REFORMING AMERICAN SOCIETYAmerican History I - Unit 6

Ms. Brown

Review• Most slaves lived in _____________ areas and worked as day

laborers on ____________________ in _____________ fields.• Rural, plantations, cotton

• What is abolition?• Banning/outlawing slavery

• Who was William Lloyd Garrison and what did he call for?• White abolitionist – the immediate emancipation of all slaves and no

payment to slave holders

• What were the 2 responses to Nat Turner’s Rebellion?• End slavery OR place tighter restrictions on blacks and slaves

• What were 2 arguments that slavery supporters used to defend slavery as “good?”• The Bible allowed it and slaves were actually “happy” (“happy slave”

myth)

6.3 –WOMEN IN REFORM MOVEMENTS

Women’s Roles in the Mid-1800s• Early 1800s – limited

options for women• Tradition said the place

for a woman was in the home

• Child-rearing (raising kids)

• Housework

• Cult of domesticity – the traditional view that a women’s proper place was in the home

Women’s Roles in the Mid-1800s• By 1850, 1 in 10 women worked outside the home for a

wage• Less than ½ the pay men received for the same work

• Women were taxpayers but could not vote or sit on a jury.

• When a woman married, her property and money became her husband’s.

• Women were expected to raise children, but were not granted guardianship rights over children.

Women in Reform Movements• Despite restrictions, women were active in the reform

movements in the 1800s.• Inspired by the 2nd Great Awakening• Often shut out of meetings with male reformers started their own

societies and movements

• Women were active in the following reform movements:• Abolition – fighting to end slavery• Temperance – outlawing alcohol• Education – equal for the sexes• Health – understanding the female body

Women and Abolition• The Grimké Sisters - the most

outspoken female abolitionists• Daughters of a wealthy plantation

owner• Feared for the salvation of whites

because slavery was a sin

• Angelina wrote An Appeal to Christian Women of the South• End the “oppressive and cruel

system.”

• Faced discrimination from some male abolitionists.

Sojourner Truth• Born Isabella Baumfree• Slave until age 30• Traveled (sojourned) the country to

speak about abolition

• Some white women didn’t support Truth because they feared people would discredit women’s rights reform and abolition if a black women publically called for it

• However, her speaking skills won over audiences and support for abolition

Women and Temperance• Temperance movement –

the effort to prohibit/ban alcohol• Improve society by decreasing

drunkenness

• 1800s – Alcohol was heavily consumed.• Liquor and beer with meals• Liquor used by doctors and

surgeons as an anesthetic (pain-blocker)

• Drunkenness became a big problem

Women and Temperance• 1833 – 6,000 local temperance societies in the US

• wanted to ban alcohol to improve society• Held rallies, passed out pamphlets• Steady decline in the amount of alcohol sold and consumed from

1800-1860s

Women and Education Reform• Until the 1820s, education for women was limited.

• The Grimké Sisters were not only abolitionists, but active in reforming education too.

• Sarah Grimké – complained that a woman was thought to be educated enough if she knew… “chemistry enough to keep the pot boiling, and geography enough to know the location of the different rooms in her house.”

Women and Education Reform• 1821 – Emma Willard opened 1st school for girls in

Troy, NY• Became a model for female schools • Did very well – despite being made fun of by men, “they will be

educating cows next!”

Women and Education Reform• 1830s

• Mary Lyon established Mount Holyoke College in MA.• Oberlin College in OH admitted 4 girls – became the 1st

coeducational college in the US.

• Educational opportunities for African American girls would not be available until after the Civil War.

Women and Health Reform• 1800s – the female body was not

clearly understood.• What specific health issues

concerned only women and not men?• How did the female body differ from

men’s

• 1850s – national health survey on women 3 in 4 women were sick!• Rarely bathed• Rarely exercised• Wore restrictive clothing (corsets)

that made breathing difficult

Women and Health Reform• Some women chose to wear “bloomers.”

• Loose-fitting pants• Named after Amelia Bloomer who made them fashionable• Many men were outraged by women wearing pants (went against

the cult of domesticity!)

Women’s Rights Emerge• Female participation in various reform movements led to

women wanting their own rights!

• 1848 – Seneca Falls Convention• Seneca Falls, NY• Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott• 300 women

Women’s Rights Emerge• Women at the Seneca Falls

Convention wrote the “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments”

• modeled after the Declaration of Independence

• a list of grievances and complaints women had about their treatment in society

• “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal.”

• Included a call for women’s suffrage