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Julia Ward Howe : Leader, Social Activist, And Her Success As A Woman In The Late 1800s

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Julia Ward Howe: Leader, Social Activist, and Her Success as a Woman in the Late 1800s The post Civil War-era was an extremely pivotal point in the way women in the United States were treated. African-American women were slaves, and most were treated as such by their fathers, brothers, and ultimately their husbands. No women had the right to vote, the right to an education, or the right to serve in the military; all of which are inherent rights women are born with present day. Women were expected to obey their husbands and reproduce as an ‘obligation’. Any inheritance the woman may have goes directly to their husband. Single women were shunned and ridiculed in society in the 1800s. Divorce was punishable by law if the wife wanted to flee (Historical Brief-Lives of Women in the early 1800s; Kelley Smith). Julia Ward Howe was, of course, a victim of this unfair treatment and she went to writing to spread her ideas about women's suffrage, feminism, and independence as a woman. Howe was born in New York City in 1819 as Julia Ward; her father was a successful banker, and her mother died when she was five years old. Her family was very strict Episcopalian Calvinist. She was the fourth out of seven children, and after her mother died, her father limited her social interactions to only inside the family and sent her off to live with her aunt (JuliasVoice.org). In her teens she had more freedom and was introduced to New York culture. She had an air about her that made her fit in

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