K. AMARAL M. LEONE

1. By Matthew Leone, Katelyn Amaral, and Timothy
Rehnborg
HIST13061-Summer 2015 – History- Wentworth Instititute

2. “When some think of diversity, race and
ethnicity come to mind first. However, diversity is
difference regardless of color. Religion divided the
early settlers; country of origin and even region
within country of origin divided groups of whites
into diverse and rather combatant factions.” (Haas)
This presentation will examine how upper-
class white women influenced the American
identity, economy, and the political issues of the day.

3.  These women were of the "free"
American society. Upper-class
women were the wives and
daughters of landowners,
planters, and businessmen.

4. Gender roles were influenced by England and the early
colonies were Patriarchal. Thoughts on women stemmed
from the Biblical story of Eve, and women were believed to
be seductresses, liars, deceitful, and intellectually
deficient. (Lecture on the Role of Women)
Women were not educated because education was thought
of as being only necessary for public jobs such as those of
men in government and business. Wealthy families could
afford to educate their daughters however the schools for
girls were a lesser, more informal education than the boys'
schools. (Lecture on the Role of Women)

5. Southern states had a lower population of women and
plantations were mostly male dominated. Women were kept
at the home to shelter them from the harsh working life. The
northern states had more equal gender ratios. Farms were
family centered and all members of the family worked.
(Lecture on the Role of Women)
Competent wives who could grow crops and do housework
were well respected by their husbands. Women were
expected to have lots of children, often one a year, to create
new laborers for family farms and heirs to property and
businesses. (Lecture on the Role of Women)
Regional Effects

7. "The day may be approaching when the whole world
will recognize woman as the equal of man."-Susan B.
Anthony (Brainy Quote)

8. Women proved their worth during the
Revolution when they were left to run
the households on their own. The idea
of Republican Motherhood arose,
which was the belief that these women
would be the mother’s to future citizens
of America, therefor they should be
educated so that they could teach their
children. (Lecture on the Role of
Women)
Women, although not leaders in the
church, were vocal members in
conversation of family life and child
rearing. (Boundless-Women and
Church Governance)

9. The Dutch settled area of New
Amsterdam (present-day
Manhattan) was the most
progressive area for women’s
rights. Women were engaged in
areas of business, philanthropy,
law, and family matters and were
allowed to inherit property.
(Lecture on the Role of Women)

10. The Cult of Domesticity created the ideal for
middle and upper class families that the men
would go out and work while the women stayed
home and cared for the children. The family unit
of work was no longer necessary to survive.
(Boundless-Women and Minorities and
Democracy)

12. These women who demanded their rights, liberty, and independence
paved the way for other minority groups. They set the example that
with hard work and dedication your voice will be heard in America.

13.  “The beginning of the women's rights movement in America in the
mid-nineteenth century gave rise to a vocal and courageous group of
women who argued for social and legal equality with men.” (Haas)
Upper-class American women had a large influence on the economy
of our new nation. Upper and middle class women ran the day-to-
day operations of the household, oversaw daily expenses, and raised
the children. Along with their higher social class came higher
restrictions and less freedom. It was the changes to the way our
society views women that greatly influenced big change in America.

14.  “The Cult of Domesticity, or Cult of True Womanhood, was a prevailing value
system among the upper and middle classes during the nineteenth century in the
United States and Great Britain.” (Boundless- Women and Minorities in
Democracy)
 The Cult of Domesticity preaches Piety, Purity, Submissiveness, and Domesticity
 “The Cult of Domesticity developed as family lost its function as..an.. economic
unit. Many of links between family and community closed off as work left home,
the emergence of market economy and the devaluation of women's work.
Increasingly, then, home became a self-contained unit.” (Pojer) This gave women
very little voice and power.
 Within this model “they developed networks and modes of expression that allowed
them to speak out on the major moral questions facing the nation.” (MacKeathen)

15. The Declaration of Sentiments paved the way for women to own
property, vote, and be free to participate in our free-market economy in
a system that promotes total equality. Because upper-class women
seldom worked, they had time to network and organize with each other,
leading to major changes to the economy.

