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Cultura 3 Final

The 19th century brought major changes to women's roles and status in the US. Traditionally, women were confined to the domestic sphere and expected to be submissive and devoted to their husbands and families. They had very limited education and no political or property rights. The temperance and women's rights movements advocated for improved conditions and legal rights for women. Significant events like the Civil War and Industrial Revolution opened new employment opportunities for women and increased their involvement in the public sphere. The first women's rights convention was held in 1848, demanding equal treatment and the right to vote. By the late 19th century, women were beginning to pursue new roles outside the home in education, politics, and the workforce, laying the groundwork for

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44 views2 pages

Cultura 3 Final

The 19th century brought major changes to women's roles and status in the US. Traditionally, women were confined to the domestic sphere and expected to be submissive and devoted to their husbands and families. They had very limited education and no political or property rights. The temperance and women's rights movements advocated for improved conditions and legal rights for women. Significant events like the Civil War and Industrial Revolution opened new employment opportunities for women and increased their involvement in the public sphere. The first women's rights convention was held in 1848, demanding equal treatment and the right to vote. By the late 19th century, women were beginning to pursue new roles outside the home in education, politics, and the workforce, laying the groundwork for

Uploaded by

Analia Garcia
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The 19th century was a time of great transformation for women in the United States.

The roles
and status of women changed over the course of that century particularly after 1850 when
industrialization took place. Women's roles in the 19th century were related to the Cult of
Domesticity, in which a woman's virtue was tied to devotion, submissiveness, and domesticity.
During this time, women and men existed in separate spheres. Men occupied the public
sphere, which included politics, industry, and commerce. Women, on the other hand, occupied
the private, or domestic, sphere. What was expected of them was: child-bearing, cleaning,
cooking, sewing, and general care of the house. Women did not participate in politics, they
were not allowed to vote and they did not experience the same educational opportunities as
men. This sexual division created a situation in which the best jobs were simply not accessible
to women. Moreover, in the decent jobs available to both men and women, women were paid
significantly lower wages.
When they married, they were considered under cover, in which man and wife became one
person, legally. Thus, all women's rights were essentially taken away from them by their
husbands. They were required to be obedient to their husbands, and thus, almost completely
dependent on men. They were expected to look weak or helpless. And look like “fragile
delicate flowers, unable to make decisions”.
Across the country different groups began pushing for temperance by arguing that alcohol was
morally corrupting and hurting families economically. The temperance movement was driven
by lower and middle class women and they claimed alcohol led to poverty and domestic
violence. This concern was especially relevant at a time when women had no legal rights to
divorce their husbands, even if domestic violence occurred.
Women's rights activists across the nation began to speak up. The push for equality was
reinforced during the Civil War.With the men abroad, women took their place working in the
factories and as nurses for the wounded who returned home. It was the first time women
were able to join the workforce and try their hand at manual labor. After the war came the
Industrial Revolution, which increased production drastically, and the need for workers even
more so than before. Because of that, women of the late 1800’s utilized it to increase their
involvement in politics and enforce their right to vote. With these developments came a
drastic shift from rural to city life and the decrease of women dealing only with domestic
affairs.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first convention for women’s rights in Seneca Falls, New
York, in 1848. Under the leadership of Stanton, Mott and Susan B. Anthony, the convention
demanded improved laws regarding child custody, divorce and property rights. They argued
that women deserved equal wages and career opportunities in law, medicine, education and
the ministry. Their biggest demand was the right to vote.
The end of the 19th century marked a time of change and reform for women. Turning away
from the cultivated role of wife, mother, and submissive and toward that of worker and
respected equal left many questioning the roles that society had previously cast for them. New
opportunities in education, politics, and employment caused many to vastly advance in the
United States and to define new roles for women in the decades that followed. It wasn't until
the mid 20th century that the suffrage movement was finally recognized with the passage of
the nineteenth amendment to the U.S Constitution.

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