Women were very involved in the reform movement in the United States as they were not considered to be the equal of men in any way. They were considered to be too emotional and did not have the capacity to make sound judgments and decisions. They staged many protests and formed suffrage groups to attempt to make their voices heard throughout the reform era. This was a time of reform on many different levels for many groups of people and the women were finding their voice and reaching out for equality (Foner, 2008).
In Lowell Massachusetts, a famous center of textile manufacturing during the market revolution, the factory set up boarding houses for the women and girls that were employed by the mill. The boarding houses had strict rules for personal behavior to encourage families to send their family members and also established lecture halls and churches. Most women enjoyed the opportunity to make money and have some independence (Foner, 2008).
In 1834 the women at Lowell walked off the job to protest lower wages and then again in 1836 due to the factor owners setting up tents at the boarding houses. The conditions in Lowell were “prison-like” (Zinn, 2003, 228) and the women often got no more than bread and grave to eat. The rooms they worked in were poorly lit and very hot in the summer and freezing in the winter (Zinn, 2003).
The women were demanding fair treatment as "daughters of free men" stating they felt they were being oppressed almost to the point of enslavement (Foner, 2008). The requests they made were not unreasonable. They wanted decent housing and fair wages which do not seem to be too much to ask. Of course the management would object to these demands. The profit was the main concern of the factory owners and slavery was something that was accepted by many people as a way to increase profit. Considering women were not valued as a citizen and had no political voice, it makes sense to me that they would be treated unfairly.
Angelina and Sarah Grimke were daughters of slaveholders who found that the rights of slaves were similar to their own as women. They lectured in public about the evils of slavery and felt that whatever men should be allowed to do women should be allowed to do as well. They argued that it was a morality issue and that all people should be treated equally (Foner, 2008). Frederick Douglass was said to state, "When the true history of antislavery cause shall be written women will occupy a large space in its pages" (Foner, 2008, 448).
The reform movement gave women a voice that they otherwise did not have. This was an opportunity to be involved in the politics of the era even though they were still not allowed to vote, by circulating petitions, lecturing, marching and teaching about the different causes they were fighting for. Like the Grimke sisters, the women involved in the abolitionist movement began to see how their own status in the community was not valued and that they had very few legal and moral rights afforded to them. The participation in the antislavery movement gave them the experience and the inspiration to fight for their own rights as a group (Foner, 2008).
In 1848 the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. This marked a long and tenuous battle for women's suffrage that would span over the next seventy years. Besides voting, many issues were addressed at this meeting such as unequal access to education and employment, the husbands control over the women’s property and money, the issues of child rearing and custody in the event of a divorce and the general idea men had that women were inferior to men (Foner, 2008). The concept of marriage being like slavery was part of this train of thought. Many women felt that in marriage they were not much more than a slave to their husband. Ernestine Rice, a reform feminist stated, “Woman is a slave, from the cradle to the grave. Father, guardian, husband-master still. One conveys her, like a piece of property, over to the other" (Foner, 2008, 455).
The men during this time believed that women were inferior but did not necessarily equate women as slaves. The role of women had been long-standing and had not been challenged up until this time. It was difficult for men to understand why women would even want change as they considered them ill-suited for any kind of logical thinking or capable of making business decision due to their fragile and sensitive nature. The men had control physically as well and were allowed to physically abuse their wives and inflict corporal punishment if they deemed it necessary. The courts often did not want to interfere unless the abuse was considered to be extreme (Foner, 2008). Women wanted to have rights to their own bodies along with the political and social rights they desired.
During the civil war women took advantage of the labor shortage and began to move into the workplace in professions that men had dominated before. Women were actively involved in the war serving as nurses, laundresses, clerks, and organizing support and bazaars to raise money. It is sad to say that even after the war that women were still not considered worthy of rights. The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments gave men of all races the right to vote, but did nothing for the women of any color. Women became divided after these amendments were put into action and formed tow separate organizations, the National Women's Suffrage Association, led by Elizabeth Stanton and the American Women Suffrage Association led by Lucy Stone. Stanton's group felt that white women were entitled to vote before men of any other color while the other Stones’ felt that the amendments were a step in the right direction and supported the decision. These two groups would not reunite again until the 1890's (Foner, 2008).
The era of reform was a time of great change for women but did not achieve the changes that the women wanted. It would take many more years and much struggle to finally win the right to vote. Even after that right was won women still had many challenges ahead due to wage discrimination and unequal access to education. Alice Paul (1885-1977) eventually saw her dream after writing the original Equal Rights Amendment in 1923, but the amendment did not reach the Senate until 1972.
In my generation I have had the pleasure of watching women gain their independence in our country. The women of the revolution were the ones who saw the need for women to have the same rights as men and without their struggle and sacrifice we would not have achieved that today.
In my generation I have had the pleasure of watching women gain their independence in our country. The women of the revolution were the ones who saw the need for women to have the same rights as men and without their struggle and sacrifice we would not have achieved that today.
Foner, E. (2008). Give me liberty! An american history. New York, NY. WWNorton & Co. Zinn, H. (2003). A people’s history of the united states. New York, NY.Harper Collins Publishing. 