REVIEW: WOMEN


1565,1607 - 1763: SETTLEMENT AND COLONIAL AMERICA

Most married early and had many children. Married women were deprived
of most legal rights. Most women were limited to domestic roles but some
became active in farming, crafts, business, and education. Anne Hutchinson
became a religious leader.

1763 - 1783: REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

Women did not benefit from the ideals of the Revolution. Abigail
Adams challenged the lack of female equality. During the War some wives
followed troops into battle and were occasionally involved in combat.
(Molly Pitcher) Many wives assumed new occupations and responsibilities
while the men were off at war.

1781 - 1789: GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
1789 - 1824: THE NEW NATION

Between 1790 and 1860 some women began to seek jobs outside the home.
This was made possible because of the work available in the new mills,
particularly in the textile industry. For most women such work was an
interim activity prior to marriage.
The Second Great Awakening (1800-1840's) prompted many women to
become involved in the movement as well as in various benevolence
societies. Ann Lee founded the Shakers. Dorothea Dix fought for
reform in prisons and mental institutions.
Women on the frontier were often able to command high wages for
cooking, laundering, and sewing. Some ran boarding houses and hotels.

1825 - 1849: AGE OF JACKSON

Gender roles remained traditional with women maintaining the family
and household. The Cult of Domesticity, based on the concept of the refinement and purity of women, idealized women and restricted them. Large
families were common although the birth rate was declining. Divorce was
rare. Women received less education than men. Middle class women engaged
in charitable work. Many became involved in the Temperance Movement. Women did not have the right to vote and were denied nearly all legal rights.
Seneca Falls (NY) Convention (1848): Called by Lucretia Mott and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Issued a "Women's Declaration of Independence"
which included a list of grievances.
Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone became advocates of women's
rights. Margaret Fuller was a leading writer and critic in Boston.
Elizabeth Blackwell became a doctor in 1849 and established a clinic for
poor women and children. Sojourner Truth, a freed slave, was a leading
abolitionist and activist for women's rights. Sarah and Angelina Grimke went on speaking tours attacking slavery.


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1849 - 1877: SECTIONALISM, CIVIL WAR, RECONSTRUCTION

Women were an integral part of the war effort. Many worked in the fields and factories replacing men who were off fighting. Dorothea Dix
was Superintendent of Nurses. Clara Barton recruited women for hospital work. She would later found the American Red Cross.
After the Civil War many northern women went to the South as teachers for the Freedmen's Bureau.

1877 - 1901: BIG BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, LABOR, FARMERS, REFORM

The National and American Women's Suffrage Association was formed in 1890. The National Association of Colored Women was founded in 1895.

1901 - 1913: PROGRESSIVE ERA

Suffragettes continued to push for the right to vote. Women's Clubs were formed to discuss safety and welfare issues.

1913 - 1921: WILSON AND WORLD WAR I

Women filled vacancies in the labor force during the war but were expected to give up their jobs when the men returned. Women made clothing, rolled bandages, served at Red Cross facilities.
Carrie Chapman Catt became the head of NAWSA in 1915. She led the movement for a federal suffrage amendment. 19th.Amendment ratified 1920.

1921 - 1939: BOOM AND BUST AND A NEW DEAL

The flapper was the image of the New Woman but most middle class women remained at home as housewives and mothers.
The YWCA expanded. The League of Women Voters was founded. The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced into Congress in 1923. The short-lived Sheppard-Towner Act (1921) provided federal funds to states to establish prenatal and child health care programs. Margaret Sanger led
the national birth control movement.
During the Depression many believed that working women deprived men of jobs. Eleanor Roosevelt supported women's issues. Francis Perkins became the first woman Cabinet member when she was appointed Secretary of Labor in 1933. Some New Deal legislation discriminated against women.

1939 - 1945: WORLD WAR II

Six million women entered the work force during the war. Many took on jobs in heavy industry, hence "Rosy the Riveter." Pay equity with men still did not exist. Nevertheless, many women did not want to give up these jobs when the war was over.


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1945 - 1989+: COLD WAR AND AFTER

The 1950's Age of Consensus promoted woman's place in the home.

The "New Feminism" was born out of Betty Friedan's The Feminine
Mystique, new attention to gender discrimination in education and employment, and women's experiences in the civil rights movement, the antiwar movement, and the New Left.
The Equal Pay Act (1963) prohibited paying women less than men for equal work. The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in
1966 by Betty Friedan and other feminists. It advocated economic and legal equality for women.
The Equal Rights Amendment was approved in 1972 but was never ratified by the required 3/4 of the states in spite of a three-year extension. The Amendment died.
Roe v. Wade led the way in the legalization of abortion. It was based on the Constitutional right to privacy.
Two-career families became the norm in the 1970's. More women were seen in colleges, the professions, and the political arena. Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman on the Supreme Court. Geraldine Ferraro was a Democratic candidate for the vice-presidency in 1984. Sally Ride was the first American woman astronaut in space in 1983.