Women's Rights Of Married Women In The 19th Century

In the early 19th century, women were treated differently than men. Married women were denied the rights to own and manage property, to form contracts, to sue and be sued, and to gain legal control over children. Women were also prohibited from voting or holding public office and denied access to higher education and the professions. Married women had no legal identity apart from their husbands. Divorced women could not even gain custody of their children. During this time period men were expected to work in the factory and women were expected to live in the home, taking care of the children, cooking, and cleaning the house. Women also had different opportunities than men. But there was a time for a change and for women to stand up for what they believed in… equality. They wanted their own freedom and rights. Early feminism emerged within the abolitionist movement. Addressing the male dominance and the discrimination of slavery which resulted in some women discovering their purpose and that drove them to make women’s rights a
Men had their own way of thinking on how a woman should be treated “women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere." (Truth) Truth responds saying this is a lie. No one has ever helped her in this manner, and others in the audience could relate and want to take action against all discriminators so everyone could have equal rights. She repeatedly repeats “A’int I A Woman” (Truth) and that this states that she should be entitled to equality. Both Margaret Fuller and Sojourner Truth had a different view on what freedom meant to them and they defined themselves differently and pushed for a society that saw them in the same way as they represented themselves. And each had a goal regarding their issue. Both fought for women having a public role outside of the domestic space society confined them