The early part of the 19th century was a time of change for the United States. Up until this time, American’s generally lived in small, rural towns where work was tied to the home. With the onset of industrialization and more advanced forms of transportation and communication the north was becoming more modernized and society began shifting from agrarian to urban. Both men and young unmarried men and women began leaving their rural homes to look for jobs and a better way of life in the city. Because of this change, new gender ideologies began to change the way American’s thought about the roles men and women played in the home and in society. Domestic Ideology and Free Labor Ideology, two new schools of thought were not positive developments for American men and women. …show more content…
The home became the woman’s domain with the female as the center of morality for the family. Domestic ideology emphasized virtue and purity and women were above feeling sexual desire. The woman’s job was to keep the men in the family morally pure. Women worried about their men being led astray by immoral women. In a letter to her brother Lealand, Amy Galusha wrote she was worried about him becoming attracted to a “fancy woman” who would lead him astray thus ruining his life (Antebellum Women, pg 119). Domestic Ideology represented the middle-class way of life with time away from work and household duties to engage in a new concept called leisure
In the 1800’s women were expected to do all of the housework, take care, and educate children, while men were out doing labor work. Women were trying to find their freedom during this time while still doing their jobs. The Cult of Domesticity was important because it showed the tradition of women which was staying at home and doing all of the housework. They did not have the same rights as men did and were not allowed to do many things, such as voting. During this Market Revolution, the economy had changed in a way that most people made things to sell and used that money to buy what they needed.
In the mid-1800s, many Americans had concerns about the issues occurring and the impact they made on the United States. To put an end to these numerous issues, many Americans decided to form groups, organizations, and also individuals. They would come up with a variety of strategies to make a change. One of the many issues was women rights. In the mid-1800s, women had a hard time being a woman back then.
In this essay, I will explain three ways the new Industrial society in the United States affects the views on gender and race through technology, urbanization, and the establishment of unions. The development of the industrial sector has had an impact on gender perceptions. The energetic era of the nineteenth century, emerging with new inventions and technological advances, improved the living standard of Americans and created new job opportunities. New inventions changed the way people lived and worked in the new era, women then could shorten their time in house chores by using canned or frozen food to gain more precious time in their daily schedule.
From colonial times to the late 19th century women were treated as weak and inferior to men. Over the years and several events such as the American Revolution and Great Awakening women worked on gaining rights and opportunities such as men. How did gender roles from colonial times to early 19th century define men and women’s political and economic life? During the year’s women had little to no role in politics because they were seen as weak, unintelligent, inferior, and property. As for men, it was socially and morally acceptable to work for a money and play a part in politics.
Women's issues suddenly became so prominent in American culture because things were changing. People were forming new opinions and women saw an opportunity. In the 1800's transcendentalism came into the picture. Transcendentalism was an intellectual movement led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau (Henretta, G-13). They believed that they needed to examine individuality and self reliance closely.
By distinguishing woman as more moral than men, the ideas of the cult of domesticity spread and more people started to believe that it was the womanś job to preserve the nationś moral compass. While women were deemed morally superior, they were still considered inferior to men physically and intellectually. Purtnamś Monthly Magazine stated that ¨Women are by nature inferior to man. She is inferior in passion, his intellect, and his inferior in physical strength.” (doc 6).
Women were barred from certain jobs, and routinely (and legally) paid less for their labor” (171). This was life for women in the 1920’s compared to life for women today. What an excellent achievement to be proud of, women now doing unbelievable things, back then no one could or would have ever imagined the dreams women have accomplished today. At hand, there is still inequality between men and women. According to Wheeler, William, and Becker, Susan “In 1921, the NWP began to campaign for an equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which would abolish all forms of gender inequality in the United States.
In addition, all women were denied the right to vote. “The cult of true womanhood ideology extended middle-class ideals far beyond the middle class and affected marriage, female education, and employment choices, as well as strategies for obtaining women’s rights…”(WOMEN). American women of the late 1800’s struggled with no rights in the government, considered inferior, and married women had no separate identity from her husband. One reason American women were treated poorly is because of their rights in the American government.
Women in the 1600s to the 1800s were very harshly treated. They were seen as objects rather than people. They were stay-at-home women because people didn’t trust them to hold jobs. They were seen as little or weak. Women living in this time period had to have their fathers choose their husbands.
Picture it: New York, 1920, automobiles filled with flappers and Jazz music flooding the streets, a new age is here. Now this setting did not always occur in the country. The women would wear modest clothing, every daily task was done by hand, social standards were set no matter your race, and drinking became a serious problem despite your age or gender. However this all came to an end during the American’s Golden Age. The 1920s was a time in the country’s history where gender was defined, industries boomed, and political problems arose.
During the early 1800 's, the American society common to the time period was radically changed. These changes took place primarily after the War of 1812. These changes occurred in the form of political rights, multiple reform movements, and religious revivals. During this time, women were still the “submerged sex.” As the decades unfolded, women increasingly surfaced to the breathe the air of freedom and self-determination (Kennedy, 305).
Around the late 18th to early 19th century, colonial American New England life was centered on living independently and being finally free from the British Empire after the Revolutionary War. Establishing control of a newly founded government with set functions and a first president, there were progressive changes that America had to act upon post-war. However, behind the political aspects that are greatly highlighted in American history, the roles of women in society, particularly midwives shouldn’t be cast aside. Although women were largely marginalized in early New England life because of their gender, nevertheless Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale is instructive because it demonstrates the privilege of men’s authority in society
In the pastoralization of housework, woman found a new dynamic in the family system by becoming influencers. Boydston writes, “‘...in which wives were described as deities “who presides over the sanctities of domestic life, and administer its sacred rights….”” With the romanization of housework woman found themselves placed on a higher pedestal, and with this newly found power, women were able to influence their husband’s decisions. Women during the Antebellum period were described as “holy and pious” and they were seen as the more religious being out of the two sexes, so it was customary for women to use their power to help the family stay on the right path. Mrs. A. J. Graves supported this idea and directly connects women’s role of taking care of the home to a station which God and nature assigned her.
The American Women were voiceless, they had no say in society, however the reform movement would change that. Married women had very little rights compared to husband. One major human right violation was women 's lack of property rights.. Even if the property belonged to their family, once they were married that land became their husbands. In divorce and custody battles, mostly favored the husband.
Some women who tried to go against the set norms in most cases were ridiculed and scorned. Such actions made the American women also believed that being at home, caring, and supporting their family was their only duty (Wishart