Women, African Americans And Literature

The Progressive era was a massive turning point in America’s history. The suffrage movement, Scopes Monkey Trial, and prohibition all had a large impact on America. Each event had a unique effect on the future and we still see the effects of these events today.

Households were strictly patriarchal in which the man of the house made all the important decisions. Women's jobs at the time were mostly relegated to domestic service and occasional work at harvest time. The jobs were always of low pay, low status, and required little training. In addition to this females were not legally permitted to inherit land or property. This was the bleak life of a woman, with little hope or power, and always the subordinate of men.

Women’s rights were not always a part of society as it may seem in today’s world. Suffrage can date all the way back to 1776. Women had to fight for their rights and privileges, hard and for many years. In the late 1800’s women were seen as much less than a male and had no voice. Women were arrested, prosecuted and put down for wanting more freedom and power for their gender. As you see in many suffrage ads, women were desperate and wanted so badly the same equality as men. A few women in particular stood up for what they believed was right and fought hard. Although it took far too long and over 100 years, in 1920 women were finally given the opportunity to share the same voting rights as men. History had been made.

Did you know that women in the United States did not have the right to vote until the year 1920? Exactly 144 years after the United States was granted freedom from Great Britain. The women’s suffrage movement, however, did not actually start until 1848, and lasted up until they were granted the right to vote in 1920. Women all over the country were fighting for their right to vote in hopes of bettering their lives. The women’s suffrage movement was a long fought process by many people all over the world, over all different races, religions, even gender. (Cooney 1)

“Beginning in the 1800s, women organized petitioned and pocketed to won three right to vote but it took them decades to accomplish their purpose”(archive.com). The organized movement started at Seneca Falls, NY with a meeting called by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. The most influential leaders during the movements were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Suffragists and Suffragettes were trying to prove to the public that women could be doing other things apart from looking after the children and taking care of the homes. The Seneca Falls convention was organized by a group of women who had been active in the antislavery movement. The Seneca Falls Declaration called for an increase in women’s rights in these areas, as well as in education for women and the jobs available to

Women’s suffrage in the United States began in the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth century until the nineteenth amendment was passed in 1920 to give women the right to vote. Women’s rights activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony protested the fifteenth amendment that was passed in 1869 because the amendment unfairly did not include women. While Anthony and Stanton protested this proposed amendment other activists such as Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe fought against the women’s suffrage movement by saying that if African-Americans got their right to vote women would gain theirs soon after. The conflict that arose from the two sides butting heads gave way to the formation of two organizations, the National Women’s Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. The National Women’s Suffrage Association fought for women’s right to vote at a federal level, they also fought for married women to have the same rights as their husbands in regards to property. The American Woman Suffrage Association took a slightly different approach by attempting to get women the right to vote through much simpler means of the state legislature. The women involved in these movements finally got their day in Washington on January 12, 1915 as a women’s suffrage bill was brought before the House of Representatives but

The Women 's Suffrage Movement impacted the United States by giving women the right to have a voice and to finally be able to vote. Achieving the right to vote was the culminating event of the Women 's Suffrage Movement. The Women 's Suffrage Movement was also known as Women 's Suffrage. The movement was the struggle for women to be able to vote and run for president. It was also closely linked to the women 's right movement. In the mid 19th century women in several different countries, mostly the United States and Britain began forming organizations to fight for suffrage.

A common woman would care for the children, housework, or any type of work opportunity that had similar qualities of housework (domestic service for middle-class families, shop keeping, etc.). A woman of higher class did not need to worry about work as her husband was the expected breadwinner for the family. Women required more education for their household roles and to be coached and trained, like a purebred dog, so that she may be a refined, fragile woman educated in the arts and well-mannered for guests. Her appearance represented her household, as she was to be seen as a trophy wife to validate the wealth of a

The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the 1920’s worked to grant women the right to vote nationally, thereby allowing women more political equality. Due to many industrial and social changes during the early 19th century, many women were involved in social advocacy efforts, which eventually led them to advocate for their own right to vote and take part in government agencies. Women have been an integral part of society, working to help those in need, which then fueled a desire to advocate for their own social and political equality. While many women worked tirelessly for the vote, many obstacles, factions, and ultimately time would pass in order for women to see the vote on the national level. The 19th Amendment, providing women the right to vote, enable women further their pursuit for full inclusion in the working of American society.

