The Contribution of American Women to the Abolitionist Movement

First, let’s talk about what caused the women’s rights movement and how it not only paved the way for the abolitionist movement but, how powerful the campaigns were when combined. In the nineteenth century, the women’s main role was to be a house wife. Women were often stuck at home doing chores and taking care of the children. They were not allowed to vote, hold a title in public office, work, own property, or even get an education (Women 's Rights. (n.d.), 2016). The women of the nineteenth century wanted to change those rules so they fought for equality. There were many women who were brave enough to stand up for their rights and publicly speak about their thoughts and civil liberties towards equality between men and women. In

Women’s role began and eventually changed radically during the social reform movements of the antebellum period, they themselves took on a role completely the opposite of what their

The Second Great Awakening and opportunities for education greatly altered women’s role in the household. They were given more freedom and power as a mother. In addition, women were able to work in jobs normally dominated by men. They were not confined in the house but were able to make contributions in society to gain their own income. Women also became the leaders of reform during this time period. They headed movements against slavery, mistreatment of the mentally ill, and restriction of women’s rights. With all these changes, women’s lives slowly evolved. All these radical ideas soon became the norm for

In the early 1900 club women, who mainly affiliated with Republicans, focused on developing skills to be a good mother, run a home and take care of the children. Deborah White Grey explains, Mary Hill Terrell is one example of a club women in the early 1900, who “writes regularly about characteristics, virtues, and perils of womanhood.” (154). The idea of uplifting women to better the race was the fundamental principle may club women agreed upon. In the 1930, the women’s clubs supported an increase for racial solidarity, promoted by the New Negro Movement. Club women during this time focused on political and economic awareness and demanded an increase in citizenship rights on a national level. Bethune, a club women in the 1930’s, was an example of the change that had taken place. She and the Council, focused on “the entry of black women into the practical work of broker politics” (155) During this time there was a focus on professional upliftment and getting women into national and international citizenship roles.

With a specific end goal to do this, in any case, ladies contended that they themselves should have been educated. Ladies now started to push for more rights in which they could be more noticeable in the public eye. Dorthea Dix, an essential social reformer, committed herself to enhancing situations for ladies. The way that ladies had few rights conflicted with religious convictions of correspondence amongst all individuals. Eradication emerged in light of the fact that subjection did not, by any methods, concur with Christianity. Reformers needed to regulate to structures of the country that disregarded their conventional good and social qualities; and servitude was unquestionably an issue. Abolitionist reformers contended that slave proprietors were two-timers, on the grounds that in the event that they felt that a Christian could treat all people with affection and admiration, yet they trusted it was splendidly fine to regard blacks with pitilessness as slaves. Somewhere around 1820 and 1860, an assortment of societal changes had an increased backing in the United States. The change developments had both governmental and spiritual

Unfortunately many women antislavery advocates were denied a platform to speak on by male abolitionists which prompted them to start a campaign for women’s rights. Also, there was a “similarity” in the abuse a free and enslaved women received. Female abolitionists complained that gender roles caused the “domestic slavery of women” because women did not have any rights in marriage and no individuality which is what they compared to enslave women being assaulted on by their owners. The women used the same arguments regarding rights and equality in abolitionist movement into their own women 's’ rights movements.

In the mid to late 1700's, the women of the United States of America had practically no rights. When they were married, the men represented the family, and the woman could not do anything without consulting the men. Women were expected to be housewives, to raise their children, and thinking of a job in a factory was a dream that was never thought impossible. But, as years passed, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Elizabeth Blackwell began to question why they were at home all day raising the children, and why they did not have jobs like the men. This happened between the years of 1776 and 1876, when the lives and status of Northern middle-class woman was changed forever. Women began to

Many reformers, especially in the northern states, dedicated their lives to abolish slavery, and gain success to The Abolitionist Movement in the United States. The main goal of The Abolitionist Movement was to end racial discrimination and murder segregation. After radical abolitionism was fueled by the religious fervor of the Great Second Awakening, many people were advocating for emancipation on religious ground. Maria W. Stewart was the first abolitionist and women’s right activist to speak and give speeches in public to mixed crowds of men and women. “Stewart practiced self-help to become educated and work for the uplift of all women, especially in the black community, from lives of

Numerous groups throughout history have wrestled for equal rights and engaged in combat against oppressors. Both the American women’s suffrage movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s and the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s were examples of an oppressed group grappling with those above them for equality. Each group had to press for legislation that would protect them against inequality. Although the time periods of the women’s suffragette struggle and the African American Civil Rights endeavor were separate in history, the goals and methods of each were immensely similar.

Women had been involved in the antislavery movement from its beginning. Following the typical patterns of early-nineteenth century social life, they participated primarily as organizers and members of separate female antislavery societies, beginning in Philadelphia (1833), Boston (1833), and New York (1836), spreading to other cities like Providence, RI, and Portland, Maine, and quickly spreading through the countryside. By the late 1830s there were female societies in communities as small as Boylston, Massachusetts, with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. These local societies were in most ways like the many thousands of other women’s voluntary organizations that were emerging in Northern communities in the early nineteenth century. They met,

Stanton emerged as a leading figure, arguing vehemently for suffrage disconnected from the issue of the abolition of slavery. Her husband was a star speaker on the abolitionist circuit but lukewarm on women's rights, worried that it would distract from the more urgent issue of ending slavery. Anthony, a Quaker, was severe and strict, charming, and arrogant. Stanton's sometimes racist positions in defense of women's rights

1.The Second Great Awakening gave slaves a religion to believe in, African American churches pop up.

The origin of women’s liberation began in the 18th century with the World‘s Anti-Slavery Convention of 1840 where delegates Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were attending with ones husbands in London (McMillen, 2008). The credential committee ruled that women were unfit for public and business meetings (McMillen, 2008). The ladies were moved to a segregated area which

In the end, although the abolitionists and feminists did not always agree in their viewpoints, some writers from both sides found that they could sympathize with each other as well as share common logic. Feminist writers like Margaret Fuller sympathized with the slaves on the behalf of women; she showed how women, in many ways, were treated like slaves just in a different context. Both feminist and abolitionist writers likewise shared the common logic that how their parties were being treated was a sin as it went against God’s teachings, whether it be how man treated slaves or how he treated women. “If you believe slavery is sinful, set them at liberty, ‘undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free’” (Pg. 800). Famous writers from both

(Goldfield, 338) Since the cult of domesticity was making women inferior to men, women decided to do as the slaves did and fight for their own freedom. The women’s rights movement began in the mid-1800s. Female and male abolitionist found it necessary that women should be able to have the same rights as men. Just because biologically they are different, it does not mean they do not deserve the same rights. Women were denied the right to vote, property and a right to an education or job. (Goldfield, 338) At first the women’s movement was slow. Many women were afraid to speak out in fear of being shunned by their community. This was a brand new scary task that Women for the first time were going to deal with. A women speaking out against the norms of society was seen as a terrible thing to do. When you have many women speaking out for the same thing a change must be done. When the first national convention for women’s rights was called in Seneca Falls, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott were able to successfully use the Declaration of Independence as a model for their own Declaration of Sentiments. (Goldfield, 339) In their Declaration they branded that “male patriarchy as the source of women’s oppression” (Goldfield, 339) Stanton and Mott called for full women’s rights and to become independent citizens. Although the fight for women’s rights was always an important issue, most abolitionists deemed it less important