Women from the Late 19th Century Could be Allowed to Take Part in Legal Issues and Getting an Education - Research Paper Example

? Women in the 19th Century Introduction During the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution took place in most of countries, and it influenced equally men and women. In most of these countries before the Industrial Revolution, most individuals were found in the countryside as their preferred place of living. They also owned very big farms and worked in these farms to earn their livelihood. This changed with the Industrial Revolution taking place. Most of the individuals moved from the farms to the cities with women not being an exception, whereby they were now working in industries while living in the towns. This is the period when work for a woman became different. This is attributed to the fact that women during the 19th century gained access to rights and even embraced working away from home, as opposed the prior concept of women always working at home. With regard to this, this essay will discuss some evolutionary cases in regard to women in the 19th century in relation to #87 Nickerson's Case, #89 Mercein vs People Ex Rel Barry, #96 Declaration of Seneca Falls convention, #136 Bradwell vs ILL, #137 Minor vs Happersett. Women’s position in the family during the 19th century and decency During this period, women were meant to respect the father as the head of the family as seen from the #89 Mercein vs People Ex Rel Barry. According to this case, Barry, the father of the infant expected to be granted more opinions and privileges on the infant more than the mother of the child. This is related to prior ways of handling issues of the family before 19th century. It is the judge Mercein who changed this perception especially to individuals like Barry and made it clear that both the parents needed to provide custody for the child (Rife & Smith, 2002). Nickerson’s case is another evidence of what women not being considered to play important roles in the development of their children; this is related to biasness that was implicated on the mother of the child when handling issues on custody. This is also the period that women were not allowed to make any statements in the public, and the divorce laws always favored the man of the family, who was always considered to be the head of the family. Women in most instances could not make any contracts, appear in lawsuits as one of the witnesses in a case, or even initiate laws suits. During this period, most of the women who were now categorized to be in the working class category increasingly shunned marriage (Rife & Smith, 2002). Women’s rights in the 19th century in education Initially, women were meant not to proclaim self-independence as attributed to the fact that most of them were not allowed to go for proper education, thus not allowed into profession. It is through #96 Declaration of Seneca Falls conventions that women’s perception on being self-independent came out clearly. The year 1865, women were given an opportunity to pursue their careers, for instance, become doctors. This can be evidenced from the first woman to become a doctor, Elizabeth Garrett in the year 1836-1917. This is the period that she also managed to become the first female mayor of her town. Most of the female lawyers and dentists were produced during this period (Rife & Smith, 2002). It is through this convention that women could now be legitimate owners of some properties, serve in the juries as key decision makers and also the issue of voting rights was brought in to light during this period. As a result, women begun to have almost an equal power to men in the society. For example, the case based on Seneca Falls convention, was mainly meant to address the major issues on women’s right. This mainly touched social issues, economic, religious and political. This followed that, in the year 1884 and the following years, most of the women were allowed to attend classes at Oxford University and also take their examinations seriously for the first time. Although they were given the opportunity to take their examinations, they were not awarded with their deserved degree until the year 1920 (Rife & Smith, 2002). Women rights in the 19th century with regard to voting and legal rights #136 Bradwell vs ILL is a case that was mainly meant to bring out the issue of professionalism to be more clearly stated. This can be evidenced from the fact that, Bradwell tried appealing to the court to be allowed to be admitted to the bar according to statue of Illinois. She was denied this privilege and the argument was that she was going to destroy her feminist. This notion of professionalism in women was later changed. Professionalism amongst women before 19th century was to an extent an abomination. Women practiced very minimally into most professions. Their work was meant to carry out the house chores and nothing more (Rife & Smith, 2002). Late in the 19th century, reforms were made in the legislation, and this allowed women to venture into the various fields of education. Before this legislation was passed, the women classified in the middle class category had only two options of either being a governor or a writer, which is the reason why the governesses from the young women category dominated most of the heroine category in most of England (Rife & Smith, 2002). It is also evident that women in the early 19th century were subjected to harsh living like slavery and prostitution. The constitution had no clear law that could prevent these forms of actions and violence to women. Most of the women, especially in the black American society, were forced into slavery and even to prostitution, and there was nothing they could do about it. This is due to the reason that, early this period, women could not voice out any of their misfortunes to the society, not even to the court of laws (Rife & Smith, 2002). It is thus of great importance to note the changes that occurred and the privileges that most women were given in the late 19th century. This enabled most women to pursue their careers and venture into the education as a priority in life other than carry out households for the family and ensure that the family was at its best (Rife & Smith, 2002). #137 Minor vs Happersett is one of the cases that brought a closer glance to the issue of legal rights in voting system of most of the states. According to the constitution, women had no right to participate in any of the voting procedures and this can be evidenced through the case of Minor against the state. She was not granted the voting right although she was a citizen according to the constitution. This was later overruled and Minor granted the right to vote and all the genders now allowed to vote regarding the constitution requirements. Conclusion The period of 19th century was a period that embraced the culture of the Industrial Revolution. This can be seen from most of the turn of events for the women in the 19th century in relation to the mentioned cases. During this time, especially during the late 19th century, women could be allowed to take part in legal issues. Like during divorce, a woman could be allowed to take part in the decision making process in court. Education is also another great evolution process that took place in the late 19th century. Therefore, women from the late 19th century could now access more services in the community than their prior counterparts. Reference Rife, D. M., & Smith, B. (2002). Seneca Falls: Declaration of sentiments and resolutions. Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Co. Read More