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How Did Dorothea Dix Treat Women In Jail

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Imagine being trapped in a damp, dark, cage as a form of punishment for something that seems completely out of your grasp. Prisons were understaffed and as barbaric as it gets the people charged with crimes were whipped. The primary cause for their creation was to keep the crooks from harming any people right? Everyone in solitary confinement is treated the same way but not everyone came for the same reason. In fact, mentally ill people were considered to be harsh maniacs which did not receive treatment for a long time. Dorothea Dix spoke to the massachusetts legislature, in 1843 she absolutely despised the “Present state of insane person's confined within this commonwealth in cages, closets, cellars, stalls, and pens!” (Document D) Her efforts …show more content…

The asylum movement she basically created came from the Second Great Awakening. If people were being moved by religion then why not provide help for the mentally ill. She agitated for improvement because the conditions in prison were absolutely unbearable. Dix expanded even to other countries and modified the way we view ourselves as a society. Women were undermined but she managed to put that aside and promote big changes despite the fact that men mainly had a say in political …show more content…

This was another hit in the ballpark for women after putting a reform in the way she should dress. They argued that “She is as fully entitled as man to vote and to be eligible in office..she is entitled to a voice in fixing the amount of taxes” (Document F). Opportunities for women were mainly just nursing, domestic services, and teaching it was limited, with their increase in intelligence they deserved to have their voices heard. What the women strived for back then has helped our world today because both sexes can achieve whatever dream they want and work for it. Women can get the credit they deserve, speak out, and let their voices heard and in politics. If nobody spoke up America would not be what it is today and instead a place of disregard by men to the women that have literally made them. If they were to stay at home they would continue belonging to a “cult of domesticity”. This meant that men would undermine them as housewives. The social sphere transformed groundbreakingly by Antebellum America. My life goal to become the First Latina President of the United States might not have been possible if none of the pioneers had prompted change, and although women were unable to vote until 1920 the slow and steady progress proved to be worth it. Their voices would be heard through a single vote now the next issues we face are of course are politics, wage gaps,

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