Women 's Education : Emma Willard And Elizabeth Blackwell

During Colonial Times, women were not permitted to get an education because they were only relegated to learning domestic skills. As time went by, women were slowly allowed to attend school but were once again limited to the subjects they were able to learn and they were only taught certain hours of the day. Over time, many cities did not have enough money to build two schools, so both boys and girls attended the same schools. As Myra and David Sadker wrote, “Entering by two separate doors, boys and girls went directly to their assigned single-sex area. Sometimes they went to different floors, or boys went to one side of the building and girls to the other. Frequently the girls were taught by women and the boys by men, so they continued to learn in their own sex-segregated worlds” (Sadker 343). Many critics thought that having both girls and boys attend school would have

In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected to restrict their area of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to have a real education or pursue a professional career. Also, women were considered unequal to their husbands and all males legally and socially. The day-to day lives of men and women were quite clearly divided during the late 1800s. Woman in the late 1800s were treated inhumane because of society, class, and their rights.

"Education should seek to bring its subject to the perfection of their moral, intellectual, and physical nature in order that they may be the means of the greatest possible happiness of which they are capable, both as to what they enjoy and what they communicate." - Emma Willard. Emma Willard was a leader in women’s education. She opened Troy Female Seminary, the first school for girls offering them an education equal. (Lutz, A. (1964). Emma Willard: pioneer educator of American women)

Lucy Stanton was born a free women and raised by John Brown, an abolitionist. She was the first African-American woman to graduate from a four-year collegiate course. A black woman going to school is extraordinary, because she challenged the ‘women are only housewives’ stereotype and rose like a phoenix from the ashes as an influence to future abolitionists and authors in the United States. Being a black woman in the 1850s, the odds were stacked against her. The majority of black students were denied admission to educational facilities, although white women were considered as non-intellectuals, black women were seen as less than that.

After decades of coping with the doubt and the regulation that women could not be educated, a number of women began to revolt. The women felt they too should be highly educated just the same as the men. They protested against the fact that men could go to college and this was not allowed for them and wanted the right to learn (Westward Expansion 1). Women wanted to be educated to better and to prove themselves solid. Schools for women began to up rise and gain some admiration in the 1820’s (The American Pageant 327). 1818 a lady by the name of Emma Willard, made a request to the legislature of New York, to fund a education for women. She got support from President Thomas Jefferson and The Common Council, in which she received four thousand dollars to fund in a school she later opened in the 1820’s, called, Troy Female Seminary (Westward Expansion 1). Soon after many schools began to come up, and Oberlin College, in Ohio, became the first college to accept men and women (Westward Expansion 1). In the turn of the nineteenth century, more and more thoughts and ideas of education for women became topic of interest. Political ideals scoped support for the better education for women, because leaders of policies of education and political issues seemed to feel that there need to be citizens with a creditable history of

In the 1800’s, society held women back from doing certain activities, having certain jobs and having the same rights as men. “While there were often not specific legal restrictions circumscribing the activities of women, the social restrictions were quite pervasive.” “Social norms, then, prevented women from many activities, even though there were no overt laws stating a women could not be a doctor, for example.” The women’s suffrage movement connects to the Enlightenment era because many of the philosophers talked about men creating

Women wanted to improve education in both university courses and at a school level. They wanted to open up career opportunities for girls that were once just meant for men, some examples of these were in sport and science. While this was happening other women were focussing on meeting women’s specific safety and health needs, this included greater access to contraception, abortion, and protection from domestic violence.

Articles written during a specific period gives the future population an idea of the issues present during that time. Before the United States became independent, woman education was limited to the skill needed to be a good wife and proper mother. Particularly, upper-class woman were the only ones that had the resources to gain an education. Most middle and lower class focus primarily on the education of their males. European education influence Colonial America’s educational system. Since there weren’t any establish convents schools in the colonies, tutors were primarily hired and later on schools were incorporated. During the first years of schooling, new England girls went to a coed school called “dame school”. In the dame school, girls were thought to knit and sew. Many girls got the chance to go to the town school. However, some town school in new England prohibited girls from attending. In the south, girls got the

Emily Howard Jennings was born in Norwich, Ontario on May 1st, 1831 to parents that were strong believers in the importance of receiving proper education: such strong believers, in fact, they actually home schooled their daughters. 1 At only 15, Stowe began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse in the neighboring town of Summerville, Ontario. However, she received only half of the salary that men did at the time. Six years later, she applied to Victoria College in Cobourg, Ontario but

Imagine being a women in the 1930s and being told what to do, what to wear, and how to act. Most women were employed by the 1930s, but they would either work for free or very low pay. Women would have the same job and do the same amount of work as the men in the workplace, but they would still only get paid half of what the men were paid. They would have to get a full education to be considered equal with the a man who has only been through elementary school. Many people saw women getting jobs as taking the paying jobs from the men. Women in the 1930s had limited rights, were told to be proper, and could not live their lives as they wanted to.

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

“The subject of the Education of Women of the higher classes is one which has undergone singular fluctuations in public opinions” (Cobbe 79). Women have overcome tremendous obstacles throughout their lifetime, why should higher education stand in their way? In Frances Power Cobbe’s essay “The Education of Women,” she describes how poor women, single women, and childless wives, deserve to share a part of the human happiness. Women are in grave need of further improvements in their given condition. Cobbe suggests that a way to progress these improvements manifests in higher education, and that this will help further steps in advance. Cobbe goes on to say that the happiest home, most grateful husband, and the most devoted children came from a woman, Mary Sommerville, who surpassed men in science, and is still studying the wonders of God’s creations. Cobbe has many examples within her paper that shows the progression of women as a good thing, and how women still fulfill their duties despite the fact that they are educated. The acceptance of women will be allowed at the University of New England because women should be able to embrace their abilities and further their education for the benefit of their household, their lives, and their country.

Education of women in America has changed immensely. Between colonial times and the present day, women have made great strides in education. In colonial times, education for most women was limited to reading the bible. Since then, women have earned equality in primary and secondary education as well as college. This process has been aided by the enacting laws and through decisions of the courts. This has led to the equal opportunity that women enjoy today.

Education was not equal between the sexes and neither between the classes. Gentlemen were educated at home until they were old enough to attend well-known or lesser schools. A lady’s schooling was

Gender roles were sharply defined in the 19th century. Women were expected to stay at home and carry out the domestic duties as well as taking care of the children and educate them and provide a peaceful home for their husband. Women were seen as loving and caring. On the other hand, men were expected to work and earn money for the family. They would fight wars and were seen as strong and powerful. Men had more freedom and rights, such as the right to vote, than women in the 19th century. Society had created two completely separate spheres. In the medical field, men were doctors. There were laws in many states, such as, that prohibited women from becoming doctors. Women, who decided to practice medicine in the 19th century had to struggle with much opposition because it went against prevailing ideas about women’s role in society. Women belonged in the private and domestic sphere. Men belonged to competitive and immoral public sphere of industry and commerce. The women in medicine would face accusations that they were abandoning their sphere and threatening society. Due to these arguments and the fear of economic competition from female practitioner, male medical schools and hospitals denied women access to institutions. However, Elizabeth Blackwell, changed this idea of separate spheres when she decided to take on the medical field and become a doctor. Although Elizabeth Black had a natural aversion to the medical field, her