which is the part of the spinning machine that twists and winds cotton into yarn, have doubled. With the state caught up in this manufacturing craze one would expect Brown to feel like a proud parent, a man who's watched his dream of industrialization grow from a mere infant idea to an emerging reality. And while that feeling certainly exists, the 72 year old retired businessman also finds himself somewhat concerned. As he peers out his bedroom window he observes the beautiful landscape surrounding his Elm Grove Estate. While looking at the trees in front of his house, he notices that they’ve long since passed the height of their summer bloom and most of their vibrant green leaves now lie on the cold ground. The more Brown observes this natural phenomenon, the more he fears that this obsession with Manufacturing has also reached its peak season and that it’s nothing more than an overhyped fad that’s about to begin a steady decline. With this thought on his mind, he writes to his son, Obadiah, as a concerned parent. Knowing that Obadiah is heavily invested in manufacturing he states just how out of hand this craze has become and how everyone in Rhode Island seems to have QUOTE “cotton mill fever” UNQUOTE. He continues to explain how every town you go to is QUOTE “occupied with cotton mills; many villages built up within 16 miles of town and spinning yarn and making cloth has become our greatest business. UNQUOTE. Finally, he closes out his letter by telling his son that he should consider moving some of his capital away from the textile industry. He worries that competition from England, a limited national market, and a growing number of competitors will eventually hinder profits. Brown’s concerns are certainly valid, not only for the reasons he’s just mentioned but also because Rhode Island has ties with maritime trade that go back all the way to the late 17th century. Who's to say it won’t return to those roots once this embargo comes to an end? But as we’re about to see, Brown is wrong, dead wrong. He’s severely underestimated the future trajectory of industrialization in Rhode Island. Far from reaching its adulthood, manufacturing has merely entered adolescents. This craze he calls “cotton mill fever” has only just begun and will continue to infect more and more Rhode Island businessmen until it eventually dominates not only the state’s economy but nearly every aspect of its society. And as we fast forward a couple of years, we observe the next phase of this fever begin to unfold when America decides to turn its economic war with Great Britain into a full blown military conflict.

It’s June 24th of 1812 and the town of Providence is in mourning; flags can be seen flying at half staff and the sound of church bells ringing can be heard coming from the city’s local meetinghouses. With the embargo failing to convince Great Britain to respect their nation’s sovereignty, President James Madison, successor to Thomas Jefferson and fellow Democratic Republican, has decided to declare war on their former mother country. But not everyone is so gung ho about this war. The rival political party, the Federalist - though either group would loathe being referred to as an actual party - vociferously opposes the military conflict known as The War of 1812. While they certainly want America’s sovereignty to be respected they also know that war with Great Britain would further stifle trade, an outcome their merchant constituents have no taste for. Rhode Island’s federalist dominated government led by Governor William Jones feels the same so they spent the past couple of weeks petitioning congress to avoid war with Great Britain. Unfortunately, their appeals were ignored and now the War of 1812 will continue the commercial woes that were initiated by the Jefferson embargo. And so the flags flying at half mast are meant to mourn a loss in revenue just as much as the men who will perish in the fighting that's about to ensue. Governor Jones does what he can to prevent the latter from happening by refusing Madison’s call for Rhode Island militia units. Like the Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut, Jones claims that such a request is unconstitutional, illustrating the joint opposition Madison will face from New England Federalist throughout the conflict. Their disobedience is so persistent that historian Gordon Wood has claimed that the war of 1812 might just be the most unpopular in American history. And when one hears about the economic consequences that come with the War, it’s not hard to understand why the New England merchants' feel this way. From 1807 to 1814 American exports fall from $108 million to $7 million and imports from $138 million to $13 million. New England businessmen try to keep their economy alive by illegally trading with Canada but even that is eventually shut down when the Democratic Republicans pass an extremely draconian measure that completely forbids all American ships from leaving port, prohibit exports, and even make coastal trading illegal. Needless to say, the Rhode Islanders are furious but at the same time they need to do something to make money. So just like we saw during the embargo they once again begin shifting their capital away from trade and into manufacturing, however this time they do it even more aggressively than before. Throughout the War of 1812, Rhode Island builds 62 new cotton mills, increasing the number of cotton factories in the state by 163%. By 1815, 21 towns in Rhode Island have at least one mill and 140 different cotton manufacturing businesses exist within 30 miles of Providence. Helping fuel the growth of textile manufacturing is the fact that since America is at war with Great Britain their cotton spinning businesses have fewer competitors. And Rhode Island is by no means the only state taking part in this move towards industrialization as mills are popping up throughout New England and even in some of the mid Atlantic states as well. By the time the fighting comes to an end in 1815 there are 243 cotton mills across 15 states, demonstrating just how big of an impact the War has on pushing America into the age of industrialization. Now, since we won't be covering the war in detail I’ll give you a brief overview of its outcome. Technically, the war ends in a stalemate but it does enable America to gain some international respect due to its ability to win key victories throughout the conflict. And one of those victories was the result of a heroic performance