The Women’s Rights Movement

Focus Question: What steps were taken to advance the rights of women in the mid-1800s?

Roots of the Women’s Rights Movement Women lacked basic rights in the early 1800s ◦ Could not own property ◦ Could not vote ◦ Could not go to school ◦ Could not enter the professions

Separate Spheres Genders had particular roles to play ◦ Men expected to work outside the home ◦ Wives expected the manage the household  Responsible for raising children  Responsible for raising “republican” sons  Republican Motherhood Crucial Role for Mothers

Cult of Domesticity “Cult of True Womanhood” Genders had their proper places ◦ Men are rough, strong, savage, suited for the world of work ◦ Women are calm, nurturing, refined, suited for the home. The woman’s place was in the home A woman could only be fulfilled if she was a wife and mother.

Challenges Large numbers of working-class women ◦ “Lowell girls” had economic independence Second Great Awakening ◦ Women took leadership positions in reform groups ◦ Proper “sphere” for women

Reforms came slowly Schools slowly opened for women ◦ Few coeducational Growth of women’s health ◦ Development of Women and Children’s Hospitals ◦ The “Bloomer”

Women’s Rights Movement Sparked by a slight ◦ Women took a leading role in reform movements, especially abolition ◦ Many attended an international conference on abolition in London  Refused entry to the main floor  Infuriated leader female reformers

Seneca Falls Convention Women’s Rights Convention held in 1848 ◦ Promoted a series of women’s issues  Property rights  Health  Education ◦ Promoted Suffrage  Shocked the nation

Declaration of Sentiments Patterned after the Declaration of Independence Called for voting rights for women Developed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton