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Women's role in social change
The impact on womens suffrage history essays 1 page
Womens suffrage in america
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The function of women in politics, the economy, and communal events in American society moved significantly from the pre-Revolutionary war era to the early beginnings of the 20th century. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, women were looked upon as being “subordinate to males” and so as a result women were affected by the laws and regulations forced upon them by men. It was almost as if it was a woman’s right, to get married, have kids, and live out the obligation of being a thorough wife and mother. Because the government was mainly ruled and controlled by men, it was often that women didn’t have the lawful rights, for example the power to vote or be in possession of property. Yet, as the years advanced toward the Civil War and Reconstruction, the public, monetary matters, and political functions for women started to transform. Women’s attire became chic, even for countryside and lower-class women. Their outfits, which began to “show the details bodies to their benefit,” showed the passion and power of women to rid themselves from the harsh commands of the male-dominated society. While most married women performed labors in the home—and their “inconveniences growing heavily” in regards to the expansion of non-farming jobs for men—it was not unusual for women mainly those who lost their husbands during the Civil War, to earn income. Even though the social and financial transformations brought about many rights for women, possibly the most important change during the 19th and early 20th centuries was made of the political transformations brought about by the numerous number of reform groups in regards to women’s liberties, such as ending slavery, voting rights , self-control, and education. In regards to the ... ... middle of paper ... ...ts of a mixture of people, eventually led Stanton and Mott to coordinate the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. The convention attracted over three-thousand audience members, which were mostly women in attendance, but did consist of a considerable amount of men. Numerous speakers interacted with the hopeful crowd, counting Stanton, Mott, and Frederick Douglass, the prominent abolitionists. At the convention, Stanton announced the “Declaration of Sentiments” and the spectators of the convention decided on the components of the “Declaration,” the most noteworthy of being women’s right to vote. Regrettably, Stanton’s demand for the right to vote was not victorious at the Seneca Falls Convention. All other components of the “Declaration” passed relatively easily. But only a handful voted in support of women’s right to vote, after an powerful speech by Fredrick Douglass.”
When considering the American Revolution most histories fail to recognize both sides of the fight for liberty. Men were certainly the central figures; however could they have succeeded without the periphery support of women? In her book, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America, Linda K. Kerber explores the contribution of women to the war and demonstrates the rising of “Republican Motherhood” during and following the war. Through this ideology, women merged their traditional roles with their new sense of civic duty. In the beginning chapters, Kerber examines women’s engagement in the war effort, explores the emerging idea of female patriotism and states the proper loyalties of married women during the time. Kerber then looks at the consequences of the Revolution in relation to the female concerns of divorce, education and women’s reading. In these chapters, and her concluding chapter, “The Republican Mother,” she evaluates the representation of womanhood in the early republic. According to Kerber, the American Revolution had an enduring and significant change in the role of women in society and created a new political role for women, known as “Republican Motherhood”.
In early nineteen centuries, Women helped shape the course of the American Revolution in numerous ways. However, national and state constitutions included little mention of women. Under the constitution, women did not have right to vote and were not allowed hold office. Judith Sargent Murray, a feminist writer, was one of the most prominent women of the Revolutionary era. She strived for the right and recognition of women from the society of her period. In the feminist essay, “On the Equality of Sexes,” Murray posed the argument of spiritual and intellectual equality between men and women.
During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...
Up until and during the mid -1800’s, women were stereotyped and not given the same rights that men had. Women were not allowed to vote, speak publically, stand for office and had no influence in public affairs. They received poorer education than men did and there was not one church, except for the Quakers, that allowed women to have a say in church affairs. Women also did not have any legal rights and were not permitted to own property. Overall, people believed that a woman only belonged in the home and that the only rule she may ever obtain was over her children. However, during the pre- Civil war era, woman began to stand up for what they believed in and to change the way that people viewed society (Lerner, 1971). Two of the most famous pioneers in the women’s rights movement, as well as abolition, were two sisters from South Carolina: Sarah and Angelina Grimké.
Stanton and Mott were infuriated with the rejection of women, so they decided to hold a women’s rights meeting. This meeting was considered a Women’s Rights convention and was held in Seneca Falls. This was the very first meeting and was held in New York. Stanton then composed “The Declaration of Sentiments.” The text proposed that women should receive the right education, and changes to the law to raise the status of a “lady.”
Although her early days as a housewife were fulfilling, the work become depressing and she took pity on women in the area who were abused, beaten, and treated like slaves. Suddenly, she received an invitation, along with other women’s rights activists, from Lucretia Mott to meet in Waterloo to discuss a pivotal point on Stanton’s career--the Seneca Falls Convention, After a two-day planning meeting, the fifty women planned the Seneca Falls Convention to be five days after. From July 19-20, 1848, over 300 people attended, including Sojourner Truth, 40 men and Frederick Douglass, Quakers from nearby cities, and the Society of Friends. These people signed the Declaration of Sentiments, written by Elizabeth Stanton and modeled after the Declaration of Independence, which addressed women’s inability to vote, the denial to own property, unequal rights in divorce and marriage, equal opportunity to education, and their status under men. Moreover, those who signed declared how they’re advocating for women’s suffrage and a reform of property and marital laws in the United States. Its success led to a second convention in Rochester and more women having conventions throughout the United States between
Sixty- nine years after the Declaration of Independence, one group of women gathered together and formed the Seneca Falls Convention. Prior and subsequent to the convention, women were not allowed to vote because they were not considered equal to men. During the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered the “Declaration of Sentiments.” It intentionally resembles the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal…” (Stanton, 466). She replaced the “men” with “men and women” to represent that women and men should be treated equally. Stanton and the other women in the convention tried to fight for voting rights. Dismally, when the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced to the Congress, the act failed to be passed. Even though women voiced their opinions out and urged for justice, they could not get 2/3 of the states to agree to pass the amendment. Women wanted to tackle on the voting inequalities, but was resulted with more inequalities because people failed to listen to them. One reason why women did not achieve their goals was because the image of the traditional roles of women was difficult to break through. During this time period, many people believed that women should remain as traditional housewives.
