The Covered Wagon By Kenneth Holmes Essay

In the late nineteenth century women were beginning to find a place in the more public spheres of life. Larger numbers of women than ever were in paid employment; by 1874 twenty percent of females over fifteen were employed. Many

Toward the late 19th century, as more and more women began entering the workforce and emerging from the home, into the

The preconceived gender roles before 19th century England allowed the privilege of public space reserved for men, with women usually being in the home. The rising industrial age had led to many changes especially with the women being employed in factories in large cities where droves of young people had flooded in to find work. From this influx came the

As time progressed, the roles of men and women were more defined by what usefulness they had and what society found appropriate. Women were not allowed to obtain education, travel, or go out in public

Women’s roles have changed greatly throughout history. As the advancement of culture, laws, and ideas altered ways of life, women’s lives also evolved in numerous aspects of society. Women’s roles changed greatly between 1815 and 1860. During this time, family dynamics changed as the mothers that were placed at the center of the household were given greater freedoms. In addition, women had more opportunity to take on jobs in the workplace. Women also fought for reform movements that altered their ways of life in the community. During the reform era of the United States, factors such as religion, education, and reforms greatly changed women’s roles in the family, workplace, and society.

While social change has brought on more changes than what women are a custom too, at one point in history women actually felt a form of importance in fulfilling their roles not only in the home; but outside as well. “These demographic shifts account for many new or altered roles, such as increased number of duel-earner families, later and fewer marriages, fewer children, increased life expectancy, and the massive migration shifting employees across a nation and across the globe” (Lindsey, 2011, pg. 275).

Before 1840 women were viewed as something that needed to be taken care of. They could not own property, fathers would not mention their daughters in their wills, women could not be treasurer of their own companies, it was the husband’s responsibility. Only seven vocations were available to them outside of the home in the late 1840’s; widows would receive no share of her husband’s property or his families, and if one did not marry or remarry she had to enter one of the few employments for her or be a charity case for her relatives. When factory jobs became available to women they were quickly taken because it gave women a way to be independent and not a burden to their loved ones, but earn and spend their own money however the wished. For once

The Market Revolution and the Second Great Awakening promoted the ideas of social mobility and and individualism which greatly influenced the shaping of gender roles in America in the mid 1800’s. Work and the home were now separated which made womens new job taking care of the house and family, they could work elsewhere such as in factories, but were paid less than men and worked long, hard hours, women’s place in society was changing, women began to challenge the rules of fashion and fight for their rights.

“The Era of the Common Man” did not produce the change in mentality that the new national trading system produced because it only deals with the aftermath and the products of “the Market Revolution.” The role of women also plays a large part during the early nineteenth century that “the Era of the Common Man” completely ignores. Women were far from the Common Man since they did not have the right to vote nor sway a politician. However, Walter Licht brings forth in “Paths: The Unevenness of Early Industrial Development” how the role of women transformed from working in the house to working in factories.

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

Roles of women were changing as urbanization spread, wives were in charge of the house when husband was away known as cult of domesticity, ladies worked and some even went to college. The social reform

During the long nineteenth century, political revolutions, industrialization, and European imperialism resulted in dramatic changes in the role of women in Western Europe and Eastern Asia. As industrialization spread in Western Europe, women were no longer able to fulfill their dual role as a mother and a worker. After the introduction of industrialization, laborious tasks were moved from the household to factories and women were forced to choose either the life of a mother or the life of a worker. Women who chose to leave their households were subjected to harsh conditions, low wages, and long hours. The majority of married and middle-class women were confined to the home, and deprived of an education and civil rights. Unlike the

Woman in the 1830’s during the Early Industrial Revolution, were offered jobs in factories that proposed many new opportunities.  Compared to living on the farm where they would have been stuck in past, at the factories, the women were ushered into the future with currency (money) and more opportunities for women to speak up and make decisions for themselves.

The covered wagon were cars of the 1800. It was invented in 1749, the covered wagon invented and it changed the way people traveled. It was used it get the emigrants seeking for jobs, houses, gold, and homesteading to get from one place to another. It was a very strong wagon built with wood with an canvas covered, and iron rimmed wheels. It carried the people through tough weather for 6 to 7 months. It was truly the Rolls Royce of the 1800s.

In May of 1846, settlers George Donner and James Reed led an assembly of nearly 90 people on a journey from Springfield, Illinois to the newly discovered West. The West was full of new hope- a chance of starting anew and the possibility of buying untouched land were promising to those who yearned for more. The leaders, George Donner and James Reed, followed a book titled, The Emigrants’ Guide to Oregon and California written by Lansford Hastings, which ensured a shortcut to their promising, new destination. Unfortunately, it was Hastings’ book that ultimately led many in the group to their untimely demise as the party got stuck in the Sierra Nevada mountains during the harsh winter. The group ignored warnings from an old friend, James Clyman, and even refuted the whispers heard prior to their departure of the anguish to come if they followed Hasting’s new route. It was a pilgrimage that created and left a trail of misery, betrayal, and death. Presently, one can compare different versions of this harrowing American tale as technology has made different genres available within readers reach. The original story was told firsthand by Eliza Donner, in her book titled, The Expedition of The Donner Party and its Tragic Fate. Another valuable version utilizes modern technology in the video documentary, The Donner Party. Although there are significant differences between the two genres, both show the reader that even though different paths are taken to tell this woeful tale, their