1776 To Present Day Analysis
The All American Woman: 1776 to Present Day
Jeremy Brousseau
HIS 310: American Women 's History
Prof. Rachel Fazio
June 17, 2013
Colonial women during the late 18th century shared some equality with men, though mostly it was derived from the State governments and not the federal. Due to this, the disparity between northern and southern women was a pronounced one. To some small degree, Northern unmarried or widowed women enjoyed some on the same rights as their male counterparts. Most could own property, enter into contracts, and retain sole custody of her children. Conversely however, a large majority of Southern women during this time did not have the same political stature as their Northern counterparts; largely due to their influence …show more content…
Women were responsible for child rearing and maintaining the homestead whilst their husbands were performing their agricultural or political duties. From a legal standpoint, women who were married had their status changed dramatically once their nuptials had commenced. The law utilized the term 'coverture ' to describe a married woman’s existence. The courts recognized women as falling under the umbrella of a man’s assets. Quite literally this meant that women, by taking a husband, consigned their free will to the rest of the family, retaining for themselves only whatever influence the male of the household permitted them to keep. This social and legal position provided the groundwork for women to slowly find their position unacceptable. The advancement of status could be more accurately described as a suggestion more than a demand as the social stigma of being a rebelliousness woman was considered to be in bad taste. For this reason the movement from draconian rule within the genders to a status of equality was a slow, but consistent …show more content…
Take Jane Addams for example. Ms. Addams took advantage of the improved climate towards the female opinion by writing about social injustice and war. This is a zenith in women’s literature where the prose of women is judged on the content of their writing instead of the gender behind the hand that wrote it. During this time frame we also see great work being done by the likes of Emily Dickenson and a revolution in appreciation for Jane Austen’s work. We see during the middle 1800’s the women’s suffrage movement relying on the excellent works and efforts from the previous 40 years of women advocates to invigorate their zeal for progression, unifying the
Jeremy Brousseau
HIS 310: American Women 's History
Prof. Rachel Fazio
June 17, 2013
Colonial women during the late 18th century shared some equality with men, though mostly it was derived from the State governments and not the federal. Due to this, the disparity between northern and southern women was a pronounced one. To some small degree, Northern unmarried or widowed women enjoyed some on the same rights as their male counterparts. Most could own property, enter into contracts, and retain sole custody of her children. Conversely however, a large majority of Southern women during this time did not have the same political stature as their Northern counterparts; largely due to their influence …show more content…
Women were responsible for child rearing and maintaining the homestead whilst their husbands were performing their agricultural or political duties. From a legal standpoint, women who were married had their status changed dramatically once their nuptials had commenced. The law utilized the term 'coverture ' to describe a married woman’s existence. The courts recognized women as falling under the umbrella of a man’s assets. Quite literally this meant that women, by taking a husband, consigned their free will to the rest of the family, retaining for themselves only whatever influence the male of the household permitted them to keep. This social and legal position provided the groundwork for women to slowly find their position unacceptable. The advancement of status could be more accurately described as a suggestion more than a demand as the social stigma of being a rebelliousness woman was considered to be in bad taste. For this reason the movement from draconian rule within the genders to a status of equality was a slow, but consistent …show more content…
Take Jane Addams for example. Ms. Addams took advantage of the improved climate towards the female opinion by writing about social injustice and war. This is a zenith in women’s literature where the prose of women is judged on the content of their writing instead of the gender behind the hand that wrote it. During this time frame we also see great work being done by the likes of Emily Dickenson and a revolution in appreciation for Jane Austen’s work. We see during the middle 1800’s the women’s suffrage movement relying on the excellent works and efforts from the previous 40 years of women advocates to invigorate their zeal for progression, unifying the