from an extremely brave Rhode Islander named Oliver Hazard Perry. Unfortunately, we don’t have time for that today so you’ll have to learn more about that story by checking out this episode's webpage. Anyway, the primary point here being that the War of 1812 proves to be yet another catalyst for industrialization in Rhode Island. Now, as is true for almost any long term transformation, the growth of manufacturing is not linear. When the conflict ends, Rhode Island’s textile industry goes into a depression due to British goods once again flooding the market. Then, it takes another hit at the end of the decade when the nation is struck by a financial crisis known as the panic of 1819. At the same time, these years also come with some hidden benefits. To start, the competition from England, although painful, forces mill owners to up their game. In order to stay in business, they must become more efficient by adopting new technology, the most important being the power loom. I’ll explain this machine in a minute but first let me give you a quick refresher of how textiles are produced in the 19th century. We discussed this in episode 1 but it’s important enough to cover again. Okay, so the process of manufacturing textiles begins when cotton is grown by enslaved men and women from America’s southern plantations. Then, most of that cotton is sent to England so that it can be spun into yarn. However, thanks to Samuel Slater some of that cotton is sent to cotton spinning factories in New England as well. But overall the industry is still dominated by England. Finally, the last step entails weaving that yarn into cloth, another part of the process that’s mostly done in England because they have something called a power loom, a machine that automatically weaves yarn into cloth and is unavailable to Americans at the start of the century. However, in 1814, a Massachusetts industrialist named Francis Cabot Lowell works with a mechanic to recreate the powerloom in America. Then, in 1816, This extremely powerful technology makes its way to Rhode Island when William Gilmore invents his own version of the power loom. But unlike Lowell’s power loom, Gilmore’s is extremely affordable AND he doesn’t patent it, making it easier for people to replicate. This machine proves to be especially impactful when the postwar depression finally comes to an end in the early 1820s. At this point, the obsession with manufacturing that Brown once called cotton mill fever turns into a full blown epidemic. Before long, Rhode Island, like today's Silicon Valley, becomes known as a hotbed of innovative economic activity. However, instead of tech companies, hip work cultures and employees from Ivy League schools, it’s made up of manufacturing businesses, god awful working conditions, and a workforce that primarily consists of women and children from the region's poorest families. But nonetheless, the manufacturing business is booming and it’s in the 1820s when textile manufacturing officially overtakes maritime trade as the state's leading form of economic activity. The magnitude of this shift is nearly impossible to overstate. Because This is when everything begins to change and when the characteristics that 19th century Rhode Island is known for make their way to the forefront. New factories and mill villages begin popping up left and right, swarms of immigrants start piling into industrial villages in search of work, and the state’s capital becomes concentrated around these industrial endeavors. However, what’s critically important for you to keep in mind and something that will be a crucial part of the next couple of episodes is that the rise of industrialization is not evenly distributed throughout the state. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. While some towns go all in on industrialization others do not and before long those who do not begin look as though they’ve been left in the past, relics of an old way of living that will inevitably have a lesser role in this new world. We explore the growing divide between Rhode Island towns by visiting a coastal community that once dominated every aspect of the state, from its politics to its economy. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case and as we visit this city by the sea we see that those days are now a thing of the past.

Newport is a city with a great history that’s known to many. We discussed its thriving colonial economy in season 2 of this podcast and will likely take a look at how it becomes a gilded age playground in season 4. However, the 1820s and 1830s are a difficult transition period for Newport. Due to the trade restrictions that came with The War of 1812, overall shipping activity dropped by 15% from 1810 to 1820 and will drop another 21% throughout the 1820s. The reason for this decline is because a significant portion of the town's wealthy businessmen left when the War of 1812 broke out, many of them never returning again. When they left, their capital went with them, further stifling an economy that was already struggling to get back up on its feet. To make it worse, the town’s location on Aquidneck Island makes it less than an ideal place for industrialization; not only does it lack any of the rapidly flowing rivers found in the northern part of the state but it also makes it more difficult to get resources from the mainland. And although there are over 100 mills across 21 different towns by the 1820s, not one can be found in Newport, or anywhere on Aquidneck Island for that matter. The town’s fall from grace is not only noticed by locals but visitors as well. For instance, when an Englishman named Adam Hodgson visits Newport in the early 1820s he expects to see the lively atmosphere it was once known for. Unfortunately, Hodgson states how instead Newport is in a complete state of decay. While the colonial houses from its glory days are still there, many are in a state of ruin. Most of them aren’t even painted and those that are certainly haven’t received a fresh coat of paint in a while. Every now and then he comes across an elegant home but they are few and far between. And so, Newport represents a wider trend of stagnation felt by the towns that are slower to make a shift to a more manufacturing based economy. The towns that fit this mold are located in the western and southern parts of the state; think of places like Foster, Exeter, Charlestown, Newport, and Little Compton. Now it’s not like these places remain completely void of