Society has long since considered women the lessor gender and one of the most highly debated topics in society through the years has been that of women’s equality. The debates began over the meaning between a man and woman’s morality and a woman’s rights and obligations in society. After the 19th Amendment was sanctioned around 1920, the ball started rolling on women’s suffrage. Modern times have brought about the union of these causes, but due to the differences between the genetic makeup and socio demographics, the battle over women’s equality issue still continues to exist. While men have always held the covenant role of the dominant sex, it was only since the end of the 19th century that the movement for women’s equality and the entitlement of women have become more prevalent. “The general consensus at the time was that men were more capable of dealing with the competitive work world they now found themselves thrust into. Women, it was assumed, were unable to handle the pressures outside of the home. They couldn’t vote, were discourages from working, and were excluded from politics. Their duty to society was raising moral children, passing on the values that were unjustly thrust upon them as society began to modernize” (America’s Job Exchange, 2013). Although there have been many improvements in the changes of women’s equality towards the lives of women’s freedom and rights in society, some liberals believe that women have a journey to go before they receive total equality. After WWII, women continued to progress in there crusade towards receiving equality in many areas such as pay and education, discrimination in employment, reproductive rights and later was followed by not only white women but women from other nationalities ...
Initially, women were considered as the temptation of the public world which meant that they were only allowed to work at home and take care of the children. However, when women finally entered the workforce they were paid half as much as the men who did the same jobs. Furthermore, “in the 1800’s, women could not vote or serve on juries. Married women could not own property or win custody of their children in a divorce”(History 1). This shows how there was no improvement of women’s rights during the Antebellum period. Since the unfair treatment that women received lead to many rebellions in the country, many people have argued that this was the start of the Women’s Rights Movement. This movement would become one of the most important and famous movement that had ever happened in the United States. Therefore, this showed the impact that the Antebellum period brought to the people.
At this time, women did not have the immediate power to change laws, but they did the power to gain support much faster than the men that did have immediate power. That is why with the “effective coalition [that women had] with men”, women had “access to the institutional power and positions of public authority that men held,” and in return gave men “the grass-roots support that women could mobilize” (Skylar). Without the support that women had, men that had power could not use their abilities to their fullest potential. With the mutual benefit they had, men and women were able to pass different legislations, such as state mothers’ pensions laws and welfare. Therefore, the role of women during this era was essential in aiding powerful men that could bring about reform in the United
In conclusion, women throughout the decades have strived, from protesting to going on trials, to point out their rights. “Will women soon be treated equally as men?” A day when women and men having the same rights is still under way and has a far way to go as from the antebellum period. However, what makes women so unique, especially during this era is the numerous of contributions these respectful woman played a part of in order to see dramatic changes in America’s society. Some of the extraordinary ideas developed by them explains the success leading into what we call America today. Therefore, it is proven that women are certainly not helpless species, but are useful citizens who aroused much commitment for their “race” and nation.
Women’s role in society changed quite a bit during WWI and throughout the 1920s. During the 1910s women were very short or liberty and equality, life was like an endless rulebook. Women were expected to behave modestly and wear long dresses. Long hair was obligatory, however it always had to be up. It was unacceptable for them to smoke and they were expected to always be accompanied by an older woman or a married woman when outing. Women were usually employed with jobs that were usually associated with their genders, such as servants, seamstresses, secretaries and nursing. However during the war, women started becoming employed in different types of jobs such as factory work, replacing the men who had gone to fight in the war in Europe. In the late 1910s The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) had been fighting for decades to get the vote for women. As women had contributed so much to the war effort, it was difficult to refuse their demands for political equality. As a result, the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution became law in 19...
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
With a society that holds a male-dominant mindset, it becomes difficult to change the status of women for the better. People in America still hold views on how a woman should behave. Since the Puritan’s time, women have been viewed as obedient and demure. They are expected to be quiet and polite. Although women can now speak publically, there has yet to be a woman president. Women make up half the population and yet they haven’t had representation in the presidential office. Therefore they don’t have as much power to speak and make
The role of women not having a say in politics has disintegrated and society has leaned towards gender equality, allowing women to achieve leader positions in different professions through hard work and talent. S. Kane and S. McCabe have demonstrated that “As women have gradually become leaders in the professions … they also have taken jobs once regarded as too physically strenuous. Women have become sanitary workers, police officers, firefighters, and coal miners” (Text #5, ‘Women in the U.S. today’).Women have shown their strength and became leaders in professions in which they were discarded before, because it was acknowledged as a man’s job. Women are able to achieve jobs as coal miners and firefighters which was