8.3 Women and Reform

In what ways would gender equality change society? 8.3 Women and Reform

 Objectives

 Women's’ Roles Mid-1800s  In the early 1800s, women faced limited options outside traditional roles. Although women generally had a better life than in Europe, they were expected to quietly stay at home.  1 in 5 worked outside house  Could not vote, sit on juries  Once married, property became the husband’s  Earned half pay as men for the same job  Cult of Domesticity –  The idea was that women were emotionally and spiritually weaker than men. Men were seen as barbaric and uncivilized. It was also viewed as the duty of the women to civilize the men.  The irony was that women were spiritually weak as well (why Satan came to Eve first) but supposedly somehow both pure and pious.

 What does this image convey about 19 th century gender roles?

  Alcohol flowed freely, providing both positive business, and negative drunken behavior. Limiting the consumption of alcohol becomes an early staging ground for the women’s rights movement.  Reformers wanted to ban alcohol and end drunkenness. The thought was that the men would waste their week's wages in the bars, missed work, beat women, destroyed families, and spoiled the Christian family.  Temperance Movement –  The American Temperance Society was founded in Boston, Local chapters began to emerge. Temperance doesn’t succeed in banning sale of alcohol, but does slow distribution and consumption greatly  Women’s organization and success around this issue inspires them to reach even further, pushing for reform in voting, work place conditions, property rights and access to education. Temperance Movement

  Women were often the motivators behind these reform movements. They were inspired by the 2nd Great Awakening and felt it their duty as rulers of the home/family to rid society of these vices.  These ladies were sometimes criticized as being naïve, but they were certainly motivated and believed in what they were doing.  2 nd Great Awakening allows men/women to receive same sermons  Elizabeth Cady Stanton –  Lucretia Mott –  Women who were prevented from helping out with the abolitionist movement became the pioneers of the women’s rights movement  Even the many abolitionists tended to disapprove of women seeking equal rights Reformers Emerge

 “The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation, because in the degradation of women, the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.” Lucretia Mott

  Most girls did not receive any education. Reform was necessary if women wanted to expand their job opportunities and demand political rights  Sarah & Angelina Grimke –  Mount Holyoke College becomes the first all female University in US, founded by Mary Lyon. It became the first of 7 “sister schools” in New England that embrace gender equality in the classroom.  Oberlin College in Ohio, first US co-ed College  Elizabeth Blackwell-  Infirmary undertook studies about improving women’s health Advancing Education

 “Women ought to feel a peculiar sympathy in the colored man's wrong, for, like him, she has been accused of mental inferiority, and denied the privileges of a liberal education.” Angelina Grimke

  Angela Bloomer pioneered women’s trousers, called Bloomers to alleviate the stress corsets put on women.  African American females faced severely limited opportunities, and would not begin to overcome them until after the Civil War  Sojourner Truth –  Women did not have the right claim to property or child custody in a divorce, forcing many women to stay in bad marriages.  Married Women's Property Act – Other Areas of Reform

Seneca Falls Convention  Seneca Falls Convention –  The meeting had six sessions, included a lecture on law and multiple discussions about the role of women in society. Stanton prepared the Declaration of Sentiments and an accompanying list of resolutions, to be debated and modified before being put forward for signatures.  A heated debate sprang up regarding women's right to vote, with many urging the removal of this concept due to its highly controversial nature. Frederick Douglass argued eloquently for its inclusion, and the suffrage resolution was retained. Exactly 100 of approximately 300 attendees signed the document, mostly women.  Declaration of Sentiments –  Women faced resistance in face of Convention. Preachers wouldn’t support cause, abolitionists were focused on their own problems  Some points don’t advance, such as equal pay and equal divorce rights

 “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Women Address Inequality Political Reform Economic Opportunity Social Reform