Assess the validity of the above statement.
In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution began full-force in the United States. With so many new jobs created by the new factories, even women were entering the work force. The famous textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, became a prototype for female factory workers — they went to church, did not form unions, and of course, were not allowed to marry. Few women entered the work force in factory jobs, however — at the encouragement of social reformers like Catherine Beecher, some became teachers in a time when education was undergoing massive changes. On a wave of intellectualism a few, like Louisa May Alcott, were even able to support their families through writing, though this was hardly common.
Though most women still stayed home with the children, a few, thirsting for knowledge, began attending some of the first institutions of higher learning for women. Oberlin College shocked people by allowing female students; in 1821, Emma Willard founded Troy Female Seminary, and Mary Lyon founded Mt. Holyoke in 1837. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to earn an MD, in 1849 from Geneva Medical College. A few women were challenging themselves to leave their place in society, but most were getting married and raising families.
It was at the same time, however, that women began to demand equality in their marriages. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a prominent social activist, left the word “obey” out of her wedding vows; Lucy Stone kept her maiden surname after marrying Henry Blackwell. When the first woman began wearing trousers, society jeered at Amelia Bloomer — but the pants still bear her name. A few women, like Margaret Fuller, who edited and helped found The Dial, began to consider journalism. The publication of Godey’s Lady’s Book continued into the 1880s. Clearly these activists were making some sort of mark on American society in the 1800s.
But their demands became far more shocking when they reach political reform. Dorothea Dix was one of the first to petition for more equality for people in prison or insane asylums, giving heart-wrenching accounts of the conditions in such institutions. It was the demand for political equality that would most shock the American public. Even most of the era’s feminists would not broach the topic of women’s suffrage. But when Lucretia Mott was denied the right to speak at a London antislavery convention because of her sex, she decided the time for drastic action had arrived. With the aid of fellow activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she organized the Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. There the feminists of the age produced “The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments”, modeled after the “Declaration of Independence” but providing for the equality of the sexes in all areas of life. Social reformers hailed it as a triumph, but the document did not receive popular support.
The feminist movement of the early 1800s came to a crashing halt in 1861 with the advent of the Civil War. Marked mostly by failures, its effects were nonetheless significant. Many women began to question their place in society, and Americans as a group could never again regard women as a passive entity. What progress was made by the likes of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton would forever be remembered as the power to change the system made possible by the work of a dedicated few. Women would never again be the weaker sex.
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