NCSCOS Goal 2 Page 17

Women in Society -cult of domesticity husband, children, home, church Women have/want no place or rights in public dealings -could not vote in most places -could not own property or keep wages if husband lived Prevailing customs demanded that women restrict their activities after marriage to the home and family. Housework and childcare were considered the only proper activities for married women. Women could neither vote nor sit on juries, and typically, when a woman married, her property and any money she earned became her husband. In many instances, married women lacked guardianship rights over their children.

GODEY'S LADY'S BOOK Philadelphia, January 1850 POINTS OF ETIQUETTE. Is it proper for the escort of a lady to request gentleman occupying good seats at a concert or lecture, to give them up to himself and charge, and retire to parts unknown in search of a standing place, if the room should be crowded? To this, we would answer that, if the gallantry of the gentlemen thus situated does not prompt them to proffer the seats in question, it is rudeness to request it. A lady is a lady, it is true; but if she could not come early enough to get a good seat, she cannot expect that spectators who did should inconvenience themselves for her sake.

Reformers -Abolitionists / Suffrage Women fighting to end slavery and for the right to vote Grimke sisters Lucretia Mott Elizabeth Stanton Mott and Stanton organize first- ever women ’ s rights convention Susan B. Anthony Sojourner Truth -Temperance move to ban alcohol Women back this strongly Father of Prohibition: Neal Dow

“There is no reform in which women can act better or more appropriately than temperance…Its effects fall so crushingly upon her…she has so often seen its slow, insidious, but not the less surely fatal advances, gaining upon its victim…Oh! the misery, the utter, hopeless misery of the drunkard’s wife!” ~Women’s America: Refocusing the Past

Women’s Movement

- women saw increased opportunities in reform movements Became conscious of their inferior position in society -Seneca Falls Convention, 1848 First women ’ s rights movement in U.S. History “ Declaration of Sentiments ” - ” We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal ” Protested the lack of legal and political rights for women Called for women ’ s suffrage “Resolved, That all laws which prevent women from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature, and therefore of no force or authority. Resolved, That woman is man’s equal—was intended to be so by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized as such.” ~Resolutions accepted at Seneca Falls

What does this cartoon say about the women’s movement in the mid-1800s? Why do you think it takes more than 70 years for women to gain the right to vote?

Reforms Women ’ s Education Catherine Beecher Urged women to teach Oberlin College Allowed women to attend Health Reform Elizabeth Blackwell First female to graduate from medical school Amelia Bloomer Wore trouser pants

Markets Expand -by the mid 1800’s people were no longer totally self-sufficient produce one product, buy all others -specialization Focus on one specific task -capitalism Free trade; people can make as much money as wish -standard of living rose for almost everyone “America is a country in which fortunes have yet to be made…All cannot be made wealthy, but all have a chance of securing a prize. This stimulates to the race, and hence the eagerness of the competition.”

Transportation Changes -Robert Fulton steam powered ships 1 st steamboat—allows travel upstream -many canals were built after Erie was completed Allowed more goods to circulate -growth of railroads Most built in North

Inventions Improve Life -Charles Goodyear vulcanized rubber -I.M. Singer sewing machines Makes cloth and clothing easier and more quickly -Samuel Morse telegraph Morse code Allows quick communication across a growing nation “This mode of instantaneous communication must inevitably become an instrument of immense power, to be wielded for good or for evil…Let the sole right of using the Telegraph belong, in the first place, to the Government, who should grant…the right to lay down a communication between any two points for the purpose of transmitting intelligence.” ~Samuel Morse

Agriculture -people began to move into the mid-western parts of the nation -lots of available farm lands -John Deere steel plows Cuts through heavy soil of NW prairie -Cyrus McCormick mechanical reaper Makes harvesting grain easier

Changing Workplace -decline of skilled labor Just need people to run machines, no skills -growth of urban areas Cities begin to grow in the North; dirty conditions -cost of goods decreased and supply increased People buying and ordering from department stores and mail-order catalog Tenements-crowded apartments in cities -

Factory System Begins Lowell textile mills -factory system -company town for young girls Town owned by factory owner -strict control over the workers lives -factory conditions would warn of future problems Most Lowell workers worked hours a day. These hours probably didn’t seem long to farm girls, but heat, darkness, and poor ventilation in the factories contributed to discomfort and illness. Overseers would nail windows shut to seal in the humidity they though prevented the threads from breaking, so that in the summer the weaving rooms felt like ovens. In the winter, pungent smoke from whale-oil lamps blended with the cotton dust to make breathing difficult. Mill conditions continued to deteriorate into the 1830s. Managers forced workers to increase their pace, and factory rules tightened.

Working Conditions -long hours -six days a week -poor ventilation and lighting Causes sickness and stunted growing -unsafe working conditions No workers ’ compensation No unemployment -development of labor unions and strikes (stop working)

Immigration -lots of immigration in the mid 1800 ’ s -mostly Irish or German -most immigrants in groups Language, culture different -low wages of immigrants caused problems with other workers Employers hire immigrants because they will work cheap -Growth of Nativism Favoring natives, discriminating against immigrants -Know-Nothing Party Nativist political party that harassed immigrants