Women in the 19th century Manifest Destiny and beyond

The 19^th century in America was a time of change, of development, and of war. There were many immigrants, and tension between the Northern and Southern states about many issues, one of them being slavery. There were also many different people groups inhabiting the country, among them the Native Americans, the African American slaves, the  ‘White Americans’ and the immigrants, mainly Irish at that time.  What roles did women play then? Were there similarities between the different groups then living in the United States? The following few pages will give an overview of the women of these different backgrounds, and give examples of their daily lives in the 19^th century.

With the Manifest Destiny at the forefront of the ideals of the American leaders expanisonism played and important role of the political front. The three major themes that historian William E. Weeks noted about the Manifest Destiny were the following:

1.      the virtue of the American people and their institutions;

2.      the mission to spread these institutions, thereby redeeming and remaking the world in the image of the U.S.; and

3.      the destiny under God to do this work

The theme of virtue later transpired to American Exceptionalism that was traced to Puritan John Whitrop.

So to go back to the question what were the roles of women during the Manifest Destiny and beyond? How did the Manifest Destiny influence and affect women? What were some of the major contributions women played then?

Roles of women during the Manifest Destiny

As blog suite 101 put it:

Migrant women expanded not only American borders, but their own as well. Expansion and the concept of manifest destiny was the fever of the early nineteenth century, and women burned with it as surely as men. Many more women than would be imagined set out for the Western frontier with similar goals to those of men, to find fortune and a new start. While other women subscribed to the "cult of true womanhood," which valued domesticity, piety, and similar "feminine" virtues, women championed expansion for the cause of civilization, even while largely avoiding the masculine world of politics.

They were challenged by inadequate housing as well as an inadequate local social structure. It was up to them to establish a home for their families on the frontier, but they were also tasked with developing schools, churches, and other socially acceptable and expected programs. These types of challenges were usually met through women organizing women’s clubs, which were established as women arrived in what would become new frontier communities.

How did the Manifest Destiny influence women?

In the late 19th century, some reformers like Frances Willard with her temperance work and Jane Addams with her settlement house work relied on a separate spheres ideology to justify their public reform efforts, thus subtly both using and undermining the ideology. Both saw their work as "public housekeeping" -- a public expression of "women's work" of taking care of family and the home -- and both took that work into the realms of politics and the public social and cultural realm.

During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object. Some communities, however, modified the common law to allow women to act as lawyers in the courts, to sue for property, and to own property in their own names if their husbands agreed.

Equity law, which developed in England, emphasized the principle of equal rights rather than tradition. Equity law had a liberalizing effect upon the legal rights of women in the United States. For instance, a woman could sue her husband. Mississippi in 1839, followed by New York in 1848 and Massachusetts in 1854, passed laws allowing married women to own property separate from their husbands. In divorce law, however, generally the divorced husband kept legal control of both children and property.

For work in 19th century, however, acceptable occupations for working women were limited to factory labor or domestic work. Women were excluded from the professions, except for writing and teaching, which was another major influence of women.

Major Contributions of Women during the Manifest Destiny

What started as a wave of women entering the workforce, led to women finding their own political voice, and eventually uniting under a common cause. In the wake of the industrial age, many job opportunities became available for women. Inventions such as the telephone switchboard and the typewriter yielded millions of jobs. Middle class women, who had previously been confined to the chores of the household, were now working. This became the new face of women, out in the workforce and independent. The new image was glorified with the creation of the “Gibson Girl”, a magazine image that romanticized this new concept. These advancements did have their downside. Women were forc

"Anthony, as well as well as other suffragists, to begin the long battle that would be the right to vote. Though they never lived to see the day that women were given this right in 1920, their contribution would never be forgotten. She put a new spin on the fight for the right to vote. Florence Kellye led the Hull House in the fight for the anti-sweatshop law which protected women and children to work the same grueling hours as their male counterparts, but with lower wages. By 1890, the majority of the states in the US passed laws that allowed women to control their property after marriage. Barton raised money and sent supplies to the wounded soldiers. Independence in women was on a rise, especially in the works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Critical organizations such as the American Red Cross were founded as well as centers to help assimilate immigrants into American society. As a result, black women, such as the journalist and teacher Ida B. At the Hull House she tried to help the new immigrant population acclimate to life in America. Another, much less conventional, temperance leader was Carrie A. Women such as Emily Dickinson, Kate Chopin, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were big names in American literature. Seeing the great advancements that Jane Addams made, Lillian Wald followed suit and opened her own settlement house called Lillian Wald"tms Henry Street Settlement House in New York in 1893. She turned away from the traditional ladylike view of women. "

Women over all made great strides during the Manifest Destiny and throughout the 19th century which would eventually lead into a era of new women's rights.

