1. Women’s movement

2. Please complete the True/False half sheet activity

3. Document examination:
Declaration of Independence (Written July 4, 1776):
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

4. Preamble to the Constitution (Written in 1787):
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

5. Women in the Workplace Women most often worked as teachers
Some women worked in mills/factories
Paid less than male workers

6. Men formed unions – excluded women
Why would they exclude women? They wanted to make more jobs available for men.

7. In the 1830s & 1840s, female workers start to organize
Lowell Female Labor Reform Organization (Massachusetts)
Led by Sarah G. Bagley
Petitioned for a 10 hour workday

8. Reforms and Reformers
In the early 1800s, the spirit of reform increased
Most talk of reform focused on the abolition of slavery, but then expanded into other issues

9. Women in Reform
Women were involved in many reform movements during the 1800s including:
Utopias
Temperance
Education
Prison

10. Women & Utopias
Utopia: community based on the idea of a perfect society
Wanted to extend ideas of liberty & equality to all Americans
Believed the nation should live up to what is stated in the Declaration of Independence & Constitution

11. Women & Temperance Temperance: drinking little or no alcohol
Alcohol abuse was common at the time, and blamed for poverty, the break-up of families, and crime
Women joined the movement with the goal of protecting families and children from mistreatment

12. Women & Education Reform
Early 1800s – many reformers pushed for public education: government-funded schools open to the public
Most females received limited education
Believed it was their role to run a home, which they felt did not require education
When girls did go to school, they often studied music or needlework (Math & Science were considered men’s subjects)
Mount Holyoke – nation’s first permanent women’s college
Oberlin College of Ohio began admitting women in 1833

13. Women & Prison Reform
Schoolteacher Dorothea Dix began visiting prisons in 1841
Found that prisoners were living in inhumane conditions – chained to walls in unheated cells
Found that many were not guilty of any crimes – they were mentally ill and were housed there with nowhere else to go
Made it her life’s work to educate the public about poor living conditions for both prisoners and mentally ill people

14. World Anti-Slavery Convention
Held in London in 1840
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott attended with their husbands
Ms. Stanton and Ms. Mott were not allowed to participate in the convention because they were women – they were seated separately from the men and not permitted to voice their opinions

15. Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention took place in July 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York
About 200 women and 40 men attended the convention
The convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott

16. Issued a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
Modeled on the Declaration of Independence
Called for an end to all laws that discriminated against women
Demanded that women be allowed to enter the all-male world of trades, professions, and businesses
Most controversial issue: Suffrage – right to vote

17. Please pack your backpack, only keeping out a pencil, a highlighter, & today’s activities. Hang your backpack on the back of your chair. Women, please move to the front of the room, and men, please move to the back of the room.

18. Document Examination
With your group, read through Document 1: “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions”
As you read through this document, complete the critical thinking questions

19. With your group, read through Document 2: “An Address by Elizabeth Cady Stanton”
As you read through this document, complete the critical thinking questions

20. Please complete the True/False half sheet activity

21. Now, let’s compare the two True/False activities:
What progress can we see?
What changes have occurred?