Margaret Sanger Birth Control In The Late 1800's

Birth control pills today are seen differently and are accessible to many people. In the past, not many people talked about the topic of birth control and shied away from it because men were afraid that women would take over and attempt to fight for equality. The long endeavor to have birth control allowed women to have control of their own body without being criticized as much today. Margaret Sanger was a strong activist who fought for birth control was born in 1879 and died in 1966 had it easier for her to fight for her cause because of the place she was born in. Birth control in the late 1800’s was not a popular topic and it forced expectant mothers to do self-administered abortions and resulted in many deaths.
Some historical events that
influenced Margaret Sanger to be a birth control activist were from the Women’s rights movement, Republican Motherhood, and the Roaring 20’s. The women’s rights movement started with a convention in Seneca Falls, New York where Sanger was born. This movement gave a passage of the nineteenth amendment which allowed women to have the right to vote. Having this right gave women hope to fight for equality and make a stand for women. The Roaring 20s was a grand movement that resulted in a social and political change after World War 1. From this, there was a decline in the feminist movement because they were not able to agree on certain goals. Due to the changing of how women were viewed and the increasing population, Sanger wanted to help women with their problems. Margaret Sanger took a stand for women’s health and sex education by becoming a birth control activist, influencing and motivating women to be able to have more control of their life, and starting Planned Parenthood. As a child, Margaret Sanger grew up with many siblings and lost her mom when she was young adult resulting from tuberculosis. Although she was not that close with her mom, this scarred Sanger for life and because of this, it encouraged her to find a way to help other women. It was not specifically her mother passing away from tuberculosis, but having seven miscarriages and eleven children. The process her mother had to go through was painful for Sanger to see because it affected her personally. Sanger had a pretty close relationship with her father, Michael Higgins, and looked up to him. He supported women’s suffrage and tax reforms even when many people were against his views. Being surrounded with her dad’s political views, Sanger started to see what a difference it can make if she became an activist or helped support what she believed in. She had a rough upbringing as a child because her father was emerged in politics and deserted his family. Since she had a big family and her childhood was unpleasant, she did poorly in school and suffered from hunger because her father could not provide for the family. From the result of her mother’s death, Margaret Sanger felt like she needed to learn about nursing in order to escape from the same mishaps of what happened.
As a nurse in where the slums lived, she experienced many traumas and abortions. She knew of many mothers who wanted to stop getting pregnant because of the life they are in. They could not afford another child and were afraid that they would not have enough money to provide and take care of the child. Hearing these situations being told pretty often opened the eyes of Margaret Sanger to find a way to prevent unwanted births. Her experiences with poor mothers who wanted to avoid pregnancies transformed her into a social radical (Mossman). As a nurse, Margaret Sanger was surrounded by premature deaths of women through self-administered abortions (Markey). She was tired of seeing women die because they try to make their own abortions. Since she was a nurse and knew about what the women were experiencing, she wanted to find ways to help them, so they will not be afraid of getting
pregnant. Through all the trials she experienced as a nurse, she wanted to take a stand and help women to give them a right to choose if they want a child or not. In order for her to get her idea across and help women, she needed to educate people. She believed that she had to get her point across on how birth control can impact lives and make it better because it will help bring the birth rate down and give women more freedom. Her journey to educate people involved a variety of strategies. She writing books and newspapers, gave speeches, and traveled everywhere to make it popular and get people’s attention. One popular newspaper that turned into a book that she wrote was the Woman Rebel.
This book was a controversy in the past and not many people were opened to her ideas. “Edited and published by Sanger, who sought to educate and raise the consciousness of working women through a newspaper devoted to their specific needs” (Estherkatz). The main reason for her to write was to tell women that they are not alone and that there is a chance that they will have a better outcome in life. One important quote that Sanger used was “No Gods, “No Masters,” which meant to get the attention of middle class women and also the more educated people. This meaning focused on eliminating the unnecessary things in order to make things better. “Only eight issues of The Woman Rebel ever published, it was was one if the first publications to focus specifically on the problems of working women and to articulate a new feminist agenda for the 20th century” (Estherkatz). This anarchist monthly was a big step to getting the idea of birth control across and also getting supporters to help her campaign. Another important book she wrote was the Woman and the New Race, which talked about contraceptives and the way it can help with overpopulation. In the book, she tries to convince the readers that birth control is the way to enjoy sex, but to prevent overpopulation and unwanted pregnancies. Writing in books and newspapers articles opens up the people’s view on birth control and help them understand that it
is for the greater good.