Women - Domesticity to CEOSydney Halberstadt, Rebecca McCune and

Anastasia Janney

1600's & 1700'sViews about & attitudes toward

women:-Traditional views brought from Old

World -Women were weaker physically,

mentally and spiritually; less emotionally stable.

-Expected to defer to their husbands-Could not vote or hold public office. -(Though usually could vote in place

of her husband on behalf of the family if he was ill.)

Role of Women in Colonial America

-Women expected to do work related to the home and care of the family.

-This includes: Sewing, making and caring for clothes, cooking, caring for domestic animals, tending to kitchen gardens and making things such as soaps and candles.

Roles- Distinct separation of labor

Especially in the North (Puritan New England) women's most important role was to raise "good Christian children" to be responsible members of the community.

-Women did often take over for a husband in his business if he was ill or injured.

-However, once the man was well enough to work the wife was expected to go back to her domestic role.

-Some women did work as merchants, printers and even doctors in communities where there was a need for these businesses, but a shortage of men to do it.

Women played a vital role in this war.

-Many were nurses and did things like making uniforms for the soldiers.

-"Molly Pitcher"-Good spies for the colonies.-Some tried to join the soldiers

by dressing as men, like Deborah Samson.

-After the war was over they returned to their previous roles.

Revolutionary War

-Value system in middle & upper classes in 19th century.

-It held that women's proper role was wife and mother within the sphere of the home.

-Virtues for women to cultivate were: piety, purity, submissiveness, domesticity.

-It was promoted through literature of the time and through legislation which limited women's labor out of the home.

Cult of Domesticity aka Cult of True Womanhood

-A term for an attitude toward women's roles around the time of the American Rev.

-A woman's duty was to teach republican values to her children.

-Encourage sons to take gov. roles, teach importance of sacrifice for greater good, support education of daughters so they could better pass on republican values to their sons.

Republican Womanhood

-In 1820's, young women (age 17-25) were recruited, mostly from New England farms, to work in the textile mills in Lowell, Mass.

-Over 8000 women were drawn to mills with promises of decent wages (only paid about half in reality!) edu. opportunities, cultural experiences such as lectures from Harvard, music lessons and comfortable living conditions.

Lowell Mill Girls

In reality...-Worked 12-14 hours six days a week.-Though the classes and other

educational things were offered, over time fewer were available. Also, the girls found to be too exhausted from work to go.

-Strict living rules, no boys allowed and crowded living conditions.

-In the Depression the wages were cut leading to a unsuccessful strike.

-In 1845, they started the Female Labor Reform Association to fight for shorter hours and better conditions.

-It took until 1853 to legislate the 11 hour workday.

Many Mills closed during the Civil War-Irish immigrants replaced many of the

native workforce. These factors ended the Lowell Mill Girls chapter in history.

At this point in society, women's roles were purely domestic and to take care of the family. Although women were not equal to men in Colonial America (1600's-1700's), they had many more rights, freedoms and opportunities than women anywhere else in the world, including Europe from which they, or their ancestors, came.

From Washington's Era until 1840, women were treated unfairly. Their husbands could beat them, they had no property rights, and they had absolutely no voice in the government. Their job in society was to raise children, take care of the home, and support their husbands'.

The Women's Rights Movement began in 1848 at Seneca Falls. At this meeting 100 women signed a Declaration of Sentiments. This document set an agenda for the Women's Rights Movement. It also called for equal treatment of women and men, and voting rights for women.

Washington to WWI

In 1850, there was another Women's Rights meeting in Worcester, Massachusetts with over 1,000 people.

The National Woman's Suffrage Association was formed in May of 1869. Their goal was much easier said than done. They wanted voting rights for women by the means of adding an amendment to the Constitution. The organization was headed by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Washington to WWI

In November of that year, other women such as Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell formed the American Woman's Suffrage Association which tried to add amendments to the Constitutions of individual states about women's voting rights.

On December 10th of 1869, Wyoming passed the first women's suffrage law, and women began serving on juries the next year.

Washington to WWI

In 1890 the National Woman's Suffrage Association and the American Woman's Suffrage Association joined forces as the National American Woman Suffrage Association to start taking on the idea of women's suffrage as a state by state process. Here are some of the first states that ratified women's suffrage:

1893- Colorado1896- Utah and Idaho1910- Washington1911- California1912- Oregon, Kansas and Arizona1913- Alaska and Illinois1914- Montana and Nevada1917- New York1918- Michigan, South Dakota and Oklahoma

Washington to WWI

The National Women's Trade Union League was founded in 1903 to advocate for equal pay, working conditions, and opportunity for women in the workplace.

