The reasons for the deteriorating working conditions and declining wag

The reasons for the deteriorating working conditions and declining wages experienced by factory girls in the mills of New England towns during the 1830s and 1840s included all of the following EXCEPT

A) an agricultural depression in New England foreclosed the possibility of these young women quitting their factory jobs and returning home, leaving these workers with little economic leverage.
B) the increased domestic and English competition from new mill owners who built large, cost-efficient operations in New England and England for an international cotton market depressed workers’ wages in the 1830s and 1840s.
C) the strikes initiated by these young women in the 1830s and 1840s against mill factory owners failed to result in any improvement of their wages and working conditions.
D) the young women who worked in these mills declined to join any industrial unions which might have helped them bargain collectively for better working conditions and wages.

ANSWER
Answer: D