So questions: 

Do you believe that the Manifest Destiny was a turning point for women's history

and

Was the Manifest Destiny and major expansionism changes an inspiration for the modern age of feminist?

work cited:

http://denise-moore.suite101.com/women-and-the-western-frontier-a184356

http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm

http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/5033.html

Women during the Revolution

For the majority of women during the Revolutionary Era the home was considered the center focal point. The man was the head of the household and women had a supporting role. If a woman did not have a husband she was probably assisting a parent, relation or master. Women fed the family, made clothing and household essentials, cleaned house and clothing, cared for and supervised the children (her own and any others that might live with the family), and served as nurse and midwife. Few items were purchased and most were manufactured in the home. Kettles, knives, nails, salt and tea would come from shops but candles, soap, clothing and food were domestic produce that took countless hours of work. Life was labor-intensive.

 

Although common laws were not uniformly enforced, a wife had few legal rights. Under law she could hold no property and a husband was legally entitled to beat her for disobedience. Spinsters and widows, however, could own property and manage property - until they married. Divorce was difficult and rarely granted, although courts did sometimes allow couples to live apart. In a novel approach to the difficulty this presented, couples in Maryland and North and South Carolina drew up divorce agreements, published them in newspapers and considered themselves free to remarry. These were not, of course, legal divorces. Other women simply ran away from bad marriages. Husbands often advertised for runaway wives in the same way they advertised for runaway slaves. In the lower and middle classes, marriages were sometimes made and unmade solely upon mutual consent.

          

  Women in the American Revolution exerted their political power in a few different ways. It differed not only for white women but it differed for Native American women and African American women as well.  White women, Native American women, and African American women came together in a sense to begin what would be fighting for women political rights which wouldn’t be for a good few decades but this sense of freedom would give women a new found hope that would later empower them to future make a change for them. The Great Awakening also brought women new found freedom as well.

            White women exerted their political power in many different ways. It differed from domestic chores all the way to boycotting British goods. Women in the colonies would stop buying cloth from the British and they made their own cloth. African American women would participate in this boycotting but not necessarily by choice. In the South and especially on plantations it was the African American women that would spin the cloth even though some white women spun as well. Women later also boycotted British tea and coffee and tried to make substitutes for them. White women considered themselves “a daughter of liberty” like Anne Green Winslow who said that “As I Am a daughter of liberty”. White women also helped the soldiers during the American Revolution and sometimes even dressed like a man to participate in the war. White women who did not impersonate themselves as a man tended to the soldiers by giving the food and drink. They would also sometimes be at the camp grounds doing domestic chores and tending to the sick and injured. White women also showed their political power by how the choice sides in the war and it wasn’t always the same choice as their husbands.

            African American women had difficult time during the American Revolution especially enslaved African American women. Enslaved African American women had to follow the political stances of their mistresses. For instances, white American women who owned slaves and who chose to boycott British goods made their women slaves do so as well. African American women had a harder time keeping care of their families because of the scarcity of food. The British also tempted African Americans to join them and in return the African Americans would gain freedom. This decision was a difficult one. African Americans would have to travel across war lines and risk getting caught by white southerners. They would later find out however that even though they seemed free from the plantations they were not free from the labor that they experienced on the plantations.

            Native American women experiences during the American Revolution resulted in how the tribes took sides. For instances the tribes who sided with the British suffered terrible loses because the British lost the war. Native American women’s role in their communities changed because of the absence of large number of Native American men. Their role as diplomats increased along with their responsibilities to maintain their tribes.

