Women's Rights Of Women During The French Revolution

Women were generally not active in the political sphere, but there were some exceptions. A famous instance of this was Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams. She was intelligent and well read, and in her letters to her husband, she employs the rhetoric of the Revolution to address all the issues of power between men and women.

Many new ideas sprouted following the enlightenment period, but one of the dominant new ideals was women 's rights. Women do just as much if not more work than men, but are continued to be treated poorly. In order for a society to be in peace, everyone, including women should have the power to express their wants and needs. With women having equal rights it creates a better their society. Mary Wollstonecraft was a philosopher supporting the cause for women 's rights. During this time she made a huge impact on many women giving them hope

As men lost their jobs, women took up jobs as well to help support their families. Before, women stayed at home to that care of their house and children. This changed when they were force to leave the house and help financially stabilize their families. As well as working, women began to educate themselves. Many started to join a large movement that came with the revolution as well, the Feminist Movement. Equal right for women was very strange to most because they feared change so much. This is why it is an important element of the revolution because it was another change England wasn’t prepared for.

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

Prior to the revolution, women were expected to care for the children, serve their husbands and had domestic roles. During the time period of 1775 to 1800, women had a role in the revolution. Document A expresses the idea that not only all men, but all women were expected to take part in this revolution. The woman is shown as a patriot, which gives the idea that during that time, women were equal to men at the time of the revolution because it required help from both women and men. While the Americans decided to boycott all British goods, women had to provide the products that were previously given to them by Britain. While their husbands were at battle during the revolution, women had to take care of the farms and businesses, as well caring for the children. By nature, women were nurturing and caring for the family and taking care of homelife. How women viewed their responsibilities changed, especially in the late 1790s. Document J shows how women believed that they had rights and freedoms. They believed that if they had the ability to read and write and were permitted education, that they should also be granted the freedom of speech. During this time women wanted the opportunity to speak up and not be subjected to only caring for the family. This freedom granted women with greater roles which they did not have prior to the

The American Revolution, as many would assume, changed the lives of several groups of people both politically and socially. Depending on the group of people, the revolution either improved or diminished the quality of life for some. When looking at the quote, "The American Revolution was not truly revolutionary. Unlike later revolutions in France, Haiti, Russia, China, and Cuba, the American Revolution did not result in broad changes in American society,” I agree with this statement when examining women before, during and after the revolution. Though, women were the group of people who worked the most, they received the least. The American Revolution did not grant women the rights and liberties they fought hard to acquire, even with the subtle changes that only continued to oppress them. During the revolution, while men were away women were the ones who took over many of their responsibilities such as farm and shop work. They aided male soldiers with simple yet important necessities such as military weapons, food and health care.

Women’s Rights was and still is a major issue throughout the entire world, but more specifically, in the United States of America. Women have been treated unjustly for awhile. From being beaten by their husbands, to not being able to own property if they were married, women have been through it all. Many of these situations started to change because of a group of women that decided to stand up for what they believe in. A few activists that helped improve the rights of women are Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott.

During the time of the French Revolution, yet distinct from the political revolt against the Bourgeoise, the women of France took up a revolution of social nature against the established patriarchy. Olympe de Gouges, the author of a piece entitled "Declaration of the Rights of Women," applied the same claims to women as the National Assembly had claimed for themselves in "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen." Statements like "Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights.," and "The purpose of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of woman and man; these rights are liberty property, security, and especially resistance to oppression." 5 exposed the irony of the French political revolution by demonstrating that while the National Assembly had claimed equality for men, they had not also effected it for

Also, it often included spontaneous rioting and craziness which included many women in the popular insurrections. In 1791, the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” echoed many of the ideals of the Enlightenment. This progressive document helped further the rights for many and pushed forward the agenda of equal rights; however, many women, including de Gouges, saw this document as portraying the failure of the French Revolution. The next phase, the Republican Revolution, clamped down and cut many of the progressive laws and ideas that were characterized by the Liberal Revolution. Women were banned from the political sphere; many who spoke out against those in charge were executed for their opposition. Included in those who were executed were Olympe de Gouges in 1793. Therefore, the rest of the French Revolution is not necessary to understand her as a historical figure.

The political views of male Enlightenment figures consisted of campaigning for human rights and freedom for all, but when they said all, in most cases this invitation did not include women. During the Enlightenment, the period of reasoning and logic, new ideas supporting women’s rights were conceived. The persecution and objectification that women have faced throughout history is immeasurable. There was nothing close to equality between men and women in political, social, or economic fields. Men considered women’s only purpose their ability to bear children, heirs for the upper classes and laborers for the lower. Women’s fathers and husbands had dictated the limitations and rules of conduct for women, placing restraints as in which people they

Women’s march leads King Louis XVI return in Paris. On October 5th, 1789, women marched from Paris to Versailles to show Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette that Paris was starving. While in Versailles the women forced the royal family to sanction the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the August Decrees. The next day, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette became prisoners.

With all the talk of liberty and citizenry throughout the Enlightenment, people rarely spoke of the tolerance and progress which women deserved. In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, published in 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft did just that. The backdrop of this book was the French Revolution, and all the debate it had sparked in Britain. She wrote it partly in response to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, where he argued that citizens had no right to revolt against their government, as straying from social and political tradition would be simply anarchy. This was also a response to the writing of the new French Constitution, which excluded women from all aspects of public life and gave rights solely to men over 25. Finally,

Landes proposes that the collapse of the patriarchal Old Regime allowed for a more prevalent gendering of the public sphere. Offering a revision of Habermas’ thesis, Landes argues that the bourgeois public sphere is inherently masculinist, a characteristic that determines “both its self-representation and its subsequent ‘structural transformation’” (7). By focusing on the bourgeois public sphere between 1750 and 1850 in France, she attempts to provide a feminist perspective on the birth of the modern public sphere. She examines the social and political dynamics of the Old Regime, including women’s social power in 18th-century salons in addition to Rousseau’s dislike of public women. Landes also considers “the fate of women and feminism

Mary Wollstonecraft: Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) fought against the gender expectations in her society of her time and fought for equality of the sexes. One of her notorious works titled “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” she argues against philosopher Rousseau’s ideas on education stating that men and women should

Obviously, Rousseau’s thoughts on Western women, and their new home, were affected by the model of the passive secluded Muslim woman and her harem. (mohja) Rousseau's dream of domesticity depends on the harem slave, (mohja) as every domestic issue, he prescribed in his book, from the kitchen garden to breastfeeding (Emile, IV, 346) was meant to keep women in that “sanctum”(mohja).Like the harem, this middle class home, which presupposes privacy, is completely separated from the economic life–the peasant side –and the political life–the aristocratic