Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the “New Woman”, Ch 6, History 37 Summer 2014

Questions to Consider: What happens to the suffrage movement after slavery is abolished? Does the 14 th Amendment guarantee voting rights to US citizens? How do both the Reconstruction period ( ) and the Gilded Age ( ) impact women? What does the “New Woman” look like? What does she do? Is she a symbol of modernity and progress or one of continued female subjugation?

Andrew Johnson, Believed blacks to be “inferior to the white man in point of intellect – better calculated in physical structure to undergo drudgery and hardship.” Used Lincoln’s plan as a model but made some modifications, such as allowing states back into the Union if they renounced secession and swore allegiance.

Examples of Southern Black Codes, Several states made it illegal for blacks to own guns South Carolina required blacks to pay annual taxes to work in any occupation other than farm work or domestic service Mississippi declared that blacks who did not possess written evidence of employment could be subject to arrest and/or forced apprenticeships on plantations. All states banned blacks from jury duty Not a single southern state granted any black the right to vote

The Thirteenth Amendment, 1865 Abolishes slavery in the United States. Closes the loopholes left open by the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) by making the practice of slavery illegal rather than simply “freeing” slaves.

The Fourteenth Amendment, r.1868 Guarantees U.S. citizens equal protection under the law; extends US and state citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof”. –What does this mean for American women?

The Fifteenth Amendment, r.1870 Prohibits any state from denying “male inhabitant…twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United States” from voting based on “race, color, or previous condition” –First time gender is specifically mentioned in the US Constitution Suffragists petitioned to have Congress alter wording to include voting for women; are shut down by Republicans Support for 15 th Amendment splits suffrage movement in two (reconcile in 1890) –A white woman’s movement?

The New Departure NWSA advocates “New Departure” argument, that voting is a right of citizenship. Many suffragists use this logic to register and attempt to vote Minor v. Happersett, 1875: Suffragist Virginia Minor (pictured) attempts to register to vote in Missouri in 1872 and is denied. Supreme Court upheld Missouri’s ruling, that Minor is indeed a citizen but not a lawful voter due to her gender.

The New South, Black women vs. white women For NFS, freedom = economic autonomy Resistance: KKK established in Tennessee in 1867; uses fear and intimidation to “preserve the white race” and while female purity in particular Where the black codes fail, Jim Crow succeeds: The Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessey v Ferguson (1896) legitimizes Jim Crow until the 1960s.

The Gilded Age, The Gilded Age is often remembered in American history for political corruption, big business and monopolies, and the growing disparity between those who live a comfortable life and those who scrape by. “Liberty to Contract” ideology Scientific management and efficiency = PROFIT For American women, life in the Gilded Age varied by race and class – working class and immigrant wage workers vs. upper middle-class (white) women

The New Woman, 1880s- 1910s Feminist ideal of middle- class womanhood – more educated and autonomous than earlier generations, the “new woman” might work in a pink collar profession, be active in the suffrage and/or temperance movement, and participate in artistic endeavors. Beautiful and alluring yet active and educated The “Gibson Girl” (pictured) was the more accessible visual representation of the New Woman