Women in America

1203 Words3 Pages

Americans are multicultural, descended from multiple geographic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. The original American colonies were formed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with uneven gender ratios. Equality of the sexes did not exist until education became a major impact because the people needed an educated citizenry capable of self-government. The earliest British colonists migrated to the New World to flee religious prosecution and because of the economic opportunity. It was a chance for them to live the way they wanted without anyone interfering, a chance of a better life. Basically Europeans migrated to America for better opportunities. While some unions were the result of intermarriage or consensual relationships. There was also widespread sexual exploitation of black women by white slave-owners. Ancestry influences identities, but its impact is facilitated by the number of factors including ethnic amalgamation, the consciousness and conservation of knowledge about ancestral roots, fundamental beliefs about race and racial divisions and the number of generations uninvolved from the arrival of immigrant ancestors. The definition of being an “American” broadened and became more inclusive over the past two centuries in that women are a distinctively classified identity that have evolved throughout historical patterns. Women became inclusive when the constitution was ratified. Amendment 15th gave all men the right to vote but not women until the 19th Amendment in 1920. Free women were citizens, but their rights in property-owning, voting and other matters were limited. The United States itself defined to be “American” as people living in America are able to shape the environment and transform lives. In cities,... ... middle of paper ... ... to the good old days of “Normalcy”. This had caused a consumer culture as the economy started expanding. President Calvin Coolidge summarized everything that was happening as “America’s business is business.” Without America creating opportunities for the economy to expand we would never be where we are today. Women and the new morality are converging social issues associated with domesticity which had assigned women primary responsibilities in matters of home and housekeeping, raising children, supporting the husband in his career. Women now voted in all states. History’s expansion of business has entailed the growth not just of governance, but also morality. The modern idea that people of all races and religions are morally equal is often taken for granted, but viewed against the past. The continued involvement of women’s rights created a new and modern America.

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