Women's Rights: Before and After the American Revolution

Women’s right has been a problem throughout the nineteen century. Women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were women's most significant professions, in the 19th century; however, women won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Women were long considered naturally weaker than men. Prior to the American Revolution the women were viewed as weak and unable to perform hard work. Also, women place were the house, take care their children, clean the house, organized the house, cook, and take care animals. During the American Revolution many women faced a lot problems because they

From the social viewpoint the war changed the lives and rights of women all across the United States. Many of the husbands left to fight in the Revolutionary war leaving countless women in charge of farms and businesses, roles which they were not accustomed to. Although the war did little to change women’s rights, in some states it did become possible for women to divorce and in new jersey women even obtained the right to vote which was way out of the ordinary in that time. Before the war both men and women viewed the wife as an obedient and serving spouse that raised the children and took care of the house. But the revolution encouraged people of both genders to reconsider the contribution of women to the family and society.

Linda Kerber’s Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America was a refreshing historian analysis of the role of women in our nation’s history. In the early Revolution eras, the political role of women was nonexistent due to the traditional roles held by the patriarchal society the colonists lived in for most of their years. Kerber intertwined her book with an intelligent analysis, but also conveys this analysis in a clear way so that reader can comprehend further. Throughout the book, chapters divide each segment of women’s rights by explaining the slow, but progressive build of them. The exploration of womens rights in Women of the Republic is developed by each opportunity opened during the American Revolution.

The American Revolution was an important sequence of events over a period of time that has affected early American society up to today’s modern society. It all started with the Revolutionary War, which led to the Declaration of Independence from Britain, and in turn created a reason for America to write the Constitution and develop their own government. Ideas of equality became a major point of the Revolution, and although it wasn’t very quick to happen, ideas eventually spread throughout the colonies, giving the equality that poor to middle classes, African American slaves, and women deserved.

     The revolution also changes the status of women in the 15 years following the American Revolution. There was a push to allow for better women’s education. In 1789, Massachusetts passed a law insisting elementary schools be open to both girls and boys. Girls from rich families had the ability to receive a good education on subjects including math, history and geography. A large advocate of women’s education was Judith Sargent Murray, who argued men and women had equal intellectual abilities, but women’s lack of chances is what made them appear inferior. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, also called for legal reform in order to prevent male tyranny over women. Some even went further and called for the right of women to vote. This was still denied to women, however, and it would not be over 100 years later until they were granted this right. Despite some small advances for women’s rights, there was still a notion of inferiority to men.

Two important socio-economic issues the founding fathers discussed were the rights of women and slavery. Women’s roles increased greatly during the revolution. While me were away fighting or running the country, women were at home running and defending the farm. This can be seen in the woodcut (Document A) and in Abigail Adam’s letters to Thomas Jefferson (Document G). Women had, for a time, the right to vote in New Jersey. The revolution also increased the education of women and encouraged them to be more involved in public life. However, all women were not content to go back to their household chores after the revolution as seen by Molly Wallace who says “if [taught] to read, why not speak?” (Document J), illustrating how some women wanted to further their domestic roles and play a larger role in society.

The American Revolution was a war between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. The colonies, trying to gain their freedom, revolted against their mother country, which resulted in a war. The war lasted from 1765 to 1783 and as a result, the colonies gained independence from Great Britain and became the United States of America. While white, male Americans participated in the American Revolution, women, African Americans, and foreigners were also involved. While women, African Americans, and foreigners participated in the American Revolution, their contributions and motivations varied.

The social change was the biggest change that happened in America. After the Revolution, the place of women, slaves, and loyalists in society was greatly altered. In order to teach justice and liberty to their children, women were educated in the ideals of Republican Motherhood. In a woodcut of a patriot woman made in 1779, a woman is shown with a rifle and gunpowder horn (Doc A). Some women did play bigger roles in society by going with the fighting soldiers and sometimes even fighting with them in the revolution. However, not all women were satisfied to just go back to the earlier place in society they were at before the war as shown by Molly Wallace who said during her valedictory address in 1792, “if [taught] to read, why not to speak?” (Doc J). Many American women, like Wallace, sought after advancing their roles in society. But sadly, women suffrage didn’t happen for 140 years. For slaves in some regions, there was a lot of social change. In the years after the revolution, the slave owners in the North practiced manumission, and freed many slaves there. In the South, however, it would take many more years and a Civil War for the slaves to gain their freedom.

