On November 2, 1872 Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly published a story reporting that a prominent and well known minister, Henry Ward Beecher, allegedly had an extra marital affair with Elizabeth Tilton, the wife of a well known editor and Beecher’s assistant, Theodore Tilton. Both Tiltons were members of Beecher’s congregation. Victoria Woodhull, supporter of free love and a proponent of women’s suffrage, implied in her article that Beecher, a pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn and an advocate of strong moral values, did not practice what he preached and committed adultery, something he advised against from the pulpit. It is believed that Mrs.Tilton confessed the affair to her husband in 1870 and subsequently retracted her confession under pressure from Beecher as well as Mr. Tilton. Mr. Tilton, apparently seeking to unburden himself, told the story to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a women’s movement activist, who in turn repeated it to Mrs. Woodhull.
While initially the affair was only known to a small group of prominent members of Mr. Beecher’s congregatio...
In Anne Orthwood’s Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia, John Pagan sets out to examine the complexities of the legal system on the Eastern Shore in the seventeenth- century. He brings to light the growing differences between the English and Virginia legal systems. Pagan, an early American legal historian at the University of Richmond School of Law, spins a tragic story on the legalities surrounding an instance of out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Indentured servant Anne Orthwood’s brief encounter with a man of higher social standing produced a series of four court cases. Pagan examines each case and persons involved, vividly connecting each case to larger themes of social class, gender, labor, and economic power.
This scandalous case centers on a woman named Katherine Watkins. On Friday, August 18, 1681, Katherine accused a slave by the name of John Long, also known as Jack, of rape. There was some evidence of violence, but there were also outstanding questions about her character and conduct. Those who testified, however, painted a different picture about certain events preceding the crime. They were John Aust, William Harding, Mary Winter, Lambert Tye, Humphrey Smith, Jack White (Negro), Dirk (Negro), and Mingo (Negro). Whether these individuals were so inclined because Katherine Watkins was a Quaker, rather than an Anglican, we can never really know. That certainly fueled the fire, though. The day in question involved an afternoon of cider drinking. Several of the witnesses in the testimonies recounted Mrs. Watkins sexual advances to multiple of Thomas Cocke 's slaves, particularly, a mulatto named Jack. John Aust pleaded that Katherine, at one point, had lifted the shirt of one slave and announced “Dirke thou wilt have a good long thing” (Sex and Relations, 53). She allegedly had thrown another on the bed, kissed him, and, “put her hand into his codpiece” (Sex and Relations, 53). The most interesting piece of evidence that Aust brings forward is that Jack was actually avoiding Watkins at the party, an apparent attempt at avoiding any intimate entanglement with her (Sex and Relations, 52). Finally, he reported that Watkins and Jack had gone into a side room (Sex and Relations, 53). Later in the trial, Humphrey Smith seemingly referred to Aust 's testimony. His deposition suggested that he and Aust had some reservations about Jack 's guilt (Sex and Relations 54). Clearly, the character of the plaintiff was considered important evidence in the trial of a slave for rape. The reasonable extenuating circumstances of the case might have granted the magistrates leave way
Women rights have always been a conflict in the United States. So hearing about two extremist who believed men were superior over women, the kingdom they created and then an ex-slave turn servant turn abolitionist leader, puts the concept into perspective. Many changes occurred during these stories and they show case women’s lives in America during the early 1800s.
Annie McClung introduced Nellie McClung to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, W.C.T.U.. Annie McClung, “showed Nellie the urgency for women’s rights in the issues of temperance and female suffrage” (****-1981). Soon, Nellie became a temperance leader herself and joined the W.T.C.U.. This involvement would prove to be a huge aspect in Nellie McClung’s life, one that could contribute to her legacy in Canadian history. From this guidance of Annie McClung, Nellie was also introduced to being a speaker and the campaign of universal franchise. In addition to the deep social concerns Annie McClung brought into Nellie’s life, she also introduced Nellie to her son, Wesley McClung.
Even before this event, the struggles of women in society were surfacing in the media. Eliza Farnham, a married woman in Illinois during the late 1830s, expressed the differing views between men and women on the proper relations between a husband and wife. While Farnham viewed a wife as being “a pleasant face to meet you when you go home from the field, or a soft voice to speak kind words when you are sick, or a gentle friend to converse with you in your leisure hours”, a recently married farmer contended that a wife was useful “to do [a man’s] cookin and such like, ‘kase it’s easier for them than it is for [men]” (Farnham, 243).