In conclusion, the push for women's rights was growing. Women started to gain respect from others as men and women began to see how unfairly women were treated. As much as we take the concept of women's freedoms for granted, the idea was originally absurd.The movement began small but mighty and grew to be one of the most successful movements in America.

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Washington to WWI

Women During WWI

World War I finally allowed women to get out of the home and join the workforce.

They could take up nursing jobs on the front or at home, or they could work in

munitions factories and other jobs typically occupied by men.

They made sure the country was still able to function during the war.

However, men often opposed to their aid in the workforce because it might lead to

the unemployment of returning servicemen. They also feared that women

would become too independent.

Not only did women make progress in the workforce during World War I, but they also continued to fight for equal

voting rights.

The efforts these women made during World War I pushed the federal

government to its limit, and the 19th Amendment giving women the right to

vote was finally passed in 1920.

The older conservative movement led by Emmeline

Pankhurst encouraged women to stop their suffragist activities, and start doing all

that they could to support the country during war.

Alice Paul had a different idea. She led the National Women's Party on marches and other peaceful protests throughout

the war. The suffragists protesting with Paul were

arrested for no reason and subjected to brutal treatment in prison. They were all released after an intense hunger strike.

Women During WWI

After the war, most women returned to the home whether they wanted to or

not.

As their husbands returned from the war, they lost their jobs, so that the

men could be employed, and everything could go back the way it

was.

Post-WWI to 1938

The Temperance Movement began in the late 18th century, and was

mostly led by women.

In 1920, they finally succeeded in the ban of alcohol through the 18th

Amendment.

The Prohibition played a large part in influencing the rebellious

characters of the 1920s'.

Women in particular began to assert their independence in the cities.

They became Flappers, wearing short flowy dresses, cutting their hair short, and partaking in the

illegal consumption of alcohol in speakeasies.

In 1931, Jane Addams became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. She won the honor for her work with the poor in Chicago,

most notably, the Hull House and other settlement homes for

immigrants and the impoverished.

In 1932, Hattie Wyatt Caraway became the first woman to be elected to the US Senate.

In 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt held her own press conference, with only woman reporters attending.

Frances Perkins was appointed Secretary of Labor. She was the

first woman cabinet member.

Women during WWII

Women played many important roles in World War II.

More women joined the workforce during WWII than

ever before. Not only the lower class, but middle and upper

class women had jobs!

They were also still able to work as nurses on the front, or at

home.

Women during WWII

Over 350,000 women served in the US Armed Forces during WWII. They served both at

home, and abroad.

Women who joined the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) became the first women

to fly American military aircraft. They often transported cargo to and from bases.

Advertisements such as "Rosie the Riveter"

encouraged women to join the workforce and support

the country during war.

Post-WWII to present

When the war ended many women were uprooted from their

jobs, and sent back to the home. It was the same story from WWI.

Most women returned happily to their home. With their husbands

home, and cheap Levittown houses to live in, women began to

have large amounts of children again. This was known as the

baby boom. It lasted from 1946 to 1964.

During those years, large families were common, and

as the television became common in everyday

households, the new media began to form stereotypes for women as mothers and

caretakers.

It was a time of conformity for women, and if you did not conform, you were an

outcast.

Post-WWII to presentIn 1963, Betty Friedan published her book,

The Feminine Mystique.

The novel spurted a new age of feminism.

She pointed out that women were giving up their own education and a successful career

in order to send their husband's through college. Women were unable to succeed.

In 1966 Friedan founded the National Organization for Women.

They lobbied for the enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act

of 1963. They were also able to make the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission

actually start doing their job.

In the subsequent years, women continued to gain rights and move up in society.

In Roe v. Wade in 1973, abortion became legal.

In 1974, Little League Baseball was opened to girls.

In 1976, women were admitted to military academies.

In 1978, the military was integrated.

In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman justice of the Supreme Court.

In 1992, the amount of women in Congress doubled. It was known as the Year of the Woman.

In 1993, Take Your Daughter to Work Day was started to introduce young girls to high positions held by their fathers in the hopes that it may influence them to one day hold the same type of position.

The progress that women have made in the United States is astounding. From their roots as homemakers, and subordinates to an all-knowing husband to CEO, presidential candidate, and breadwinners of the home, women have made more progress in the past two centuries than ever seemed possible.

Today, in 2013, more women than men are enrolled in colleges and universities in the US. Housewives still exist, but there are also women who travel the world and work as leaders in society.

Gender inequality still exists, but it is not nearly as much of an issue as it was in the beginning of the women's movement. In the future, I am sure women will continue to fight for any rights they are not given until there is no doubt their

minds that every door of opportunity is open.