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Women's rights late 1800s
Women’s rights mid 1800s
Womens rights in th early 20th c
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Women also primarily learned from their mothers of all the responsibilities “that a competent eighteenth-century woman” should accept as her own (3). This would explain why “Abigail did not herself aspire to anything more than being a good wife and mother, but Abigail still believed women should be better educated (45–46). In Abigail’s mind, there was nothing wrong with being both. In this way Abigail Adams was a “prisoner of the times” (xiii). She could do little more than educate herself and her female relatives privately without harming her or her husband’s reputation.
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
Women have come a long way to fight for their representation. Before females were allowed to vote or work they were viewed as homemakers; they were their husbands’chattels. Women were considered vulnerable and incapable of intelligence. Should women have to depend on the man of the family to represent their needs? Children of patriarchal societies should have the ability to learn even in college, whether they are male or female.
Although it was common for girls to receive an education no higher than reading for knowing more was seen as unfit for marriage (Archives: Part One, Women’s Education), she accomplished both reading and writing at home while having access to her family’s large
At this time, Emma was only teaching lessons appropriate for women of the time. But, she lived near a college and realizing their studies made her “Bitterly feel the disparity in educational facilities between the sexes” (Brainerd, 12). Teaching these young girls inspired Emma to take her first bold step; she wrote a proposal to the legislators as an open letter to the public, titled “A Plan for Improving Female Education.” Society would have dismissed Willard from the start if she attempted to speak out in public, so she used her great skills as a writer to present her case.
Women have come a long way to fight for their representation. Before females were allowed to vote or work they were viewed as homemakers; they were their husbands’chattels. They were considered vulnerable and incapable of intelligence. Should women have to depend on the man of the family to represent their needs? Children of patriarchal societies should have the ability to learn even in college, whether they are male or female.
In “Organizing the American School: The Nineteenth Century Schoolmarm”, Joel Spring discusses how the common school reform, which took place during the middle of the nineteenth century, resulted in the creation of new forms of school organization. He then includes three steps that were needed for the common school to be actualized and how women were involved in factors dealing with the steps. The first step was to create a teaching force that was stable and inexpensive. Spring writes that the creation of this force began with the efforts of women educators, which lead to the establishment of teacher-training institutions. Their efforts were listened to since reformers of the common school believed women would be able to successfully provide moral education, similar to how women were already believed to have an impact on how their sons’ morality
A Psychoanalytic Lens Into Richard Ramirez’s Psychopathy. Jeremiah Adames. CRIM 2210: Criminology. University of Massachusetts Lowell Professor AnaCristina. 4/18/2024.
She used women’s current social standing as dutiful mothers to propel her argument for state funded education to include women’s learning. She opened the Troy Female Seminary where she created a similar curriculum for women as was being taught to men at that time. Even though she was trying to create an equal environment for learning, she also added in needlework classes “to reassure parents and the public generally that she did not intend for women to renounce their own station” (106-107). Another supporter was the daughter of well-known minister, Catherine Beecher. A strong advocate for feminizing the occupation of teaching, she believed that women were the intellectual equals of men.
The Antebellum period was a time of growing opportunities in education for women. However, women’s roles in society remained plagued with the ideology of domesticity (Katz, 389). Domesticity centered around the idea that a woman was required to be submissive in society, and does not need education, because her role in the world was defined by her domestic life. These theories contributed to the schooling of women and how education was structured. Dame schools, inexpensive, informal schools were educational systems that women could attend during this time.
In the 1800s, most women’s education was at home learning domestic skills, such as cleaning. Many women in high school weren’t expected to go to college and the only colleges available were private and primarily only taught reading and writing. Even if a women went to college, the likelihood when would have a job in their major was extremely low, In fact, if a woman had a job she would have to quit after she got married to stay home to cook, clean and take care of children.
Catherine Beecher, an icon of the nineteenth century, wrote A Treatise on Domestic Economy in response to the idea of separate spheres and true womanhood. Beecher believed that it was right for the woman to stay in the domestic sphere of life (Dr. Etcheson, Women). However, she also felt that it was necessary for women to receive proper education so that they may take good care of the household and be efficient in their work (Beecher, A Treatise on Domestic Economy). Beecher felt that it was the woman that taught men to be of good moral character and make good decisions for their families. She also says, “The proper education of a man decides the welfare of an individual; but educate a woman, and the interests of the whole family are secured…”.
Catharine Beecher is a woman who believed that women should receive the same education as men who studied medicine, law, etc. Catharine Beecher became a founder of the American Women’s Educational Association in 1852, devoting her teachings to young women interested. Beecher eventually made the role of being a teacher mainly a female one (Sturges). In doing so, Beecher was able to inspire many women to advocate for women’s education and right’s today. Now in Connecticut, all genders can go to school and receive equal education.
Mary Wollstonecraft’s A vindication of the rights of women written in 1792 can be considered one of the first feminist documents, although the term appeared much later in history. In this essay, Wollstonecraft debates the role of women and their education. Having read different thinkers of the Enlightenment, as Milton, Lord Bacon, Rousseau, John Gregory and others, she finds their points of view interesting and at the same time contrary to values of the Enlightenment when they deal with women’s place. Mary Wollstonecraft uses the ideas of the Enlightenment to demand equal education for men and women. I will mention how ideals of the Enlightenment are used in favor of men but not of women and explain how Wollstonecraft support her “vindication” of the rights of women using those contradictions.
The Nineteenth Century, as known as the Victorian Age, “was an age where the impact of the industrial revolution caused a sharp differentiation between the gender roles, especially of the upper and middle classes” (Radek, 2001, para. 1). Males and females were thought to have separate societal duties based on gender differences. Male’s duty was to the public sphere and women’s duties were confined to the privacy of the home. During the nineteenth century, the advanced female status started to emerge through with the rise in female education and women’s rights. Kathryn Hughes’s article, Gender roles in the 19th century, introduces us to the fact that, in the past, gender roles were not so heavily revered upon.