Creating social change, at times, is an action done behind the front lines. There was a time when women’s political voice was silent, they lacked direct connections to the political arena and without the right to vote they could not work within the political system to create change. Even with these challenges against them, women developed different ways to impact the political system to produce an impact in their own lives and in the lives of others without the vote. The two camps of thought that influenced how women believed change would come were, moral suasion and political abolitionists. The historian Greta Lerner is quoted in saying, “women had a ‘peculiar relationship to political power’ because of their history with disfranchisement” …show more content…
The idea was centered on more of a grass-roots ideology, where people went and conversed with individuals face-to-face to sway them create a reform. The moral suasionists were influenced by the Quaker ideology of equality that appeared first during the abolitionist movement. Their philosophy was that through slavery, the American government was caging the enslaved individuals’ soul; taking away their ability to commune with God, resulting in an obscene sin for the master (Lecture 11/22). The Quakers believed that every person’s inner light carried the potential to be a child of God; therefore by caging people in through slavery, it meant that the enslaved could not be one with God. As women began to reach parallels between their oppression and that of the enslaved, they understood this encasement as pertinent to their lives as well. The moral suasionists viewed these restrictions as contradictory to the American life; they believed that women were the perfect candidates to persuade people because they were of a moral position, but to do their duty they must be set free from the oppressor (Lecture 11/22). They continued using the traditional ways of fighting for abolitionism, through fundraising and petitioning, but they focused more on interacting with people. Moral suasionists were strong in “grass-root organizing and the …show more content…
While moral suasionists viewed change to come through conversations, political abolitionists saw the solution by working though the existing system. “Political abolitionists sought to institutionalize a Constitutional resolution to those contradictions,” such as denying the enslaved human rights (Hewitt, p.152). This form of reform called for a people to work through the political system to abolish slavery, they did not fight against the gendered or racial norms that existed (Lecture 11/17). The purpose was that through petitions, certain men would get elected to Congress and make the change for everyone else. The political abolitionists used the original forms of fighting against slavery to continue the movement. By using petitions “even when the House repeatedly passed gag rules that immediately tabled all antislavery petitions, through their continual petitioning, women kept alive the slavery question in public discourse” (Zaeske, p. 215). The support for abolitionists not only came through petitions, political abolitionists also focused on the importance of providing financial support for the cause. The women in the political abolitionist camp, “accepted the continued domination of politics by white males though they hoped that the religious and moral principles advocated by antislavery males would make politics more responsive to all” (Hewitt, p.152). To create the change, the
However, the writers of the Constitution had omitted women in that pivotal statement which left women to be denied these “unalienable” rights given to every countryman. Gaining the support of many, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the Women’s Rights Movement declared at Seneca Falls that women had the same rights as men including the right to vote and be a part of government. The Women’s Rights movement gained support due to the years of abuse women endured. For years, men had “the power to chastise and imprison his wife…” and they were tired of suffering (Doc I). The new concept of the cult of domesticity supported women’s roles in society but created greater divisions between men and women.
I have read Kathryn Kish Sklar book, brief History with documents of "Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement, 1830-1870" with great interest and I have learned a lot. I share her fascination with the contours of nineteenth century women's rights movements, and their search for meaningful lessons we can draw from the past about American political culture today. I find their categories of so compelling, that when reading them, I frequently lost focus about women's rights movements history and became absorbed in their accounts of civic life.
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.
Perhaps the most crucial reformists of the time period were those battling to obtain their God-given rights. Many lower class workers, such as African Americans, women, and immigrants, sought after the opportunity to vote, work it certain facilities, and be accepted in society as a whole. An engraving by Patrick Reason depicts an African American female in chains; with the inscription ‘Am I not a Woman and a Sister?’(Doc C) The woman shown is crying out, begging to be heard and listened to. Many males of the time period did not take female reformists seriously, or listen to them at all. On August 2nd, 1848, through the Seneca Falls Declaration, Elizabeth Cady Stanton prote...
The antebellum American antislavery movement began in the 1820s and was sustained over 4 decades by organizations, publications, and small acts of resistance that challenged the legally protected and powerful institution of slavery and the more insidious enemy of black equality, racism. Abolitionists were always a radical minority even in the free states of the North, and the movement was never comprised of a single group of people with unified motivations, goals, and methods. Rather, the movement was fraught with ambiguity over who its leaders would be, how they would go about fighting the institution of slavery, and what the future would be like for black Americans.
