Analysis Of Fanny Trollope's Trip To America

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After the Revolutionary War, the founders of the United States of America formed this new nation on the principle of equality. However, in all legal documents, the founders very carefully noted that God created all men equally. When Fanny Trollope left England to tour the United States in 1827, this careful diction was apparent. Throughout her journey, Trollope experienced the “fable of equality” everywhere she went in regards to the position of women (92). At the time that Trollope visited the United States, men viewed women as intellectually inferior, excluded them from leisure activities, and sought to control their lives. In the 1820s in the United States, American society felt as though women were logically substandard. Trollope observed …show more content…

Trollope observed that American women “move[d] steadily and usefully in a path marked out for them” (100). Men dictated the lives of their daughters, by telling them who to marry, and the lives of their wives, by putting them to work around the household; women could rarely make their own decisions. Men also excluded women from certain leisure activities. While attending a festivity in America, Trollope observed a peculiar setup: “The gentlemen had a splendid entertainment spread for them in another large room of the hotel, while the poor ladies had each a plate put into their hands, as they pensively promenaded the ball-room during their absence . . . This arrangement was . . . purely because the gentlemen liked it better” (117). Men preferred to separate themselves from women during times of leisure, and as a result, women did not receive equivalent entertainment and rest. Women also had limited access to materials to better themselves and their situations. An acquaintance of Trollope explained, “‘I profess that I by no means wish my wife to read all she might find [in the Bible]’” (89). Men in the United States were afraid to allow their wives to read the Bible, which contains passages that promote equality between the genders. Women would not fight the discrimination they faced if they believed it was normal. Based on Fanny Trollope’s recount of her journey to America, one can plainly see that women occupied a secondary position in society. American men viewed women as being intellectually inferior. Women also faced undesirable working conditions and surrendered control of their lives to their male counterparts. Therefore, despite the legend of American equality for all, women in America lived subordinately to

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