American Women

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American Women Civil Rights
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Civil Rights The rights of all Americans to
equal treatment under the law.
Voting is a Civil Right.
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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.
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Victorian ideals were strict, and four virtues
for women were indicated
Piety women were more religious spiritual in
nature than men
Purity 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.
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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.
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Many wealthy educated women in the mid-1800s
began to work for social reform, especially in
the area of abolition.
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Women began to demand reform in three areas

• Dress corsets, bustles
• Education and political participation The right
  to be educated and to vote.
• Working Conditions poor women who were forced
  to work did so under deplorable conditions.

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The first rights convention for women was held in
1848, in Seneca Falls, New York.
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Watch the video clip summarize the events of
Seneca Fallsidentify the two leaders at Seneca
Falls.
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After the Civil War, the suffragists were
appalled that the 14th and 15th Amendments were
ratified, only providing rights to men.
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In 1912, T. Roosevelts Progressive Party became
the first major party to endorse womens suffrage.
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There was also an anti-suffragist movement with
both men and women who believed women did not
need to vote.
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In 1913, the women suffragists marched in
Washington, DC, one day before President Wilsons
inauguration.
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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!
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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 womens suffrage.
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Finally, in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was
passed in Congress ratified in the states.
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