1800's Treatment Of American Women In The 1800s

The 1800s marked a period in history when women and enslaved people in the United States experienced a great disparity in rights, privileges, and opportunities compared to their white, male counterparts. According to historical records, women and enslaved people were often subjected to harsh treatment and discrimination, indicating a largely negative experience in the 1800s. Women were often confined to domestic roles and were not allowed to pursue education or careers, Enslaved People were treated as property and were forced to work in grueling conditions without any pay, and both were subjected to physical and emotional abuse that was considered legal and had little to no rights especially when it came to voting. In addition, The government

Enslaved people, on the other hand, were seen as property and not people, and were denied basic human rights and freedom due to the political and economic interests of slave owners. This allowed mainly southern (slave state) politicians to use them as a means to gain power and support from their constituents. On the contrary, abolitionists looked to stop the injustice that was slavery and get the word out to their fellow Americans about the abuse that slaves experienced. In response to the Seneca Falls Convention, on August 3, 1848, the newspaper The New York Herald printed, “They claim to be voters, legislators, free traders, divines, physicians, lawyers, etc … We do not see by what principle of right the angelic creatures should claim to compete with the preacher, and refuse to enter the lists with the merchant.” This shows how politically and economically women were seen as too weak to even question what they were given and not taken seriously by the men around them. According to the Social Reform Source 2023, “Although the abolition movement grew during this time, many Northerners and Southerners still opposed abolition. Abolitionist leaders were often attacked, meetings disrupted, and printing presses of abolition newspapers burned. During this time Congress refused to hear any petitions related to abolition.”

Women, on the other hand, were often seen as inferior to men and were paid less for their work. This economic discrimination made it difficult for both women and enslaved individuals to improve their circumstances and led to widespread inequality. According to the source The Rights of Women: Laws and Practices by Zinn Education Project, “Some women teach school, but they are paid only 30-50% of what men are paid for the same job.” This directly explains the inequalities of pay between a woman’s wage opportunities compared to a man’s wage opportunities. Moreover, in an 1853 testimony from Solomon Northrup, a free black kidnapped in New York and sold into slavery for twelve years stated, “They do not dare to stop even at dinner time, nor return to the quarters, however late it be, until the order to halt is given by the driver....Finally, at a late hour, they reach the quarters, sleepy and overcome with the long day's toil. All that is allowed them is corn and bacon, which is given out at the corn-crib and smoke-house every Sunday morning. Each one receives, as his weekly allowance, three and a half pounds of bacon, and corn enough to make a peck of meal. That is all.” This shows how slaves were forced into grueling labor without any proper compensation. In the end, the economic system of the time relied heavily on the exploitation of marginalized