The Incompatibilities Of Women . A Lot Of Things Have Changed

During the time period from the end of the American Revolution to the Civil War, American womanhood changed greatly. Due to differing beliefs during the time the American women’s ideals became to change. At the time, main beliefs were the “republican motherhood”, or the thought that women had power in the country’s politics in the sense that they raised the next generation, and the “cult of domesticity”, or the thought that women should be submissive, moral, and take care of their husbands and family. These beliefs greatly limited the power of the women in the 18th century. Due to these ideas, such as the “republican motherhood” and “cult of domesticity” during the time period from the American Revolution to the Civil War, women

Before the 19th century women had no rights, no status and no voice. They were the property and identity of their husbands, and in a way women were barely seen as human beings, they were merely there to serve and bare children. Much started to change at the start of the 19th century in social and economic areas. These transformations changed the game and provided an opportunity for women to seize and finally raise their voices. Women started to take action in small ways by making choices, not to marry young or not to have children immediately after marrying; they had bigger and better things in mind.

Up until and during the mid -1800’s, women were stereotyped and not given the same rights that men had. Women were not allowed to vote, speak publically, stand for office and had no influence in public affairs. They received poorer education than men did and there was not one church, except for the Quakers, that allowed women to have a say in church affairs. Women also did not have any legal rights and were not permitted to own property. Overall, people believed that a woman only belonged in the home and that the only rule she may ever obtain was over her children. However, during the pre- Civil war era, woman began to stand up for what they believed in and to change the way that people viewed society (Lerner, 1971). Two of the most

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.

In the early nineteenth century, women were expected to be, “‘angels in the house,’ loving, self-sacrificing, and chaste wives, mothers and daughters or they are… ultimately doomed” (King et al. 23). Women of this time were supposed to be domestic creatures and not tap so far into their intellectual abilities (King et al.). The role of women in the nineteenth century is described:

Throughout the early to mid nineteenth century, many women were seen trying to fight for many rights and opportunities that were not granted to them. Many of which pursued to organized movements, groups, conventions and other forms to utilize platforms to reach out and present the ideologies and changes that they believed needed to be changed. During this time, women were given the same legal status and rights as compared to a minor or a free black. The beliefs and ideology in this country during this time towards women were very similar to as of the colonial days. Which was very unfortunate due to the fact they we had already gone so far as a country to get to where they were at that time. But, during the 1840’s, women started to take a stand on the issues that they were having. These issues included that they were not allowed to vote, own property, not receiving the same pay as equal to men, and no voice in legal matters due to the fact that they would have to

Some women did not even have a choice in marriage and had their marriages arranged by the father. At this point we can establish that during the 19th century that many women lacked control of their own lives and were expected to conform to what they were told without question.

In the late 19th century, women struggled to break from the societal norms in which were expected of them. These societal guidelines dictated how a woman should behave, how a woman should think, and what a woman should desire in her own life. Created by the patriarchal atmosphere of the 19th century, society pressured young women to wed and bear children. Written inside a California newspaper in January 1884, an article titled “The Household” elucidates the role of a women, “While she does so much for the comfort of others, she nearly ruins her own health and life. It is because she cannot be easy and comfortable when there is the least disorder or dirt to be seen.”

This excerpt discusses the inequalities that women faced in the ninetieth and twentieth centuries. Some of the key issues focused on include the legal status, employment, and political rights of women in this era. This excerpt also explains how women living in this era were made to feel weaker than men in society. Also, some of the reform movements that women participated in to gain equal rights are briefly summarized. The original writing was published in the Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia in 1994 and 1995. While the contents of the excerpt are not current, it still provides valid and scholarly information. The excerpt was published by the Women’s International Center, a non-profit organization that strives to assist and educate troubled

A woman’s role in American society has been progressive, yet challenging over the decades, battling the change of America’s once male dominated society, to a nation where the gender role is equally balanced. Within the nation, it struggles with viewing women as equivalent in the workplace, family life, and economically. While we have improved since the colonial times and the 1900’s, we still have further progress to procreate towards to providing stability and equality of women’s financial, working, and family needs.

At the end of the 18th century and during the 19th century, there were many changes to public ideology that affected the way that women perceived their roles in society. Prior to these changes, women had adopted the beliefs of separate “spheres” separating work into public life and their duties as mothers at home1. Women stayed at home to take care of the children and provide a warm, welcoming home for their husbands to take refuge from public life. Women became aware of their lack of legal and political power after the American Revolutionary War ended as they were denied the right to the same freedoms that granted the right to vote to the white, property-owning male population2. Despite granting women more liberty to run businesses, farms,

Coming into the nineteenth century, women were looked at as feminist. “Feminism,” as we know the term today, was nonexistent in nineteenth-century America (Cruea 187). Feminist describes as someone embracing the beliefs that all people are entitled to freedom and liberty within reason. Gender, sexual orientations, skin color, ethnicity, religion, culture or lifestyle should not be considered as a form of discrimination. Women roles, in the nineteenth century, were to take care of the cooking, cleaning, caring for the children and making sure the husbands were comfortable after long days of work. As years pass, women begin to find work, attain a voter rights and even began owning properties, which begin to separate them from the men of

Married women in the 19th century (1800), were thought to be dependent of men, Some men even compared them to children. Young ladies learned to be a good housewife from their mother. The female in the house cleaned and took care of the younger children in the family. Parents of the young women wanted a wealthy man, no matter the age, to marry their daughter. They did not get to choose their

The United States, in the 19th century was a place that was only meant for men, specifically white men. To be a woman in the 19th century meant being someone’s property, someone’s responsibility and defiantly not able to make your own decisions. Nineteenth century feminists began to question the laws, and regulations that were placed by the government at that time. They began speaking up, quoting the bible, constitution and declaration of independence. “It was we the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the make citizens; but we the whole people, who formed this Union” (Anthony 41).

Between the late 1700’s and the early 1900’s many American women struggled to obtain the same rights as men. The society of women as a whole had pushed for equality constantly throughout the years. Women especially obtained more equality by publicizing their reasoning and demands for equality. This, is first and foremost proven by the way women had advocated greatly for improved academics for women. Women used another good tactical approach to achieve equality by speaking out strongly against inequalities between the genders.A third example of a great leap for equality, would be the religious movement, the upsurge in religious enthusiasm allowed women to demonstrate their piety and even to found new sects; and this in turn led to change in the way the world viewed women.