he author notes,
The interdependence of artisan households gave shoemakers a certain degree of independence from the forces of commerce. . . . Labor was often exchanged directly between households. . . . Thus clothing, food, and shelter--the necessaries of life--were acquired
. . . through the cooperative work of many laboring families (57).
The Industrial Revolution, with its factory as the center of production, rather than the household, put an end to this system of relative equality and community cooperation. Understanding the impact of the factory on Lynn, then, is the key to understanding the overall effect of the Industrial Revolution on this community.
With the factory came the dominance of employers for the first time in lynn. As Dawley rites,
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