Spinning, textile workers

A generation of millwrights and textile workers trained under Slater was the catalyst for the rapid proliferation of textile mills in the early nineteenth century. From Slater s first mill, the industry spread across New England to places like North Uxbridge, Massachusetts. For two decades, before Lowell mills and those modeled after them offered (30) competition, the Rhode Island System of small, rural spinning mills set the tone for early industrialization. 

Polynosic fibers were produced for a time in several countries, including France, the United States, and Japan, but it soon became evident that they were too brittle for the textile market. Research workers soon began to modify the viscose and spinning conditions to produce several versions of hybrid fibers. 

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