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Women's Rights Dbq

Decent Essays

During the time of the Women’s Rights Movement, many other important things were going on in the United States as well. The beginning of this feminist era was known as the Gilded Age. This is the time in which America prospered with industry and technology. As a result, many individuals gained great wealth, and with that wealth came power. This includes company owners or even politicians such as the president at the time, William Howard Taft. Following Taft was Woodrow Wilson. Woodrow Wilson played a major role in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. He supported the movement after witnessing suffragists protest outside the White House. Also, Wilson’s support was influenced by his past job as a teacher at a women’s college, and he had two daughters …show more content…

In the twentieth century, there was much debate on women’s public sexual relationship versus her private sexual relationship. The American society only believed in pure sex, and premarital sex was viewed as a sin. From a feminist’s point of view, there should be no pressure on the woman to reproduce according to the husband’s wishes. The feminists at the time “... were assured that they were sexual beings, but their sexuality was defined by male standards” (341-342). Also, certain situations did not provide the atmosphere necessary to raise a baby. The authors state that “In the face of poverty, however, pregnancy became not simply a duty or a blessing, but also a curse leading some women to rebel” (199). This led to a heightened discussion on reproduction morality all across the country. As a result of this huge debate, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the establishment of the birth control pill. Because of the pill, a famous Warren court case known as Griswold v. Connecticut ruled in favor of Griswold permitting married couples the right to use birth control. Today, there are still remaining challenges concerning female sexuality. Abortion is a sensitive subject to most and is highly talked about not only socially, but it is even debated from a political …show more content…

Just like the history of women’s suffrage, African Americans struggled with voting rights as well. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is ultimately what freed the African Americans, but their freedom did not guarantee them civil rights and liberties. The American people, mostly Southern whites, were still racist. These biased people did not accept African Americans and the freedom they just gained from their slave owners. Because of the opposition of African American freedom, whites took extreme measures to prevent blacks from expressing their civil rights as American citizens. In order to vote, the African Americans had to pay poll taxes and even take literacy tests. The creator of these tests knew most blacks were uneducated, and that made it nearly impossible to pass. As a result, protests and revolts began. A very historically famous and well-known protest was led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Eight thousand campaigners joined the nonviolent five-day march from Selma, Alabama to the capital city, Montgomery, Alabama. At the capitol building is where they demanded voting rights, but the governor was not even there to listen. A bill was soon proposed to President Johnson, and in 1965, the

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