Unit 3: Reforming American Society

1. Unit 3: Reforming American Society American History 9 Mr. Feeney Lucretia Mott Elizabeth Cady Stanton

2. Women’s Roles in 1800’s • Cult of Domesticity • Women were expected to marry and have children. Their primary duties after marriage were household chores and raising a family it became the Cult of Domesticity. • 1850- One in five white women worked for wages (N/M) • 1850- One in ten white women worked for wages (M) Women’s Rights: 1800’s • Women could not vote, sit on a jury, they had to pay taxes. Her property and money becomes her husband’s upon marriage. She can even lose guardianship over her children to her husband, if something would happen to her marriage.

3. Women Reform Movements • Temperance Movement • The effort to prohibit the drinking of alcohol, which also supported increasing rights for the church and women. Education: There were few schools open for women in the 1820’s, but more continued to open through the 1830’s. • Colleges were rare, but could be found in New England. Health Care: Women faced serious health issues related to their corsets, so women created “bloomers.” (Pants) • Sarah and Angelina Grimke • Southern Abolitionist sisters that fought to free slaves and eventually turned their attention to the rights of women. They opened schools for girls in the south.

4. Women’s Rights Movements • Seneca Falls 1848 • Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott held a women’s rights conference in New York. They proposed a “Declaration of Sentiments” similar to the Declaration of Independence. Near 300 men and women were encouraged to participate in public affairs. Passed a bill, “to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.” Suffrage, right to vote(The Americans, 1997.) • Sojourner Truth, a freed slave traveled around the country to preach about abolition and women’s rights. She published her memoirs titled, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave.

5. The Changing Workplace Early 19th Century • Women worked in the home • Sewed using natural fibers • Hand-spun natural textiles • Raised their children • Supported their husbands • Household chores/labor Mid 19th Century • Women worked in the mills • Used the textile machinery • Split with their families and created new communities • Established professional relationships between employer and employee • Pioneered textile industry

6. Manufacturing Timeline 1820’s- Cottage Industry booms and several small textile firms open in New England and make money. 1830’s- Francis Cabot Lowell and entrepreneurs open several large-scale textile factories in Waltham (Lowell), MA, using the IR’s new Power Loom to produce mass quantities of textiles in New England. They hired 6,ooo employees and made $6 million. The use of mass production, interchangeable parts, and low wages/long hours aided the remarkable textile industry boom in New England.

7. Lowell, Massachusetts • Conditions in the Factories • Long Days/ Long Weeks- 12 hours a day and six days a week • Hot, dark, humid, very poor ventilation • Required to increase pace, without hiring more workers • They could be fined if they came or returned to work late • In 1834, mill owners passed a 15% wage cut to all employees STRIKE!!! “UNION IS POWER” 1834 • Women wanted to maintain wages and went on strike, they were convinced to return to work for lower wages by the clergy. • 1836- Strike II: They went on strike over a 12.5% wage cut, and recruited many strikers, but in the end the strike ended badly.

8. Labor Issues • European Immigration • Several million German and Irish immigrants come to America between 1830-1860, and worked long hours for low wages. The Great Potato Famine- Led to a mass increase of Irish immigrants to US cities, the Irish would work for low wages in poor conditions, and they were often called, strikebreakers. National Trades’ Union- 1834: Workers from six industries formed to enforce proper working conditions or they threatened to strike, union disbanded in 1837. (strikes illegal) Commonwealth v. Hunt- 1842: MA Supreme Court ruled that workers could serve their own interests and protect labor rights. 5,000 people were union members in the US (1842).

9. Conclusion “The religious and social reform movements in the nation in the mid-19th century went hand in hand with economic changes that set in place the foundation for the modern American economy. While some Americans poured their efforts into reforming society, others sought new opportunities for economic growth and expansion. As the nation adjusted to the newly emerging market economy, migration west became a popular option.” -(The Americans, 1997)

10. Formative Assessment 1. How did the Temperance Movement help to advance the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the US? 2. Compare and contrast the changing workplace in the US between 1800 and 1850. Supply examples and evidence from each of the two time periods. 3. Think critically about the working conditions of the factory workers and the trade unions. How have they improved or changed in the last 150 years?