Final answer:
In the Industrial Revolution, thread production moved from homes to factories, increasing efficiency and reshaping society. Pawtucket, Rhode Island, housed the first U.S. textile mill, marking a crucial shift.
Step-by-step explanation:
Originally, workers spun their thread at home or in small workshops. During the Industrial Revolution, the textile industry witnessed a major shift as manufacturing moved from these domestic settings to factories. In early America, women typically engaged in spinning thread and weaving cloth at home, producing homespun clothing for their families. This method was labor-intensive and time-consuming.
With the advent of textile mills, such as those established by British immigrant Samuel Slater in the 1790s in Rhode Island, workers spun cotton into thread within a centralized factory setting. The first American textile mill in Pawtucket marked the beginning of this transition. The mills provided a more efficient way to produce yarn and fabric, significantly reducing the manual labor involved and altering the social and economic fabric of society.
The introduction of inventions like Kay's flying shuttle, Hargreaves' spinning jenny, and Arkwright's water frame allowed for an exponential increase in production and paved the way for factory-based production systems, transforming the textile industry from a cottage industry into a sector dominated by mechanized factories.