Ap History

Our very own country was based off of the desire Americans had for their rights. We fought hard for them and our goal was achieved, but below the surface, a majority of the country was still lacking in individual rights and liberties that many had paid the ultimate sacrifice for. An extremely vast part of this majority was women. Their dedication towards their struggle to be equals was slow to progress and a hard ongoing battle to be able to hold the same respect and rights as the men that are among them.

Though early Americans had worked hard to not be what England had been to them, they still carried many laws, traditions, and customs from the tyrant country that they had claimed their newly-gained independence from. One such custom dealt with marriage. Upon the union of a man and woman, they became one. (Doc A) That one however, was the man, who was in control of in essence, pretty much everything in the eyes of the law. Although we had just fought a tyrant country, we were now allowing the men in a marriage to become the very thing we had fought. Abigail Adams made a series of attempts to raise awareness to this fact by writing letters to her husband, John Adams, who was highly involved in the government as it was being established. She reminds her husband not to make the same tyrannical mistakes that England did, for the results of rebellion may be similar. (Doc B) He replies that the government's reign upon the people was loose enough, and that further loosening may lead to disobedience among many groups. (Doc C) She was basically disregarded and continued in her efforts by writing to a close friend of the Adams' in attempts to reach out to another who could have any sort of influential power and would support female rights. (Doc D) The results were still somewhat similar, and Mrs. Adams was only slightly considered but was ruled out by the male prospective of their superiority. (Doc E)

Throughout our country's early history, the most all women performed the stereotypical domestic roles and household chores, such as housekeeping, cooking, raising the children, and weaving. (Doc F) As time continued forth, so did technology developments which led to the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. As jobs outside of the homes increased, so did the numbers of females employed in the workforce. In 1850, women still dominated the areas of domestic services and teaching despite almost half of their numbers being involved in factory work. (Doc G) Women were becoming more diverse in their work and continued to be a necessity and foundation to society and any sort of productivity, whether it is domestic or manufacturing. (Doc H)

The ideals of females in the mid 1800 are contrasted. There were those who knew their homes, families, and lives to be contained in somewhat of a "sphere" that could easily be influenced by their husbands. (Doc K) On the other hand, there were those who were independent and began to actively raise awareness of the issues at hand and promoting women's issues. (Doc J)

Teaching was a profession that was mainly controlled by women. General belief was that school should be a combination of learning facts, but also