            The Great Awakening also increased political power for women. It increased political power mostly white women but it affected but black and white women in the south. Jemima Wilkinson who was a former Quaker believed that she was the female reincarnate of Christ and had a bunch of followers. Some women became traveling preachers but not the same as male ministers. For years women tried to exert their power by starting different religious groups however they were suppressed by white males and women’s voices became silenced after the American Revolution.  African American women were affected because of the Great Awakening as well. Some churches condemned slavery therefore some slaveholders who were devoted to these churches let their slaves go and African American women. Churches and households who did not condemn slavery still had much influence on African American women. Slave women’s duties changed slightly and now they had the responsibility and they were to bring other slaves to Christian conversion. This gave African American women roles of leadership that African American women had not experienced before.

            In conclusion, women during the American Revolution and the Great Awakening exerted and gained some political power. While they did not gain it in the way that we imagine women political power as we see it now they did gain a little. White women by far gained the most political power due to stature of the New World which was deemed officially America after 1776.  They exerted and gained political power when they decided to boycott British goods and made their own. For African American women they exerted and gained their political power when they decided which side they were too choose in the war and whether or not they were to cross boundary lines and join the British and gain freedom. Native American women gained and exerted political power by maintaining the villages when the men went to fight in the wars. The Great Awakening was a time for African American women and white middle class women to gain stature in the community. Some African American women gained their freedom and others took on greater responsibility to convert other African Americans to Christianity which gave them the power of influence. 

work cited

http://www.youtube.com/
Through Women's Eyes: An American History with Documents: Ellen Carol DeBois

Women in the Colonial Period

Women in colonial America had to sew, cook, take care of domestic animals, make many of the necessities used in the household such as soap, candles, clothing, and other necessities, the men were busy building, plowing, repairing tools, harvesting crops, hunting, fishing, and protecting the family from whatever threat might come, from wild animals to Indians.  It was true that the colonists brought with them traditional attitudes about the proper status and roles of women.  Women were considered to be the “weaker vessels,” not as strong physically or mentally as men and less emotionally stable.  Legally they could neither vote, hold public office, nor participate in legal matters on their own behalf, and opportunities for them outside the home were frequently limited.  Women were expected to defer to their husbands and be obedient to them without question.  Husbands, in turn, were expected to protect their wives against all threats, even at the cost of their own lives if necessary.

 

Separation of labor existed in the New World—women did traditional work generally associated with females.  But because labor was so valuable in colonial America, many women were able to demonstrate their worth by pursuing positions such as midwives, merchants, printers, and even doctors.  In addition, because the survival of the family depended upon the contribution of every family member—including children, once they were old enough to work—women often had to step in to their husband’s roles in case of incapacitation from injury or illness.  Women were commonly able to contribute to the labor involved in farming by attending the births of livestock, driving plow horses, and so on.  Because the family was the main unit of society, and was especially strong in New England, the wife’s position within the family, while subordinate to that of her husband, nevertheless meant that through her husband she could participate in the public life of the colony.  It was assumed, for example, that when a man cast a vote in any sort of election, the vote was cast on behalf of his family.  If the husband were indisposed at the time of the election, wives were generally allowed to cast the family vote in his place.

Often women were taught to read so that they could read the Bible, but few learned to write as it was thought that there was no reason a woman should know how to write.Furthermore, a colonial woman was expected to be subservient to her father until she married and then to her husband.Ministers often told their congregations that women were inferior to men and more inclined to sin and error.

The feminization of religion in New England set an important precedent for what later became known as “Republican motherhood” during the Revolutionary period.  Because mothers were responsible for the raising of good Christian children, as the religious intensity of Puritan New England tapered off, it was the mother who was later expected to raise children who were ethically sound, and who would become good citizens.  When the American Revolution shifted responsibility for the moral condition of the state from the monarch to “we, the people,” the raising of children to become good citizens became a political contribution of good “republican” mothers. 

  Work Cited:
 http://www.academicamerican.com/colonial/topics/women.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_women_in_the_United_States#1700.E2.80.931800

http://research.history.org/Historical_Research/Research_Themes/ThemeFamily/WomenEducation.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO0zxV8oc0k context=C3a309beADOEgsToPDskLyXSfpYbws2eMum3I5tq9x