16. “The Married Women's Property Act of 1839 was an Act of
Statute in the state of Mississippi that significantly altered the
law regarding property rights granted to married women,
allowing them to own and control their own property. This was
the first of a series of Married Women's Property Acts issued in
the United States.” (Boundless-Women and the Law)
This legislation was directly geared towards married, upper-
class, white women. The inception of this legislation was
critical to women’s equal inclusion in our free-market economy.

17. This was a key turning point for women in economics. Women are allowed
to accumulate wealth and land, just like American males.
Upper-class women were often married, and upon marriage, their property
and wealth would now belong to their husband. This created a dynamic
where upper class women couldn’t work, and had no means to support
themselves, making them 100% dependent on their husbands. The Seneca
Falls Convention sought to reform this inequality.

18.  Previously, in America, upper-class married white women were not allowed to
work.
 The Declaration of Sentiments eventually opens up opportunities like office jobs
and telephone jobs.
 Jobs gave women things like money and more freedom.

19. OPERATORS IN THE U.S. WERE
WOMEN..AND BY 1920 OFFICE AND
TELEPHONE WORKERS MADE UP 25%
OF THE FEMALE WORKFORCE.”
(CRASH COURSE – WOMEN’S
SUFFRAGE)) THIS WAS MUCH
DIFFERENT THAN PREVIOUSLY WHEN
LABOR-INTENSIVE WORK WAS ALL
THAT WAS AVAILABLE, AND AVAILABLE
ONLY TO THE LOWER WORKING-CLASS

20. The right to vote gives women an equal say in voting to shape all policies, including economic
policy. Voting also gives women equality in government and day-to-day life. The events of the
19th century set in forth a chain of events that led to women’s equal role in political, social, and
economic decisions. Since upper-class women are in the same social class as the elite rulers of
the day, their right to vote is crucial in creating upper-class independent women. Women
independent from the control of man.
 “1869: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage
Association in order to win the constitutional right to vote. (Bloomsburg)”
 “1869: Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, and others form the American Woman Suffrage Association,
the objective of which is to gain voting rights for women through state constitutional
amendments. The two associations will merge in 1890. (Bloomsburg)”
 “1893: Colorado becomes the first state to grant women the right to vote and Utah and Idaho
follow in 1896.(Bloomsburg)”
 “1920: After over seventy years of struggle, women are finally granted the right to vote as the
19th Amendment is ratified. With most southern states against the Amendment, the vote comes
down to the state of Tennessee where it passes by one vote in the Tennessee house. The deciding
vote is cast by Representative Harry Burn who carried in his pocket a letter from his mother
encouraging him to vote for women’s suffrage. (Bloomsburg)”

21. “ In Charlotte Perkins Gillman’s Women and
Economics (1898), .. She analyzed the hidden value of
women’s labor within the capitalist economy. She
argued, as she would throughout her work, that
financial independence for women could only benefit
society as a whole.” (Herland)

22. Upper-class white women, part of the dominant
social class, became a powerful social tool, and
positively changed the laws. Although initially an
exploited group, more or less stuck in domestic
servitude, these women used their control of the
aspects of day-to-day life in the home to make the
changes needed. They organized and made a
difference for all women. The right to work and
make a living is essential to any human’s survival.

23. “Many Women's Rights activists were
fighting to overturn not just laws, but
attitudes.”
 -John Green
Susan B. Anthony

24. "The campaigners of this period created some positive change prior to the outbreak of
the Civil War, though their greatest achievement lay in highlighting inequality among the
sexes and making it an issue on the national political agenda." (Boundless - Women in
the Early Republic)
The Married Women's Property Act of 1839:
 Act of Statute in the state of Mississippi
 Significantly altered the law regarding property rights granted to married women
 Allowed women to own and control their own property
 Advocates included - Paulina Wright Davis, Ernestine Rose, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton

25. Ernestine RoseFrances Wright
During the early part of the 19th century, agitation for equal suffrage was attempted by only a few
individuals.
• Frances Wright - advocated women's suffrage in an extensive series of lectures.
• Ernestine Rose - obtained a personal hearing on women's suffrage before the New York Legislature
• Margaret Fuller - authored the book The Great Lawsuit; Man vs. Woman

26. The first wave of the women's suffrage movement began with the Seneca
Falls Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19 and 20, 1848.
 Organized by:
 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the young wife of an anti-slavery agent
 Lucretia Mott, a Quaker preacher and veteran of reform
 At its conclusion, 68 women and 32 men signed the "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions"
modeled after the Declaration of Independence

27. "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all
men and women are created equal and endowed by
their creator with certain inalienable rights...The
history of mankind is a history of repeated
injuries and usurpations on the part of man
towards woman."
 Elizabeth Cady Stanton

28. Addressed multiple female causes including:
 Grievances in regard to the laws denying married women ownership of wages, money,
and property
 Women's lack of access to education and professional careers
 The lowly status accorded women in most churches.
 A woman's right to vote.
Set the agenda for the women's rights movement.

