"It always has seemed to me that each human being, before going out into the silence, should leave behind him, not the story of his own life, but of the time in which he lived, - as he saw it, - its creed, its purpose, its queer habits, and the work which it did or left undone in the world."
Rebecca Harding Davis[7]
Rebecca Harding Davis wrote Life in the Iron Mills and other short stories to represent the events going on around her during the era of the American Civil War. The short story was published by The Atlantic Monthly.[8] Davis was paid well for her story and continued to publish short stories for The Atlantic Monthly.[8] Life in the Iron Mills received much attention during her lifetime; she was also recognized by several literary figures[8] including as Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., Amos Bronson Alcott, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Henry Ward Beecher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne encouraged Davis to continue to write, but she was forgotten by the literary world by the time of her death.[8]
Davis attended college at the Washington Female Seminary and studied the Bible intensively. It is here Davis would encounter influential scholars and political thinkers, and explore ideas and produce thoughts of her own regarding such social and religious issues. According to some scholars, Davis' work was heavily influenced by the "ethical teachings of Christianity."[8] This is evident in Life in the Iron Mills, where Davis explores the greediness that derives from the Industrial Revolution.
According to Gregory Hadley, Davis's writings were partly shaped by the renewed interest of Christianity called the Second Great Awakening, which emphasizes on Personal Faith that was defined on repentance, believed Christ as the Savior, and live according to the Bible and Social Action. Social reform had heavily influenced the women who were on this "moral crusade." Protestant denominations had a remarkable growth spurt, and by the 1850s millions of Americans had converted to Christianity. Though many reviews failed to recognize Davis' Christian faith was an important factor in her writings. Davis' writings had focused on problems that Christians of her time were concerned with; slavery, work exploitation, equal education, and justice for women.[8]
The story takes place in the 1830s, a time when the Industrial Revolution was well underway. Until the 1840s well-to-do entrepreneurs established new mills and factories through their own finances because banks usually did not invest in industry or make loans to manufacturers. Industry thrived until the panic of 1837, originating in Britain, which affected investments in the United States, resulting in the bankruptcies of both British and American manufacturers and extensive unemployment. The American economy fell into a depression from which it did not emerge until 1843. By the 1850s, iron manufacturing was doing especially well, and by 1860 it was the nation's leading industry. Cotton production was another major industry. Investors profited significantly at the expense of workers.
Industry depended greatly on immigrant laborers. Approximately four million Irish, German, and British immigrants moved to the United States between 1820 and 1860. Most of them were unskilled peasants, laborers, and farmers who found employment in factories, on construction sites, at warehouses and docks, and in private homes. The living conditions depicted in Life in the Iron Mills for many immigrants were poor, indeed not much better than what they had experienced in Europe. Lacking enough money to buy food, many suffered from malnutrition and from diseases like cholera, smallpox, and tuberculosis ("consumption"), with which the main character, Hugh Wolfe, is afflicted.
In the era of the feminist movement, the short story resurfaced through the help of the feminist writer Tillie Olsen. As an adviser for the Feminist Press in the 1970s, she came across Life in the Iron Mills and suggested it for republication. Olsen helped the short story gain critical reception once again as Davis intended in the 19th century.[9]