Black and white abolitionists shared common assumptions about the evil of slavery, the "virtue of moral reform", and the certainty of human progress"(1). Schor, Garnet,1877, & Lanngston, 1989). This shared understanding provided "the basic for the interracial solidarity" and cooperation so vital in the crusade against slavery"(2). (Schor and Garnet, 1877). But blacks also brought a distinct perspective to the antislavery movement. Their abolitionism was shaped profoundly by their personal experience and racial oppression. Unlike most white abolitionists, they conceived of antidlavery as an all-encompassion struggle for racial equality, and they took a more pragramatic, less doctrinaire approach to antislavery tactics. The contrast between the two abolitionists -- black and white -- become increasingly apparent in the 1840s and 1850s as black expressed a growing militancy, asserted greater independence, and called for racially exclusive organization and initiatives.
According to Ellen Carol Dubois, the campaigns to acquire women suffrage were not easy that they required voters to “be persuaded to welcome new and unpredictable constituencies into the political arena” (420). There was also severe resistance in the North about the immigrant vote and the exclusion of African American and poor whites in the South (420). Immigrants in the North and African American in the South were not fully qualified to vote for the women. Harriot Stanton Bl...
In her discussions, Lerner considers the development of women 's history, gender role change, and the importance of the suffrage narrative.
As white males continually gained suffrage in the United States’ “democratic” system, both African Americans and women were still denied the right to vote. The white males who could vote, were intensely against the two groups being able to have a say in the political processes. In the 1830s, many white males were now able to vote, either with or without property, while African Americans constantly lost this right as many states adopted laws that prevented the free black people from voting. Some states even went so far as to reinstate property laws that hadn’t been used in years. Women were seen as “inferior to the white race”, just as being African American was, so they, therefore, had an “incapacity to exercise political power”. This was seen as a natural position of women, just as they were supposed to be the home-makers, “cloistered in the private realm of the family”. In antithesis to this, women soon began to participate in reform movements, making themselves in the middle of the public eye. However, the ability to vote was soon seen as the right of the person who was the dominate figure, or head of the household, automatically striking out women from that position since they could only be a wife, daughter, or sister to that figure.
The nineteenth century encountered some of most revolutionary movements in the history of our nation, and of the world – the movements to abolish slavery and the movement for women’s rights. Many women participated alongside men in the movement to abolish slavery, and “their experience inspired feminist social reformers to seek equality with men” (Bentley, Ziegler, and Streets-Salter 2015, pg. 654). Their involvement in the abolition movement revealed that women suffered many of the same legal disadvantages as slaves, most noticeably their inability to access the right to vote. Up until this time, women had little success in mobilizing their efforts to gain the right to vote. However, the start of the women’s rights movement in the mid-1800s, involving leaders such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, paved the path for the expansion of women’s rights into the modern century.
...g with abolitionists countered the strong Southern economic and cultural forces driving slavery through education, free speech, and determination. This conflict did not overcome all the forces that existed, such as racism and ethnocentrism. For example, the mentality of white superiority was illustrated when the Supreme Court defined the doctrine of separate but equal in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. The pursuit of maximum equality and freedom for all Americans continues to be an ongoing struggle. Education and a revolutionary mindset are necessary in order to overcome the forces of racism, greed, and control that continue to exist and repress.
Suffragists fought very hard for nearly a century to get the Nineteenth Amendment passed. Most people are aware of the great efforts by such suffragists as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, originating in the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. However, what many people do not realize is the eugenic and racist ideas that the suffragists espoused. Why did the suffragists have these ideals, and where did they get them from? The sources discuss the suffragists’ motives in having these ideals, describe how these ideals advanced suffrage, and explain what larger implications this had in America both historically and politically.
As this movement was slowly developing, women continued to fight for anti-slavery reform. During this, opponents to women participation in the efforts came forth and voiced their own critical opinions. Around 1837, the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts had issued their "Pastoral Letter," a response to the political activity of the Grimke’s, two sisters who were heavily active and public in their fight for anti-slavery reform. In this letter, the ministers urged women to reject stepping out of the “public sphere” and to instead embrace the private, encouraging "the cultivation of private Christian character, and private efforts for the spiritual good of individuals" (General Association, 2006). In response to these views, Susan Grimke challenged the le...
The relationship between law and morality has been argued over by legal theorists for centuries. The debate is constantly be readdressed with new cases raising important moral and legal questions. This essay will explain the nature of law and morality and how they are linked.
Morality is the ability to distinguish what is right or wrong. It guides the individual on differentiating good and bad behaviors. Moral people make the proper decision in their actions. On the other side, immoral people tend to work against the set law. Morality indicates the relevant code of conduct about a certain aspect. It defines a particular religion or culture believes as good or bad. Religion is a group of people who follow a certain system of faith and worship. In addition, religious groups have common beliefs (Geyer and Roy 2). For example, Christians believe in living a faithful life to please their God. Religious leaders play a better to educate the members concerning what is bad or wrong. Therefore, there is a strong relationship