Grace Abbott died of cancer in 1939. After her sister’s death, Edith Abbott recalled her telling her students about the uphill battle to success, saying that “the social worker…should accept this as a way of life” (Golus, 2008). Grace Abbott never married, which was a choice that many ambitious career women had to make at the time. She was often ridiculed for this, with one senator calling her and the women of the Children’s Bureau “female celibates…women too refined to have a husband,” in an argument against infant mortality legislation (Golus,
But Cady Stanton saw opportunity in public criticism. ‘Imagine the publicity given our ideas by thus appearing in a widely circulated sheet like the Herald!’ she wrote to Mott. ‘It will start women thinking, and men, too.’ She drafted lengthy responses to every negative newspaper article and editorial, presenting the reformers’ side of the issue to the readers. Mott sensed her younger colleague’s future role. ‘Thou art so wedded to this cause, ‘ she told Cady Stanton, ‘that thou must expect to act as pioneer in the
The early women's movement was dominated by an uncompromising attitude of right versus wrong. This attitude came from the involvement of this same segment of society in the abolitionist movement. While intellectually appealing, in "Not Wards of the Nation: The Struggle for Women's Suffrage," William H. Chafe tells us that early women's rights advocates "were generally dismissed as a 'class of wild enthusiasts and visionaries' and received little popular support (Oates 153). One of the founders of this movement was Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Women working in the mills were typically native-born, young, and unmarried. As most of the boardinghouses were run by men, the idea of coverture does not disappear. In the case of John and Abigail Adams, coverture meant protection, but it took away from Abigail’s privileges. Similarly in the boardinghouses, women were protected, but they were so restricted by rules and regulations that they had very few freedoms. Although these rules limited women, they upheld the submissive aspect of True Womanhood because they were to be obedient to their
In “Disorderly Women: Gender and Labor Militancy in the Appalachian South,” Jacquelyn Hall explains that future generations would need to grapple with the expenses of commercialization and to expound a dream that grasped financial equity and group unanimity and also women’s freedom. I determined the reasons for ladies ' insubordination neither reclassified sexual orientation parts nor overcame financial reliance. I recollected why their craving for the trappings of advancement could obscure into a self-constraining consumerism. I estimated how a belief system of sentiment could end in sexual peril or a wedded lady 's troublesome twofold day. None of that, in any case, should cloud a generation’s legacy. I understand requirements for a standard of female open work, another style of sexual expressiveness, the section of ladies into open space and political battles beforehand cornered by men all these pushed against conventional limitations even as they made new susceptibilities.
Introduced by Susan B. Anthony at the International Council of Women in 1888, Matilda Josyln Gage began her speech with a brief sketch of her early entry into the suffrage movement: I have frequently been asked what first turned by thoughts towards woman's rights. I think I was born with a hatred of oppression, and, too, in my father's house, I was trained in the anti-slavery ranks, for it was one of the stations on the underground railway, and a home of anti-slavery speakers. Well I remember the wonder with which, when a young girl, I looked upon Abby Kelly, when she spoke of the wrongs of black women and black men. Then I remember, before the Round House in my city of Syracuse was finished, a large and enthusiastic anti-slavery convention was held there, attended by thousands of people who all joined in singing William Lloyd Garrison's song, "I'm an Abolitionist and glory in the Name," and as they rang out that glorious defiance against wrong, it thrilled my very heart, and I feel it echoing to this day. I am indebted to my father for something better than a collegiate education. He taught me to think for myself, and not to accept the word of any man, or society, or human being, but to fully examine for myself. My father was a physician, training me himself, giving me lessons in physiology and anatomy, and while I was a young girl he spoke of my entering Geneva Medical College, whose president was his old professor, and studying for a physician, but that was not to be. I had been married quite a number of years when Elizabeth Blackwell was graduated from that institution, which opened its doors to admit her, closing them, upon her graduation, to women, until since its union with the Syr...
The author takes the time to describe activities and people including the issues surrounding illegitimacy, the Kendall's, the court clerk, the ship’s surgeon, the midwife among others. These stories and people are the small but vital components of ‘micro’ topics that constitute micro-history. Together, the ‘micro’ topics reveal to the readers the legal system of Virginia and England, the role of women in the society, contracts and sale of servants, criminal fornication and the involvement of the church in state
When you assert that “The Gentle Boy” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a “heart-wrenching story that presents an eloquent, sympathetic portrait of Quakers as they confront Puritan persecution in Colonial New England,” you are summarizing the story in an inaccurate manner. Although it may be true that within the short story there exists a sectarian tension between the religions, Catharine, the Quaker, is not idealized as a victim and Dorothy, the Puritan, is not portrayed as a persecutor. In actuality, Catharine is a wild, overzealous, and unpredictable woman who neglects her responsibilities as a mother. Dorothy, whom you would typecast as a narrow-minded Puritan persecutor, is an ideal mother, a tender and kind human being who puts her instincts before what her religion may dictate. Hawthorne uses the distinction between Dorothy and Catharine to convey the true meaning of the story; extremism and excessive devotion to religion not only dilutes the mind but also warps natural core beliefs that a person should hold and adhere to. Hawthorne consistently critiques the importance that people place on religion and redefines the role it plays in our lives.
In her short story "Woman's Rights," published in the April 1850 issue of the popular Godey's Lady's Book, Haddie Lane explores and defines the concept of women's rights through the example of her Aunt Debbie. Aunt Debbie, exasperated by Haddie's sauciness and its rationalization as "woman's rights," takes Haddie on a tour of her daily rounds to teach her the true meaning of womanhood. As we accompany them along their charitable visits to the sick, the impoverished, and other unfortunates, Aunt Debbie's definition of women's rights is explicitly articulated as Haddie "realizes" the moral meaning of each successive stop. After visiting a once-gay schoolmate who now staggers under the weight of her infirm (and abusive) elderly father, Haddie voices her revelation:
Anthony was “Elizabeth Cady Stanton, born in Johnstown, New York.” She was fortunate enough, unlike most girls in her time, to “received the best female education available at the time, at Emma Willard’s Academy.” One day while attending a social activity at her cousin, abolitionist Gerrit Smith’s house she fell in love with another abolitionist, Henry B. Stanton. Henry was an older, “romantic figure, who was part of the world of reform”, this made him all the more attractive to Elizabeth. Her father was absolutely opposed to her relationship with Stanton but “despite her father’s [disapproval], they married in 1840 and [chose to go] to London to attend the World’s Antislavery Convention for their honeymoon.” There Cady met “Lucretia Mott, the leading American female abolitionist, [who inspired her to] study the Anglo-American traditions of women’s rights.” After the honeymoon and some time being married “the Stantons moved to rural Seneca Falls, New York, in 1847 where she had the last three of their seven children.” Being tired of her social confinement she, with the “help of Mott, organized the world’s first women’s rights convention and insisted on including the