Gender Roles In The 1800's

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A historian by the name of Ed Ayers once said “The exploitative natures of women’s work throughout history has been enormous.” I believe that this statement is true because after looking at history it shows that there were so many things that they had to overcome to get to the rights that they have today. Women during the 1700’s and 1800’s were challenged with expressing themselves in a social system that refused to grant women the right to express their views. Many events during these centuries which included things such as social and political movements that increased attention to women's issues like education reform. By the end of the 1800’s women were finally able to speak out against the injustices aimed at them. Despite the fact that …show more content…

This belief dominated thoughts about gender roles from the 1700’s through the 1800’s in America. The concept of separate spheres divided gender roles into two different roles. The women's place was in the private sphere which was family life and her home. Women would have an average of seven kids and were expected to raise and nurture them. Meanwhile the men's place was in the public sphere. In this division the men dealt with things regarding politics as well as decisions in the economics of their society. The legal status of women was treated as such that they had no separate identity as well as no personal rights which included both economic and property …show more content…

This group was set up in order combat the issues caused by alcohol. The main cause for women who joined this society was to end the problem of the rise in domestic abuse. The American Temperance Society brought attention to this issue by having public speeches. They would also put on temperance plays to visually project the problems at hand. The main target for this group was the working class. Their goal was to convince them to take a pledge against drinking alcohol. The temperance movement was very successful and it significantly reduced the amount of drinking and the problems associated with it.
One the last movements toward women gaining their equal rights was when they held the Seneca Falls convention in 1884. This was the first convention in regards to women’s rights. It set the stage for furthering of women's social, political, and civil rights. Here women issued a set of issues they called the Declaration of Sentiments. This convention was so successful that the end result was that women were given equal rights as well as the right to