The American Revolution, which happened during the last half of the eighteenth century, reshaped many aspects of life in America. The desire of the Founding Fathers to make America a republic played a very significant part in changing the role of women after the Revolution. The role of women as wives became more important as an emphasis on virtue was established; women were encouraged to find virtuous husbands and utilize their seductive nature to keep men virtuous. The roles of women as mothers also became more important in the republic, as patriarchy loosened and mothers were depended on to educate their children in the republican way. And finally, the role of women in politics was theoretically reduced due to the increasing demands of

Historians once presumed that, since women during the American Revolution had limited or no political decisions, and demonstrated little concern in achieving the franchise, they were fundamentally apolitical members of the society. In the modern world, scholars acknowledge the fact that women played a leading role during the war and they were actively involved in debates, which accompanied the movement towards independence, and that the war expanded their territories in their political and legal roles. Furthermore, the male welcomed women’s support during the war that was a very instrumental move towards the expansion of the women’s roles in the society unlike in the past when women were restricted to household chores. As women filled important roles because of the shortage of men to fill these roles, like managing business and farms, the idea that females were lesser than males started to fade away (Bielich, 2008). The laws prior to and during the revolution did not acknowledge females as equal to men in

As the saying goes, “a woman’s work is never done,” but today’s women live a far different life than their predecessors. The women of the revolution were courageous and brave-hearted. The obstacles of their time were far more difficult to overcome than those faced by women in this day and age. Whether it was slavery, war, or racial prejudice, these women kept their heads held high and worked to break down these barriers and create change for the future. On top of having to deal with these hardships, the women of the revolution had families to take care of, mouths to feed, houses to clean, and wounds to heal. For many women of the revolution it was all about taking a stand for their rights and being

The role of women in the Early Republic is a topic mostly overlooked by historians when dealing with this era of American history. The triumphs of the Revolution and the early events of the new nation were done solely by men. However, women had their own political societies and even participated in the Revolution. Women's roles began to take a major turn after the war with Great Britain. This was due in part to their involvement in the war and female patriotism. Others believed it was due to the easier access to formal education for young women. Whatever the reason, it inspired women to challenge the social structure of the Early Republic. The roles of women were changing in the Early Republic. However, progress was slow and little change

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

At the beginning of the struggle in America, women’s citizenship was not given serious consideration. Women were invisible in the political sphere and were seen to have no capacity where politics were concerned. When the war occurred, the role of women vastly changed. They were leaders off the battlefield. Women began to question their role in the political arena. Could a woman have a political thought? Could women be patriots? Must a wife’s political loyalty be the same as her husband’s? Once the Revolution succeeded, these questions were pushed away. Women had played the role of “Republican Mother” and completed their duty in helping the war effort, they did not need a more significant political role. Although women realized they had the potential to have a political mind, Kerber uses the legal processes of confiscation, coverture, and divorce to explain how women’s political identities were still tied to the role of wife. The American Revolution was a fight for liberty and freedom, unless you were a woman. As long as those three processes remained intact women would not gain freedom.

Women were expected to cook, sew,clean, and take care of children. They had no or very few political rights and they were unable to vote or have any political views, and once a woman was married everything she owned was now her husband's; a woman was seen merely as a way of enhancing the social status of her husband. However, during the 1790s the climate began to change when a number of bold, outspoken women began to redefine the social reforms. During this time women began to have some representation in the government and a say in politics; they began to write articles in the newspaper and pamphlets as well. Not only that but women began to have equal educational opportunities to be able to educate themselves and then educate their children. For example, some of the women who began challenging the traditional roles were Sarah W. Morton of Boston. She published the poem The African Chief, which addresses the enslavement of an African. There is also Mary Wollstonecraft who published in England a pamphlet called A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in which she encouraged women to have representation in the government and the rights of humanity.