Women and Their Role in 19th Century America - Essay Example

Women have struggled for equality in America and the 19th century was a pivotal point in this history.

The cult of domesticity was the role of a woman as defined by societal pressure in pre-industrial society. The men went to work and the women generally were the caretakers of the home and family. This societal approach evolved into a misogynistic approach that has carried over in some small social groupings to this day. Initially, the idea was not meant to see women as unfit for other roles or as less than men. It simply meant that because they bore the children and were the nursemaids naturally they were assumed to be better in that role, and as a result, the idea became a tradition that made it difficult to break when technology changed and made physical labor a part of the industry and not the entire industry.

Wage differences for women and men when working were generally drastic with very few exceptions to this. As a result of the poor conditions and rate of pay, several successful labor unions for women were formed. One in 1863 was called the Collar Laundry Union; as a result of going on strike, they won an increase in wages. Another was called the Daughters of St. Crispin and was formed in 1869; it was a group of women's shoe stitchers and was recognized as the first national women’s union. (Lewis 1) The advent of women’s unions helped shed light on the deplorable conditions and low pay suffered.

The Lowell System was a brilliant system implemented by the mill owners in Lowell Massachusetts. The idea was originally developed by Francis Cabot Lowell it included boardinghouses specifically for women employees run by “morally proper” older women. In the mills themselves the girls were treated respectfully and the supervisors were described as “moral” and upright. (Woloch 90) While this system was beneficial to the advancement of the treatment of women it did not necessarily advance the idea that women were equals, they were after all still supervised generally by men.

Susan B Anthony and other advocates for the equal treatment of women are the ones who truly made changes to show that women could be equal to men in all areas of life. Her first involvement was her approach to alcoholism and its contributions to the abuse of women and children. However, in 1872 after her massive advancements in this area from an educational standpoint she began to pursue civil and political rights that all men regardless of race now had in this nation. “From then on she campaigned endlessly for a federal woman suffrage amendment through the National Woman Suffrage Association (1869-90) and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (1890-1906) and by lecturing throughout the country.” (Anonymous 1) She was arrested, ostracized and eventually iconized as one of the “mothers” of the women’s freedom movement which eventually resulted in the right to vote and equal civil rights.