Research Paper On Olympe De Gouges

However, the revolution didn’t encourage both sexes to reevaluate the women’s right. It very little changed happen women still had the same basic rights like before. However, Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, became an early supporter of women's rights when she prompted her husband to "REMEMBER THE LADIES" when starting up a new government. Even though Adams passed a new law that protects some women from bad husband this new law did not protect the single women. Also, women need and wanted to have the same right as men. Women have the same capacity and the same intellectual as men, there is no difference. The only difference between women and men that men have access to education and have more power than women before the American Revolution, this changed after women started to realize that they could have the same rights as men. Furthermore, American women deserve to have the same right. If the republic were to succeed, women must be educated in quality so they could teach their children how

Linda Kerber’s Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America was a refreshing historian analysis of the role of women in our nation’s history. In the early Revolution eras, the political role of women was nonexistent due to the traditional roles held by the patriarchal society the colonists lived in for most of their years. Kerber intertwined her book with an intelligent analysis, but also conveys this analysis in a clear way so that reader can comprehend further. Throughout the book, chapters divide each segment of women’s rights by explaining the slow, but progressive build of them. The exploration of womens rights in Women of the Republic is developed by each opportunity opened during the American Revolution.

     The revolution also changes the status of women in the 15 years following the American Revolution. There was a push to allow for better women’s education. In 1789, Massachusetts passed a law insisting elementary schools be open to both girls and boys. Girls from rich families had the ability to receive a good education on subjects including math, history and geography. A large advocate of women’s education was Judith Sargent Murray, who argued men and women had equal intellectual abilities, but women’s lack of chances is what made them appear inferior. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, also called for legal reform in order to prevent male tyranny over women. Some even went further and called for the right of women to vote. This was still denied to women, however, and it would not be over 100 years later until they were granted this right. Despite some small advances for women’s rights, there was still a notion of inferiority to men.

The Enlightenment is known as the revolution that brought to question the traditional political and social structures. This included the question of the woman’s traditional roles in society. As the public sphere relied more and more ?? and the advances in scientific and educated thinking, women sought to join in with the ranks of their male counterparts. Women held gatherings known as salons where they organized intellectual conversations with their distinguished male guests. Seeking to further their status, enlightened women published pamphlets and other works advocating for educational rights and political recognition. Even with this evolution of woman in society, many still clung to the belief that the role of the woman was solely

Women generally did not fight in the revolution, and the traditional status of Eighteenth Century women meant that they were not publicly able to participate fully in the debates over the revolution. However, in their own sphere, and sometimes out of it, woman participated fully in the revolution in all the ways that their status and custom allowed.

Historians once presumed that, since women during the American Revolution had limited or no political decisions, and demonstrated little concern in achieving the franchise, they were fundamentally apolitical members of the society. In the modern world, scholars acknowledge the fact that women played a leading role during the war and they were actively involved in debates, which accompanied the movement towards independence, and that the war expanded their territories in their political and legal roles. Furthermore, the male welcomed women’s support during the war that was a very instrumental move towards the expansion of the women’s roles in the society unlike in the past when women were restricted to household chores. As women filled important roles because of the shortage of men to fill these roles, like managing business and farms, the idea that females were lesser than males started to fade away (Bielich, 2008). The laws prior to and during the revolution did not acknowledge females as equal to men in

As the saying goes, “a woman’s work is never done,” but today’s women live a far different life than their predecessors. The women of the revolution were courageous and brave-hearted. The obstacles of their time were far more difficult to overcome than those faced by women in this day and age. Whether it was slavery, war, or racial prejudice, these women kept their heads held high and worked to break down these barriers and create change for the future. On top of having to deal with these hardships, the women of the revolution had families to take care of, mouths to feed, houses to clean, and wounds to heal. For many women of the revolution it was all about taking a stand for their rights and being

Prior to the revolution, women were expected to care for the children, serve their husbands and had domestic roles. During the time period of 1775 to 1800, women had a role in the revolution. Document A expresses the idea that not only all men, but all women were expected to take part in this revolution. The woman is shown as a patriot, which gives the idea that during that time, women were equal to men at the time of the revolution because it required help from both women and men. While the Americans decided to boycott all British goods, women had to provide the products that were previously given to them by Britain. While their husbands were at battle during the revolution, women had to take care of the farms and businesses, as well caring for the children. By nature, women were nurturing and caring for the family and taking care of homelife. How women viewed their responsibilities changed, especially in the late 1790s. Document J shows how women believed that they had rights and freedoms. They believed that if they had the ability to read and write and were permitted education, that they should also be granted the freedom of speech. During this time women wanted the opportunity to speak up and not be subjected to only caring for the family. This freedom granted women with greater roles which they did not have prior to the

