
Colonial Era: o 17 th
-century New England: women tended to arrive with their families; close-knit society o 17 th
-century South: relatively few women early on; most immigrants were white male indentured servants o In general, women in the colonial era were seen as morally weaker and more prone to temptation than men; this echoed the status of women in European society

18 th century: o Women played an important role during the American Revolution as they ran the farms and businesses while husbands were fighting; a few even served in the military o Molly Pitcher – aided soldiers at Valley Forge o Daughters of Liberty o Abigail Adams admonished her husband, John Adams, to provide increased rights for women after the war o However, women did not enjoy increased rights after the revolution o feme covert: women could not own property in marriage or sue or be sued in court o Ideal of “Republican Motherhood” took hold: women now seen as morally superior and should raise virtuous citizens for the republic.

Antebellum society: o Women were legally subject to their husbands o Husbands could beat their wives. o Feme covert: women could not own property or sue or be sued in court o Lack of suffrage o Traditional views of women's role: "Republican Motherhood" ; "cult of domesticity" : piety, purity,
Domesticity and submissiveness; (Catharine Beecher), Godey's Lady's Book o Lowell Girls – Lowell Factory o Reform Movement – Dorothea Dix o Oberlin College – 1 st
Co-educational college in the U.S. o Temperance o Oneida community – NY 1840s – woman has an “absolute right to determine when she will and will not be exposed to pregnancy” o Catharine Beecher – Hartford Female Seminary – support of women in education o Support of the abolition movement
-Sojouner Truth – “Ar’n’t I a woman
-Harriet Tubman – Underground Railroad
-Harriet Beecher Stowe –
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
 Women’s Rights movement begins: o Seneca Falls Convention , 1848
- Declaration of Sentiments o Elizabeth Cady Stanton o Lucretia Mott o Susan B. Anthony o Lucy Stone o Amelia Bloomer o Sarah Grimke

 Women’s rights movement was overshadowed by the slavery issue

Results o Increase in women admitted to colleges o Some states began allowing women to own property after marriage (end to feme covert ) o Mississippi was the first state to do so in 1839

Late 19 th century o National Women’s Suffrage Association: Stanton and Anthony (no men) o American Women’s Suffrage Association: Lucy Stone (allowed men o Merger of two organizations = National American Women’s Suffrage Association o Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) led by Francis Willard was most important o Wyoming vote - 1869

20 th century o Carrie Chapman Catt’s “Winning Plan” o Alice Paul – militant tactics – ERA o 19 th
Amendment (1920) – impact of WWI o Margaret Sanger, birth control – American Birth Control League o Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique, 1963 o National Organization for Women, 1966 o Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), failure to ratify, Phyllis Schlafly o Title IX o Increased access to job opportunities and the military o Roe v. Wade, 1973 o Sandra Day O’Conner appointed to the supreme court - 1973 o Sally Ride first American woman in space
Changes for women in the work place:
Throughout 19 th century and first half of 20 th century, work was considered inappropriate for middleclass women.
Exceptions: Women worked in WWI; “Rosie the Riveter” in WWII – 258,000 served in military
After WWII: women expected to go back home – many stayed in the workplace
Reemergence of cult of domesticity in the 1950s—some women began demand for opportunities in the workplace.
Women’s Rights Movement exploded in 1960s: Betty Friedan –
The Feminine Mystique
ERA passed in early 1970s but not ratified ¾ of states by 1982.
Percentage of women in the workplace continues to rise until the present
Sexuality
“Republican Motherhood”
“Cult of Domesticity” or “Cult of True Womanhood”
Comstock Law, 1873 – the “New Morality”
Automobile
1920s --Flappers
1910s & 1920s: Birth control, Margaret Sanger
1960s: the “pill” starts sexual revolution
AIDS in the 1980s and 1990s