African Women During The 1800s

Households were strictly patriarchal in which the man of the house made all the important decisions. Women's jobs at the time were mostly relegated to domestic service and occasional work at harvest time. The jobs were always of low pay, low status, and required little training. In addition to this females were not legally permitted to inherit land or property. This was the bleak life of a woman, with little hope or power, and always the subordinate of men.

In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected to restrict their area of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to have a real education or pursue a professional career. Also, women were considered unequal to their husbands and all males legally and socially. The day-to day lives of men and women were quite clearly divided during the late 1800s. Woman in the late 1800s were treated inhumane because of society, class, and their rights.

Women were unable to own land property. They were only allowed to own small personal possessions. Women were not allowed to voice their opinions about public issues. Men were the only ones who could participate in political events. Women were only permitted to participate in festivals, religious events, weddings, and funerals. Women were given free time in which they were permitted to go visit a female friend only for a short period of time. All females were also not permitted to watch the Olympic Games because the contestants did not wear cloths. Chariot Racing was the only event that women were allowed to compete in. However, this was very rare because they had to own a horse. The only way women were able to attain any sort of power is when they became the wife of a prominent man. Women were socially inferior to men.

Women were considered to be the “weaker vessels ,” not as strong physically or mentally as men and less emotionally stable. Legally they could neither vote, hold public office, nor participate in legal matters on their own behalf, and opportunities for them outside the home were frequently limited .

Women were controlled by their husbands and in marriage vows they had to promise to obey their husband. After marriage they were not allowed to own property, sign contracts and keep their own wages. Girls were controlled by their father and brothers who convinced them that their only purpose in life was to get married and reproduce. Women who decided to not marry were looked down upon and shamed by the community. Women were not allowed to divorce and if they ran away from their husband they would be punished by the law.

According to the article “Rights for woman”, in the 1800 women were treated as subsequent class citizens, and they did not have many rights at all. They were not able to vote and were not encouraged to get an education, or even get a job that they enjoyed (Rights for Women, Par. 1). Women were expected to clean, cook, and find a husband. According to Juliet Levy, Marriage is an agreement that over all comes with substantial financial upbringing. (Levy, 427) As previously stated woman were worth less than men during that time, so the men were basically able to treat them however they wanted. Men were able to send their wives to insane asylums if they did not follow the rules or live up to the expectations of women of that time. According to an article on woman

The acknowledgment of the rights of women have transformed the conversation about rape within America over the last fifty years. However well before feminism was able to have considerable affect on America’s judicial and political landscape, women had to risk their wellbeing for both the right to have premarital sex as well as obtain justice when their consent wasn’t given. In the seventeenth century, this risk was even greater when it included individuals of color. The Puritans, the founders of New Haven, determined that all sexual relations exceeding what God permitted were to be met with confession and a matched punishment for both involved parties. Then as the influence of England’s secular, legal system began to insert itself within the community, the equality that characterized prosecutions in the seventeenth century was replaced with elements of racial and gender disservice. Yet although the judicial system of colonial America would become increasingly prejudiced against white women in regards to their sexual activities, the complete removal of consent from interracial sex made sexual expression for people of color a dangerous act.

The life of African Americans in the 19th and 20th centuries has been a truly storied past. One of the most astonishing aspects of African American life, in this period, is the degree to which it was heterogeneous. The experiences of African Americans differed widely based on geographic location, class, gender, religion, and age. Despite a high degree of variability in the experiences of Blacks in America, if one were to consider the sociopolitical fact that Black people as a group in America were a subordinate caste in dominant society, then it becomes possible to make certain overarching connections. One such connection is the presence of secretive subversive ideologies and actions. The existence of these secretive subversive activities is apparent if one examines the labor tendencies, the folklore, and the outward societal projections of black people. By briefly examining the labor practices of Black women in Atlanta during the latter part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, The Uncle Remus tales, and cultural icon Louis Armstrong, one can deduce that secretive subversive actions and beliefs were an integrated aspect of Black existence during this period.

The history in the 1800s was really rough then now days because they had the Nez Perce war going on and at the same time, we had problems with woman not being able to vote, and the Immigrants were all looking for jobs. As I said earlier about women not being able to vote was a big step back for woman, not so much for men as they didn’t want women to vote. As the author said in the 1840s, emerging from the broader movement for women's rights”(w.i.t.p.n.). Woman were treated imperfect towards men all because they were a different gender, which is unacceptable back in the 1840s and would be now if it happened because we should all be treated the the same and have the same rights. As it says in the text “In order to earn revenue from their land

What if everything was still determined by your skin color or religion? We would still have diverse bathrooms, churches, and shopping centers. And what if someone wanted to change the way you lived the moment they met you? In the seventeenth century women were depicted by their skin color, household duties, religion, and the women’s way of living. If you were a African or Native American women you were known to be a “savage”, and if you were considered to be “white” than you had the power to be superior.

Once they were married they basically became one person that followed the will of the husband, the wife was essentially masked by her husband. Wives were primarily responsible for housework and childcare. Women were needed by the men because they were not considered "true" men unless they were married so the unmarried men were often excluded from ruling positions that would have otherwise been rightfully theirs. Women almost always stayed at the house and took care of the family instead of working because if women were to work they would earn about half to two-thirds less than men for the same work. Along with the unfair wage deduction for women, they were also excluded from several things like the military so sometimes a woman would dress up like a man to gain access to certain opportunities that they otherwise wouldn't be granted such as joining the military. Among the poor, both sexes were known to do whatever it took to survive regardless of their traditional role. While it was looked down upon it wasn't unheard of for a woman or male to take on the responsibilities of the opposite sex. If the situation called for it the wife would sell or trade on the streets or work for a manufacturing company to earn some

They believed in the covenant of words which said that God will only give eternal life to those who have performed good works for him (Gabriel). In order to achieve everlasting life, both men and women had to commit and submit to God in everything he taught (Saxton). However, since women already had to do the same for all male figures in their lives, this was easy; women were constantly obeying someone (Saxton). This made officials pass laws that forced citizens to live completely Biblically. Since women were not allowed to vote or attend church decision meetings, all lawmakers were male. Females were forced to stay home, while their fathers or husbands were allowed to impose strict government and social laws that enforced misogyny. Nevertheless, this isn’t the only bad gender rule the church, a place supposedly of love and acceptance, placed its fe-male supporters. The church also made all persons prove their worthiness of membership; everyone found not worthy were hanged (Gabriel). Once inside, you would find preachers teaching that each soul has two parts: one an immortal, strong, masculine self, with the other half being a weak, mortal, feminine half (“Puritan Life”). Women were seen as disposable while men were the repre-sentatives of God and were an example to women on how to lively Godly (Saxton). It was also known that women ultimately derived from Eve, the first woman,

Women were expected to basically be merely an object, even a trophy for their husbands. They were expected to stay home and clean, as well as cook. With all these expected tasks, women hardly had any time to branch out and figure out what they wanted to do with their life. They had no time for leisure activities of any kind because, of course, their activities involved taking care of the house. Women were also seen as the weaker sex, always submissive to their dominant male counterpart. Although the women were submissive, they were held to a higher moral standard. Adultery was twice shamed upon if committed by a woman rather than a man. (Hughes par.3) A woman could be stoned to death, but people would turn their cheek for a man while the woman still was expected to stay beside the man.

Most of the gender expectations stemmed from the Church and biblical history. There were many anti-feminist feelings due to Eve causing the fall of Man. Women were perceived to be responsible for most of the suffering to man, and

During this period in time, men had dominated with power and control over women. Women were seen as weak and powerless, therefore it was assumed and expected of women to obey the