textile manufacturing businesses - evidence of this being the Hazard and Rodman mills in South county - but overall they do continue to remain focused on agriculture and trade. Proof of their joint stagnation is represented by the fact that from 1790 - 1830 their overall populations rises by just 2%. On the other hand, the towns that do adopt industrialization see the exact opposite occur as their population increases by over 130% during the same time period. These towns are located in the northern half of the state near the Providence River and Blackstone River Valley Region; examples being Warwick, Johnston, Providence, Smithfield, and Cumberland. It’s in these places where most of the manufacturing boom takes place. For example, even though by 1830 these towns only make up about 40% of Rhode Island land mass they are home to 60% of its mills and nearly 50% of its population. And so, as their economies take on an increasingly different form than the other towns, the demographics and political beliefs of their people become drastically different as well. As the years pass, these differences will cause political disputes between these two types of towns and will eventually erupt in a political cataclysm known as the Dorr rebellion. But we’ll discuss that in the coming episodes, for now, just know that part of the foundations of that event emerge because of this move towards industrialization. Okay So while we wait for those tensions to ferment, there’s another source of aggravation that we need to look at as well and one that will also play a role in the Dorr rebellion; the mistreatment of Rhode Island’s working class citizens. We’ll learn more about this unfortunate circumstance by going back to the village that started this whole economic revolution to begin with, Pawtucket. While there we’ll spend some time with a group of factory workers who have decided to stand up to their local mill owners and let them know that they refuse to allow their complaints to go unheard any longer. Their protests will be the first of its kind in America and foreshadow some of the future unrest we’ll see from the state's working class individuals.

Like so many other communities in northern Rhode Island, Pawtucket has grown immensely over the past couple of decades. Since the addition of Slater Mill in 1793, the village now consists of eight textile mills, six machine factories, a couple of churches and schools, and even a bank. With a population that’s grown to about 3,000 people, an amount greater than many of the far larger rural towns in southern Rhode Island, Pawtucket is a prime example of the amount of growth manufacturing based communities are experiencing. Unfortunately, as we revisit the village where the American Industrial Revolution began, we also learn about the worker/owner tensions that have come with industrialization. It’s May 26th of 1824 and standing in front of the textile mills located along present day Roosevelt Avenue is a crowd of angry, female factory workers between the ages of 15-30. The demographics of these workers illustrates how the introduction of the power loom, a piece of machinery too demanding for children to handle, has led to mill owners employing more women, a group of people who, like children, they also see as a cheap source of labor. As these female factory workers stand firmly beside each other, their stern faces illustrate the frustration burning inside of them while their unified shouting represents the solidarity in their movement. Just a couple of days ago, these workers were informed by their wealthy employers that along with having their already extensive workday increased by an hour, their pay was also going to be cut by 25%. The mill owners rationalized their decision by claiming they were already receiving a pay far too extravagant for people of their sex, an opinion the industrialists expected to go unchallenged. But as they are quickly beginning to realize, they sorely miscalculated these women’s tenacity and have just ignited America’s first factory strike. While creating a wall in front of the mill entrances, the women turn away any worker who attempts to enter the factory. They know that if their strike is to be successful, all must be involved, whether they like it or not. But luckily for them, the resentment they feel towards the mill owner is shared by a majority of the local community so their actions are readily supported. With the factories successfully kept void of any workers and their protest slowly increasing in size, the mob begins making its way south down Roosevelt avenue before turning east on Main Street. Then, the strikers cross a bridge that leads them over the Blackstone River and towards the factory owners homes. As the group of protesters surrounds the elegant houses they begin hurling rocks at their windows. Fearing for their families safety, the owners rush their wife and kids inside, lock their doors, and decide to hunker down inside until things die down. However, that takes longer than they expected. Over the next few days, the strike, instead of slowing down, picks up pace. More people join in on the movement and the local populace ends up setting one of the mills on fire. It’s at this point when the mill owners' bravado evaporates and they begin negotiating with the strikers. Finally, on June 3rd, after a week of tumultuous activity, a compromise between the two parties is met and the strike finally comes to an end. This chaotic event teaches us about yet another development that’s beginning to emerge from this move to an industrialized economy; the formation of a working class consciousness. At the moment, that consciousness is primarily focused on retaliating against their oppressive employers but pretty soon it’ll set its sights on something far larger, the state government. As the 1820s come to an end and a new decade begins, factory workers and their counterparts will begin attacking Rhode Island’s unjust and severely outdated political institutions that categorizes them as second class citizens. With each passing year their cries for change will grow louder until they’re heard by a young lawyer from Providence named Thomas Wilson Dorr. Eventually, Dorr will take their protests to the general assembly and his united front with the state’s working class citizens will build the foundations for a future rebellion that will bear its leader's name. But that’s a story for next time in next week's episode of the story of Rhode Island podcast.