During the Revolutionary War, women were helping the men to organize the house and business while the men went involved in the war. This gave the women a chance to prove they can do more than just doing housekeeping and inspired them to reject staying obedient in their marriage. After the American Independence, people started assigning women a new role - Republican Motherhoods, which said women had an indispensable role to shape society’s future citizens. Although women were still denied to gain any political rights, their status changed by having a freer choice in their own marriage and more active in reform

Kreber notes that women played a number of key roles during the revolution including participating in various boycotts, enforcement of economic norms, nursing, or even the production of clothing for soldiers1. These positions were often needed but were not exulted because of the women filling these roles. This is what led Kreber to investigate the role of female patriotism in the revolution2. Kreber says that the revolution changed the minds of women in the Early Republic. She said that the Revolution argued for women's rights due to its claims of equality and freedom.3 Since women were actively allowed to participate in political and war-time activities, it created a spark for change in the woman's role. These activities gave women a new meaning to the word equality amongst their superior male counterparts. For the first time, women began to challenge the status quo of being confined to house life. Kreber describes the four major areas that women were effected by as a result of the revolution were womien education, derture, divorce, and reading4. These were the four biggest areas because women wanted to be like men. These were all areas men prided themselves in. Education was heavily constricted because of the belief of the woman's place in the home. Kreber says “even a contemporary women's magazine warned, learning in men was the road to preferment...consequently very opposite were the results of the same in women5.” Kreber saw the limitations on education as the

Although both the Revolution and the formation of the Constitution did little to change any of the legal rights for women, it did make some advances. In some states it became easier for women to get divorced, and in New Jersey women even earned the right to vote (the right to vote was repealed in 1807). The Revolutionary experience also encouraged

The women 's suffrage movement, the time when women fought for their rights, began in the year 1848 and continued on all the way through the 1860s. Although women in the new republic had important roles in the family, the house, and other obligations, they were excluded from most rights. These rights included political and legal rights. Due to their gender, they have been held back because they did not have as much opportunities as the men did. The new republic made alterations in the roles of women by disparaging them in society. During this era, men received a higher status than women. Because women were forced to follow laws without being allowed to state their opinions, they tried to resist laws, fight for their freedom and strive to gain equality with men. This leads to feminism, the belief in political, social, and economic equality between men and women. It is the feminist efforts that have successfully tried to give rights that men had, to women who have been denied those rights. Upon the deprivation of those rights, the Seneca Falls convention and the Declaration of Sentiments helped women gain the privileges and opportunities to accomplish the task of equality that they have been striving for.

Nevertheless, it is important to possess a better understanding of Olympe de Gouges to comprehend the “Declaration of the Rights of Woman.” She was born into a lower middle-class family under the name Marie Gouze in 1748 in southwest France. As a child, she was under the impression that she was the illegitimate child to her father. This belief would later influence her and fuel her into being an advocate for illegitimate children. In 1765, de Gouges married a caterer from Paris named Louis Aubry. She claimed

Another group of activists whom Historians have examined are the militant women of the Revolution. In their article “Women and Militant Citizenship in Paris,” Darline Gay Levy and Harriet B. Applewhite examine the participation of women in political life during the Revolution, arguing that this participation laid the foundation for women’s claims to active citizenship. They focus their argument on three specific instances of women’s practice of militant citizenship in revolutionary Paris: “the women’s march to Versailles in October 1789; women’s participation in armed processions and their demands for the right to bear arms during the spring and summer of 1792; and the organized insurgency of women in the Society of Revolutionary Republican

The French Revolution brought with it many sweeping changes in the realm of human rights both to France and eventually the rest of the world. Through Enlightenment ideas, groups previously viewed as second-class citizens, and even those viewed as hardly human, gained greatly enhanced rights and even citizenship with all that this entailed. Amazingly with all the rights and privileges that were being recognized as inherent to various social groups, half the population was left with little or no improvement in their station. This, of course, refers to women. While there were those who fought for women's rights, such as Condorcet, Etta Palm D'Aelders, and Olympe De Gouges; these