29. The National Women's Rights Convention:
 Established in 1950
 Organized by Lucy Stone, Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis, Abby Kelley Foster,
and Wendell Phillips,
 Brought together for the first time many of those who had been working
individually for women's rights
 Provided a place where women could support each other in their
concerted effort for expanded
 Met annually up until The Civil War
Paulina Kellogg Wright
Davis

30.  In 1951 Elizabeth Cady Stanton would meet then 31 year old Susan B. Anthony, whom would
later go on to lead the Women's Rights Movements
 Together they worked well as a team, Stanton a smart and deliberate thinker, Anthony, well
organized and experienced through the temperance movement
 9 years after meeting, Stanton and Anthony would be involved in many movements including
the push for Womens property rights. They fought successfully together for women to keep
their wages in 5 states
 New York
 Indiana
 Maine
 Missouri
 Ohio

31. Women's reformation continued to progress by 1860
Divorce laws improved from state to state.
In Indiana women could seek divorce on the basis of:
 Adultery
 Desertion
 Drunkenness and Cruelty

32. "Suffrage expansion of the early nineteenth century was limited to white males, and left women and minorities behind."
(Boundless- Women, Minorities, and Democracy)
"One goal, however, was clear: attendees resolved to secure legal and social equality for women on par with men."
(Boundless - Women in the Early Republic)
"The beginning of the women's rights movement in America in the mid-nineteenth century gave rise to a vocal and courageous group
of women who argued for social and legal equality with men."
(Boundless - Women's Rights)
"the real triumph was the success reformers had in placing the issue of women's oppression in the national consciousness and
establishing a movement that would continue to change American attitudes for years to come."
(Boundless - Women in the Early Republic)

33. Boundless Textbook – US HISTORY TO 1877
- "Women and Minorities and Democracy - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 3 June 2015.
-"Women's Rights - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 3 June 2015.
-. "The Temperance Movement and the Campaign for Moral Reform - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 3 June 2015.
- "Women and the Law - Boundless Open Textbook." Boundless. 1 Nov. 2014. Web. 4 June 2015.
- "Women and Church Governance." Boundless:. Web. 3 June 2015.
Crash Course.
-"Women in the 19th Century: Crash Course US History #16." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 3 June 2015.
-"Women's Suffrage: Crash Course US History #31." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 3 June 2015.
Lewis, Jone. "Temperance Movement and Prohibition Timeline." Web. 3 June 2015.
"Women's History Timeline." Women's History Timeline. Bloomsburg University. Web. 3 June 2015.
Haas, Jarred. "Week5 AS1 Group Assignment." 2015. Web. 4 June 2015.
Mackeathen, Lucinda. "The Cult of Domesticity - America in Class - Resources for History & Literature Teachers." America in Class. Web. 3 June 2015.
Gillman, Charlotte Perkins. "Women and Economics." . Web. 3 June 2015.
Herland. “Charlotte Perkins Gillman.” SparkNotes. Web. 3 June 2015.

34. Lecture on the Role of Women in Early America. 2014. Film. YouTube
"Women and Church Governance." Boundless: US History to 1877. Web. 3 June 2015.
"Women and Minorities and Democracy." Boundless: US History to 1877. Web. 3 June 2015.
"Lives of Women." - Conner Prairie Interactive History Park. Web. 4 June 2015.
Woman Milking Cow. Digital image. Conner Prairie. Web.
Votes for Women. Digital image. HubPages-Women's Rights in the 1800's America. Web.
Plantation Ladies. Digital image. The Baltimore Sun. Web.
"Susan B. Anthony Quotes." Brainy Quote. Web. 4 June 2015.
Seneca Falls. Digital image. Mountain View Mirror. Web.