Women and Their Rights in the United States

Women and Their Rights in the United States Prepared by Ms. Zelkowitz 5-512

In the beginning… • Women came to the United States in the earliest colonial times • In colonial days, women were responsible for the 4 Cs… Can you guess them?

Cooking • Cleaning • Childcare • Clothing

The Salem Witchcraft Trials • One of the first instances of discrimination specifically against women • Women in Boston, Salem, and other New England villages were accused of being witches and hanged/burned/tortured

Women in the Revolutionary War • Margaret Corbin • Operated a cannon when her husband was killed • The first woman wounded on the battlefield in the Revolutionary War • Molly Pitcher • Brought water to thirsty men at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey • Sybil Ludington • The female “Paul Revere,” she rode 40 miles on horseback to alert a Connecticut militia that the British were attacking Danbury, CT

The Early Nineteenth Century (1800s) • Women began to work in factories, especially in the garment (clothing) industry • Women could also be teachers or nurses, but that was about it • Women participated in abolition activities (getting rid of slavery)

The Early Women’s Movement • In the 1830s, Lucretia Mott, a Quaker woman, tried to argue that women should be represented in government as well • In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the “Declaration of Sentiments,” modeled after the Declaration of Independence, in connection with the Seneca Falls convention • Later, Susan B. Anthony fought for women’s rights in addition to temperance (a ban on alcohol)

The Seneca Falls Convention • Took place in 1848 in upstate New York • Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and William Lloyd Garrison • Aimed to raise awareness about women’s rights and wants • First suggested that women should be given the right to vote

Women’s Suffrage • Suffrage = the right to vote • Victoria Woodhull argued that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution (equal protection) guarantees women suffrage along with former slaves • Finally, in 1919, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote

Which of these cartoons are pro-suffrage? • Which are against? • How can you tell?

In the 20th Century… (the 1900s) • Women could still work in factories, as teachers, as nurses • Women started to work as secretaries as well • Women did increasingly more jobs when men went off to fight in World War II What might this famous political cartoon, created during World War II, symbolize?

Today… • More women than men go to college • Women are professionals: doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers, etc. • Women can choose what they want to do with their lives

Famous American Females and Firsts

Anne Bradstreet • Anne Bradstreet's book of poems, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, is published in England in 1650, making her the first published American woman writer.

Betsy Ross • American legend has it that Betsy Ross, a Quaker seamstress, sewed the first American flag at George Washington’s request in May or June of 1776

Elizabeth Blackwell • In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree and become a doctor in the United States

Shirley Chisolm • In 1969, Shirley Chisolm becomes the first African-American woman in the US Congress. • Her motto is, "Unbought and unbossed." • She served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years.

Sandra Day O’Connor • In 1981, O’Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be the first female justice of the Supreme Court

Madeleine Albright • In 1997, she becomes the first female Secretary of State for the United States • Holding this position, she was the highest-ranking female government official

Women and Their Rights in the United States