The timeline of women’s suffrage is a one that spans from 1848 to 1920. The women’s rights movement in the United States started in the year 1848 with the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. During this convention the ‘Declaration of sentiments’ was signed by 68 women who agreed that women deserved their own political identities. This document set forward the agenda for the women’s rights movement. In the year 1869, Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Women’s suffrage Association which demanded that the 15th amendment be changed to include women right to vote. In the year 1890, The National Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association merged to form National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Colorado was the first state to grant women the right to vote in the year 1893, followed by Utah, Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Kansas, Arizona, Alaska, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New York, Michigan, South Dakota and Oklahoma. The National Association of Colored Women was formed in the year 1896 to promote the civil rights of colored women. The National Women’s Trade Union League was established in the year 1903 in order to improve the working condition for women and also to bring their wages in par with that of men.

Tuesday, November 2, 1920, the day women voted for the first time. The New York Times called it, “The greatest voting day in the city’s history.” It was a wonderful day for women all across the country. All of their hard work had finally paid off. The Women’s Rights Movement changed the way women were seen. Before the passage of the 19th Amendment, women in many states were not given the right to vote. The Women’s Rights movement was caused by many factors, greatly impacted the society of the early 1900s and changed American society forever.

Women had little if no access to power and politics. Popular opinion was that “women should be political pacifiers” (Zagarri, page 130). The Suffrage Movement was the first female oriented- political movement which originated with “radical feminists” whose goal was to achieve extended rights for women. These rights included access to birth control, the right to divorce, and equal access to childcare, very little of which gained much attention. Women created opportunities for coming together to enact change.

In the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, women were not given the rights they have today and were being mistreated, but because of a few brave women who gave up their lives to fight for what they knew was right, this all changed. Many of these women were educated and brave, but were still denied their rights. Women have suffered through this long battle to get what they knew they deserved and took time out of their lives to fight for what they believed in, which was to have a voice. Women wanted to get the same respect that men were given. The women’s suffrage movement was not only in the United States, but it was all over the world. It took the women’s suffrage movement many years to work and come through, but women were finally able to vote and have the same rights as men. Through their work in the suffrage movement, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony and many more changed the role of women in society.

Women were expected to basically be merely an object, even a trophy for their husbands. They were expected to stay home and clean, as well as cook. With all these expected tasks, women hardly had any time to branch out and figure out what they wanted to do with their life. They had no time for leisure activities of any kind because, of course, their activities involved taking care of the house. Women were also seen as the weaker sex, always submissive to their dominant male counterpart. Although the women were submissive, they were held to a higher moral standard. Adultery was twice shamed upon if committed by a woman rather than a man. (Hughes par.3) A woman could be stoned to death, but people would turn their cheek for a man while the woman still was expected to stay beside the man.

Wheatley was the first African American to have her work published and is known as the mother of African American literature. Wheatley was brought into slavery and she was very fortunate to have masters that allowed her to learn to read and write. In the 18th century, it was very rare to find an African American who was educated and with Whitley being a female it was even more surprising. Her vernacular was very broad and she was not timid about letting her voice be heard. In fact, you can imagine the type of women she was by reading His Excellency General Washington. Whitley’s poems mostly consist of themes that revolved around Christianity, slavery and abstract ideas which were based on her personal beliefs, experiences, and ideas. The belief that the power of poetry is immeasurable was her inspiration while writing. After reading a few poems by Whitley I realized her work is still relevant and by break down each piece of work I can find inspiration. Throughout this paper I am going to analyze Wheatley works and also find was to see how her work relates to modern times.