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Why Is Florence Kelly Important For Women During The Early Twentieth Century?

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“Remember the ladies!” Abigail Adams sparked the significance of women during the colonial period in a patriarchy society. Likewise, during the early twentieth century, Florence Kelly led a critical turning point of women’s involvement in society, but enforced her ideas even further by action rather than just casual statements like the way Adams had. Kelly manipulated the stream of events, to ensure women of the association, an option of helping mistreated children and rights granted to them. By Kelly leading the convention of the National American Women Suffrage Association, her style and personality are exposed when she speaks to disintegrate the strict children labor laws to the suffrage women who also understand the level of unfairness …show more content…

When Kelly claims, “We can enlist the workingmen on behalf of our enfranchisement just in proportion as we strive with them to free the children” (Kelly 11) . Kelly’s intention of this speech was to pursue reforming children’s rights in labor; however, by trying to find a solution to the strict children labor laws, it required women to seek men for assistance for women’s liberty since men are the ones with authority. Still being in a patriarchal society, Kelly motivated social equality with examples like “If mothers and the teachers in Georgia could vote […]” (10) or “Would the New Jersey […] enfranchised” (10)? This began to advocate the feminist ideology, that women should have the same opportunities as men such as “enjoying the right of petition” (10). As the feminist perspective sprouted in the minds of women, the idea of asking men for assistance began to show irony, because who would want to help their opponent achieve their goal? Yet, the women have the courage to even ask. By introducing this ironic situation to the women, it shows that Kelly is truly determined to change the child labor laws. Even if it meant that her dignity and pride would be gone because she asked for help by her opponents. This shows the members of the association that child labor laws have many serious problems to be fixed. No matter what, Kelly is …show more content…

As Kelly emphasizes the imagery of “Several thousand little girls will be working in textile mill” and “A girl of six or seven years […]”to the convention, she tries to persuade the women to support the children who are working continuously. Women normally have sympathy towards benevolence . Women of the association understands the event of strict labor laws because of tradition, but since they have the will to gain authority, they would most likely convert the whole setting of labor work emitted by children . As Kelly appeals to the women at the convention, it opens their eyes to the issue at hand that will affect the future since those young kids will become the adults one day. Since they are women, they have a connection with children because of tradition and society barriers. The most connection with the mistreated kids and the suffrage women is that they can both relate to unfairness and declination of their rights. With this connection Kelly uses this to help the situation of the strict laws on the children by gaining support from the suffrage women. The gain of support of the suffrage women could ultimately be the reason for the relaxation of the child laws because through feminists, they will support the mistreated since they were once mistreated in a sense of decline of

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