WOMEN!

1607 1789 (Colonial era: women particularly performed housework, educated children, low divorce rates, limited legal/political rights) Pocahontas first Native American woman to be accepted and looked up to in England; married to John Rolfe in Jamestown; maintained the peace between the colonists and the natives. Anne Hutchinson banished from Massachusetts Bay colony for antinomianism; challenged the puritan authorities; defined social norms by holding womens meetings in her house. Salem Witch Trials witches were middle aged; targeted women mostly. Indentured Servants in the Chesapeake colonies there were few women, worked as indentured servants and were prevented from marrying, but had three children on average. 1789 1815 (Revolution and early republic era; upper-class patriot women assisted in independence movement; spinning bees; women served at nurses, water bearers and cooks) Abigail Adams famed for correspondence with her husband and Jefferson; early proponent of womens rights; Remember the Ladies Remember the Ladies Abigail sent a letter to her husband, John Adams, asking him to please remember the ladies when drafting the new constitution; there was still no formal recognition for the women in the US constitution. Republican Motherhood women educated on republican virtues to pass to children to grow up as responsible American citizens; academics for women established to develop a civic duty for republican mothers. Mary Wollstonecraft advocate of womens rights; A Vindication of the Rights of Woman > argues that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear only because they lack education; both men and women should be treated equally. Sacagawea assisted Lewis and Clark Expedition; scout/translator for them 1815 1860 (Antebellum era and the age of Jackson; universal male suffrage opened up electorate, but women were left out; any work for woman were domestic based like textiles) Cult of Domesticity a new ideal of womanhood; the ideal woman became one who stayed at home and taught children how to be proper citizens; republican mother said that woman would be a positive moral influence. Catharine Beecher sister of Harriet; supported the Cult of Domesticity; stressed the importance of parenting. Lowell System single young women provided textile mill labor; lived free in boarding houses next to the textile mills; strict moral code and regiment; provided chaperoned social activities and cultural education. Frontier life for women began under sense of the cult; rugged lifestyle of frontier demanded more women to serve beyond domestic capacities. Dorothea Dix concern for the mentally ill; led to reforms in asylums and prisons Temperance movement mostly led by middle class women to alleviate society of alcohol vice.

 Abolitionist Movement: o Harriet Tubman escaped slave; helped free slaves through underground railroads in 1850s; wanted equal rights for African American women too. o Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Toms Cabin; reality based anti slavery novel which spurred northern sentiment against slavery in the south. o Female Anti-Slavery Society free black women in Salem, MA; established nations first female based abolitionist society. Womens Right Movement: o Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth o Seneca Falls Convention (1848) organized by Stanton and Lucretia; called for womens rights in suffrage, property ownership after marriage, divorce rights and education. o Sojourner Truth she made a speech against female weakness as perceived by male dominance; comparisons to hardships as a slave. o NWSA National Womens Suffrage Association; tried to shape government to their needs. o Alice Paul American suffragist and activist; led a successful campaign to womens suffrage; resulted in the passage of the 19th amendment. Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions signed and created at the Seneca falls convention; it was based on the Declaration of Independence; done by Elizabeth Stanton; it was the grand basis for attaining the civil, social, political, and religious rights of women. Sarah Moore Grimke American abolitionist and suffragist 1865 1920 (Gilded age and progressive era; industrialization and urbanization effected womens roles; increased and newer industries allowed factory job opportunities for women; 20% of women in the labor force by 1920; divorce rates increased) Jane Addams best known for finding Hull House in Chicago; community centers providing daycares, schooling and cultural activities; English lessons for immigrants and child care classes; Addams won a Nobel Peace Prize; not necessarily an abolitionist. Temperance Movement: o Womans Christian Temperance Union lobbied for local/state laws against alcohol o Carrie A. Nation destroyed bars across the nation, supported the WCTU. NWSA + ASA = NAWSA (1890) many gains for suffrage in states, especially the west. Ida B Wells African American; early leader of civil rights movement; active in womens rights and the suffrage movement; established several notable womens organizations. National Womens Party Alice Paul and Lucy Burns; more militant strategies: picketing, parades and hunger strikes; silent sentinels pressuring Woodrow Wilson. Nineteenth Amendment (1920) female suffrage; guaranteed the womens right to vote. WWI women officially allowed to serve in military, as nurses or operators. 1920 1940 + (Roaring twenties to World War II; suffrages limited impact on women; women voted like their husbands; politicians campaigned for women issues; increased divorce laws and protections; equal rights amendments introduced to congress, passed when compulsory education for females led to opportunities for higher education)

 Flappers rejected conservatism; Victorian society norms; smoked, drank, swore, danced, dated, promiscuous; short skirts, bobbed hair; slender bodies. Symbolized new freedom; challenged the traditional view of women. Margaret Sanger American Birth Control League (1921); promoted education for pregnancy prevention, menstruation. Spoke against poor conditions for young women. Rosie the Riveter cultural icon of American women who worked in factories during WWII; women took entirely new jobs replacing male workers who were in the war. Betty Friedan American writer, activist, feminist; the Feminine Mystique; sparking the second wave of American feminism; president of National Org. for Women (NOW); challenged discrimination in the workforce. Equal Credit Opportunity Act unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant; basis of race, color, origin, sex etc. passed in 1974. Roe v Wade (1973) issue of abortion; womens decision to have one or not; Geraldine Ferraro first women to run for Vice President of the Unite States.