For my final project I would love to explore more about the Bates Mill Company mills in Lewiston because I have studied them quite a bit in other classes, although I am not sure if that is the direction we are supposed to go/if there is enough data available. I think that exploring the lasting effects of Benjamin Bates’ exploitation of enslaved people and also mill workers would be a valuable study. This could be done through storytelling from current relatives of either mill workers or people involved in the cotton shipment, combined with statistical data about the gender, race, age, and amount paid of mill workers. Benjamin Bates’ profits from the exploitation of mill workers could then be compared to the profits made from enslaved people. I also thought about exploring more about the cotton brokers — the demographics, who else they sold to, as well as their profits made off of enslaved people. I think this study would be a little bit harder to fully grasp because there isn’t as much that connects directly to Lewiston, however it raises an important question about the exploitation of enslaved people beyond just what Benjamin Bates contributed to. This question was raised in my head when we read the piece about the history of Harvard and how it is very similar to Bates’, as I’m sure it is to many other colleges. It would be interesting to also explore donors at other colleges that bought cotton from these same brokers and compare.
