UPPER CLASS WHITE WOMEN

By Matthew Leone, Katelyn Amaral, and Timothy Rehnborg

HIST13061-Summer 2015 – History- Wentworth Instititute

INTRODUCTION

“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.

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

EARLY AMERICAN VIEWSGender 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)

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

"THE AVERAGE FARMER'S WIFE IS ONE OF THE MOST PATIENT AND OVERWORKED WOMEN OF THE TIME." -AMERICAN FARMER, 1884 (CONNER PRAIRIE)

THE RISING ROLE OF WOMEN

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

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)

NEW YORK WAS LEADING THE WAY FOR WOMEN

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)

SHIFTING VIEWSThe 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)

HOWEVER, THE WOMEN TYPICALLY HAD OTHER PLANS AND TENDED TO THEIR INTERESTS AND PARTICIPATION IN POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES. MANY OF THESE WOMEN WERE ABOLITIONISTS AND LOBBIED FOR MINORITIES. EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE WHITE, THEY COULD RELATE WITH THE OPPRESSED PEOPLE. (BOUNDLESS-WOMEN AND MINORITIES AND DEMOCRACY)

A CALL FOR CHANGEThese 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.

ECONOMIC INFLUENCE “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.

THE OLD VALUES: “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)

“1848: THE FIRST WOMAN'S RIGHTS CONVENTION IS HELD IN SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK. ATTENDED BY 300 PEOPLE INCLUDING 40 MEN. DISCUSSIONS RANGE FROM THE REFORMING MARRIAGE AND PROPERTY LAWS TO A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO VOTE. IN THE END, 68 WOMEN AND 32 MEN SIGN A DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS CALLING FOR EQUAL TREATMENT OF WOMEN AND MEN UNDER LAW AND VOTING RIGHTS FOR WOMEN.” (BLOOMSBURG)

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.

MARRIED WOMEN’S PROPERTY ACT“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.

MARRIED WOMEN CAN NOW OWN PROPERTYThis 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.

ALL WOMEN CAN NOW WORK AND PARTICIPATE EQUALLY IN THE ECONOMY

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.

“ALMOST ALL THE TELEPHONE 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 WOMEN.

ALL WOMEN CAN VOTE

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)”

KEY FIGURE: CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILLMAN

“ 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)

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.

POLITICS

“Many Women's Rights activists were fighting to overturn not just laws, but

attitudes.”

-John Green

Susan B. Anthony

EARLY BEGINNINGS"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

WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE

Ernestine Rose Frances 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

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION 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

"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

DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS AND RESOLUTIONS

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.

GRASSROOT MOVEMENTS

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

PROGRESSIVE COLLABORATIONS 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

REFORMATIONS 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

"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)

REFERENCES 1Boundless 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.

REFERENCES 2

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.