American Women &

Civil Rights

Civil Rights: The rights of all Americans to equal treatment under the law.

Voting is a Civil Right.

The US Constitution in 1789 gave women no

rights; many women felt betrayed, as they had

sacrificed much to help American men win the

Revolutionary War.

Victorian ideals were strict, and four virtues for women were indicated:

Piety: women were more religious & spiritual in nature than menPurity: women were not expected to have sex until marriage, and then, they must never enjoy sex; it was used for procreation only!

Submission: women were expected to passively respond to men

Domesticity: the woman was to be at home; this would serve as a safeguard against the temptations of everyday life.

Women could neither vote nor own property. A father and/or husband had unlimited authority over his wife and children.Women were “ladies”; they would never be offered a chicken breast at dinner, only “light meat.” Women did not have arms & legs, only “limbs.” Women could not work; this would lead to prostitution.

Many wealthy & educated women in

the mid-1800s began to work for social

reform, especially in the area of abolition.

Women began to demand reform in three areas:1. Dress: corsets, bustles

2. Education and political participation: The right to be educated and to vote.

3. Working Conditions: poor women who were forced to work did so under deplorable conditions.

The first rights convention for

women was held in 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York.

Watch the video clip; summarize the

events of Seneca Falls;identify the two

leaders at Seneca Falls.

After the Civil War, the suffragists were

appalled that the 14th and 15th Amendments

were ratified, only providing rights to men.

In addition, two Supreme Court cases f ollowing the Civil War were legal setbacks f or the movement:

Minor v. Happersett: (1874): Women did not have the right to vote.

Bradwell v. Illinois: (1872) Women did not have to be granted a license to practice law; J ustices said a woman’s role was a “wife” & “mother.”

In 1912, T. Roosevelt’s

Progressive Party became the first major party to

endorse women’s suffrage.

There was also an anti-suffragist

movement with both men and women

who believed women did not need to vote.

http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/photos/html/1014.html

In 1913, the women suffragists marched in Washington, DC,

one day before President Wilson’s

inauguration.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?suffrg:1:./temp/~ammem_cM2a::displayType=1:m856sd=cph:m856sf=3a23348:@@@

In 1917, a group of suffragists began to picket

the White House, led by Alice Paul. They said, “If

you want us to support the fight in Europe (WWI),

then give us true democracy here!”

At first, Wilson was amused, but became less so as the protests continued. Wilson

has the group arrested and sentenced to a work house, where they were beaten and tortured; the protests continued. Wilson

called the women, “Insulting, unpatriotic, and unfeminine.” He did not believe that

women should ever have the right to vote. Due to political pressure, however, he was forced to change his public stance. In order to gain political support for the war effort,

he had to public ally support women’s suffrage.

Finally, in 1920, the Nineteenth

Amendment was passed in Congress & ratified in the states.