1. Reform Movements Day 1 Women’s Rights
American History I
SRMHS
Mr. Hensley

2. American Reform Movements
More wealth, more income means more leisure
Americans focus on religion
Abolition, Suffrage and Temperance movements lead to women’s rights movement
Reformers look to change education, prison and mental health systems

3. Two Different Ways MATRIARCHY PATRIARCHY Emphasis on community
Upon marriage, man joins his wife’s household
Kinship runs through mother
Women have clear, well-defined rights
Women have a role outside of marriage
Emphasis on property
Upon marriage, wife joins her husband’s household
Kinship runs through father
Women have limited or no rights
Women’s roles are defined by her connection to a man (father, husband etc.)

4. European Patriarchy Pater familias
Women were not allowed to inherit property
Women had no rights
Women were either wives or widows, virgins or crones – defined through their connection to a man
Roman architecture – designed to keep women invisible

5. Native Matriarchy
Most Native Americans figured descent through the mother
Women had inherent rights independent of men
Some Native women could divorce and keep husband’s property
Some tribes had the women pick (male) chiefs

6. American Matriarchal Traditions
Mexican-American family names demonstrate recognition of the mother’s family (Ex: Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Most African cultures have extended families instead of nuclear ones

7. Women in the United States
Cannot vote
Could not hold office
No emphasis on education (60% could not read)
Cannot hold property or sign contracts without a man’s permission
Some states forbade them to speak in public!

8. Cult of Domesticity An ideal for women, who needed four virtues
Piety: religion is the only proper intellectual pursuit
Purity: virginity before marriage, monogamy after
Submission to men (“as if a little child”)
Domesticity: the woman’s place is in the home

9. Technology Challenges the Patriarchy
Starting in the 1820’s, the North begins to industrialize
Women are the preferred factory employees (lower wages)
Women earn their own money; form their own networks of friends
1830’s: some women have unionized and struck for higher wages, better working conditions

10. Origins of the Movement
Many upper class women are involved in the abolition movement
They begin to see parallels between slavery and the rights of women
Abolitionists spilt over whether or not women should be allowed to speak (1840)

11. Disagreement Over Goals
A small minority of women want full equality with men
Most want to see improvements: property rights, custody rights
Two early leaders emerge: Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (both started with abolition)

12. Seneca Falls Convention
In 1848, Mott and Stanton organize the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY (“The Seneca Falls Convention”)
Delegates produce a “Declaration of Sentiments” modeled on Declaration of Independence

13. Declaration of Sentiments
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men AND women are created equal”
Concerned with voting (suffrage), property rights and access to education
Sadly, ridiculed and ignored by most American politicians
Suffrage barely made it in

14. New York Leads the Way
Also in 1848, New York passes “Married Women’s Property Act”
Illegal for husband to use wife’s property or wages without her permission
Women can own patents and copyrights
Other states follow NY’s lead and pass similar laws

15. The Grimke Sisters
Sarah and Angelina Grimke were the daughters of a wealthy Charleston judge
As adults (1830’s), they became abolitionists
Abolition also led them to advocate for women’s rights
Made popular speaking tours in the North

16. Sojourner Truth Born in New York State Gets her freedom in 1828
Her son Peter was taken from her, sold into slavery – she went to court to get him back
Began speaking out for women’s rights in the 1840’s
Speech: “Aint I a Woman?”

17. Lucy Stone Advocated for equal rights and equal pay for women
Attended Oberlin College in Ohio (1843) – first college to admit women
Refused to take her husband’s name upon marriage
Very controversial!

18. Review: Women’s Rights
BIG QUESTIONS: What rights did women in America have in the early 1800’s and how did they fight to increase those rights?
Europeans come from a patriarchal tradition, where women are defined through their relationship with a man. Native, Mexican and African Americans had a more matriarchal society in which women had inherent rights as individuals. As more women began working, calls for women’s rights increased. The big event was the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 and the resultant Declaration of Sentiments.

19. Mary Ellen Pleasant
Her experience represents the challenges faced by women and people of color in 19th Century America
Watch the video
Answer the questions