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Women's independence movements
Womens rights movement in the usa
Gender equality in all aspects of society
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Until the mid-19th century, women were considered possessions of their husbands, and had no control over their money or property. Thanks to the women’s right movement, this has all changed and things run a little differently now. Spouses are now equal under the law and property is shared between them.
In the common law, all women’s property except land and improvements went to her husband and it became under his control. “She” pretty much had no say in what happened to any of her things. Women were slowly losing all of their rights. If the husband wrote in his will that everything was his and none of it would be given to his wife, then the wife pretty much had no property if the husband died before her. If they had a kid when they were married and he died it would be under his will what happened to the child. The wife had no say in what guardians could be put down for the child. So if the husband did not want to put her in his will then when he died she would no longer have guardianship of her children.
During the nineteenth century, states started making laws enhancing a married woman’s disabilities. These laws were to make a married woman an equal to her spouse. For example they would be equal in respect to contracts, earnings, the ownership of property, and the right to sue or to be sued. “These acts abolished the spouse unity doctrine which is a common law doctrine which held that the husband had all the rights to the possession”
The acts all varied in spans when they were passed. The majority of states passed similar acts in the 1850’s. The first was passed by Connecticut in 1809 allowing women to write wills.Its impact on owning more property was very low do it was not considered the first act passed. Mississippi start...
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...g miserable lives like they were before these acts were passed. A lot has changed since they were passed. The world is a different place with women being able to own and do the things they wish to do. Without women now days, the world would be a very bad place. Nobody would be successful. Believe it or not women have had a huge impact on the world today. Many of the things in the world were made from women. Women have made the world a better place then what it was many years ago.
The Married Women’s Act took many different years to actually be passed. But when it finally was passed, the women had better opportunities in their lives. The years did vary that different acts were passed. But all in all the act was finally passed all together. It varied from year to year, different months, and different places. But when it was finally passed women finally had it all.
Women had not only been denied the voting rights and the lack of education before the nineteenth century, they had also been restricted the right to own property. Women who were married were basically owned by their husbands, up until the mid nineteenth century, so they had no regulations with money or their property (Hermes 1). If you were unmarried, however, you were allowed to be owner of property, but when they married the women became property of the man (Talbott 1). As stated previously before, women who were not married were allowed to vote as well as hold property, but a small amount of women did. Marriage was a disadvantage for the women, because they lost most of the rights they had previously. They were not allowed to buy or sell property (Erickson 1).
To understand the significant changes within the role of women, it’s important to look at the position women held in society prior to World War II. In a famously quoted ruling by the United States Supreme Court in a case denying a woman’s right to practice law, the following excerpt penned by the Honorable Joseph P. Bradley in 1873 sums up how women were perceived during that period of time by their male counterparts. Bradley declared, "The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother -- this is the law of the Creator" . While many women may agree that the role of wife and mother is a noble one, most would certainly not agree this position would define their destiny.
As the movement for women's right progressed, females gradually gained more equality and rights. In 1839, Mississippi permitted women to own property after marriage and some states later followed. Also the movement paved a path for women in the future to gain more equality as time went by. Although the movement did open new doors for women, it failed to solve all of its goals. For one, women still were not allowed to vote. Also, women were still viewed as inferior to men, and they did not receive equal rights until 1920.
It allowed married women the right to retain property they owned before marriage and wages they earned outside the family home. (pp.247) Their rights continued to progress when both white and black women were given the right to vote, although it still didn’t have the impact that was expected. Not only were women given more rights, but they also started attending schools and seeking employment. This was a big step for women, but men interpreted this as a threat to the balance of power. Weitz stated that after new “scientific” ideas were combined with old definitions of women’s bodies, due to their ill and fragile bodies, “white middle-class women were unable to sustain the responsibilities of political power or the burdens of education or employment.”
These days, marriage contracts fortunately treat both men and women the same, and look at it as more of a partnership rather than a legal contract with economical advantages. (Bernstein, 2011) Today, women have more goals than getting married and having children, most want to go to college and having a successful career. It is normal for a woman to be completely successful all on her own without a husband. These days, a woman can be the bread winner of her family while her husband is a stay at home father. There are also several single working mothers and single working
“What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine” (Women’s Rights). This quote may sound ridiculous. However, this quote gave a clear reflection of women’s lives before the 1900’s; women were not considered “people”. Once a woman got married, she lost all their rights! This continued until Ontario passed The Married Women’s Property Act in 1884. The movements for the right of married women grew in momentum as other provinces began passing the Act too. Before the Act was passed when women married, all of her possessions turned over to the husband. The husband could spend all of his wife’s money and leave her, although immoral, he would not be found guilty. Wealthy families tried to put a stop to the chance of their daughter’s wealth being taken advantage of by creating prenuptial contracts. These contracts were signed before the couple got married; it outlined...
the Nineteenth Amendment were signed into the Constitution, there granting women the rights to vote.
Women were confronted by many social obligation in the late nineteenth century. Women were living lives that reflected their social rank. They were expected to be economically dependent and legally inferior. No matter what class women were in, men were seen as the ones who go to work and make the money. That way, the women would have to be dependent since they were not able to go to work and make a good salary. No matter what class a woman was in, she could own property in her own name. When a woman became married she " lost control of any property she owned, inherited, or earned" ( Kagan et al. 569). A woman's legal identity was given to her husband.
Women are now treated as equals. Women hold many positions of power and make world changing decisions. Women are also treated as equals in the house. They are no longer expected to serve the man and do as he says. Finally, women are now allowed to have to have jobs. While taking care of the children is still one of the main goal in a women’s life, it is not just the women’s job anymore. It is no longer abnormal for a woman to go out and get a job and the man be the parent who stays at home and takes care of the children. While there have been many advancements and changes along the way, this is just the
An article called “The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women’s Right To Vote” on www.archive.org says: “Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920.” But, if it weren’t for the first suffragists, we might not be where we are today. Because of them, women are treated more like human beings and less like livestock. Women can now vote freely, can play in female sports leagues, can work pretty much any job, or not work a job at all. America is now a far cry from where it was in the beginning. Life, for both the male and female populations, is equal and just.
As far back as the Paleolithic era, women had different rights then men. Some of the injustices women faced include, not having a right to vote, a voice in law, and women could not enter most occupations. Women were not even allowed to get a college education. Once a women was married she had no rights, or in the case that the women got divorced she had no legally could not have custody of her children. Many religious believed God created women to be inferior. It was considered a natural law that men were above women. When women started the fight for more rights, it started out as a political and legal fight and eventually turned into a social and economic fight as well. Many women who started the fight, died before they could see there work pay off, including Susan Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone. In the U.S, Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren fought for the addition of women’s emancipation in the constitution. During the late 18th century, in the United States men had many rights while women had very few. Women also could not keep their own wages. One right woman maintained was the right to own property if their husband died.
Social movements refer to informal groups of people who focus on either political or social issues. The goal of the social movement is to change things in society, to refuse to go along with the norm, and to undo a social change. For example, the Women’s Rights Movement that began in the 1840s was geared towards getting women more equality in relation to political, social, and economic status in society (Foner). Along with this, women gained a louder voice to speak out about what they wanted to change and implemented the change. Prior to the Women’s Rights Movement, women were often timid, compliant, obedient, and mistreated. After the 1920s, a movement towards more equality was shifted in society views, however not all were convinced or changed by the new ideas of women. Although women began to get increased rights, the typical gender roles, which they were expected to follow did not loosely lesson. Women still found themselves doing the same gender roles, house roles, and family roles even after the 1920s. It was not until the 1960s when the Feminist movement began (Foner). The literary piece is “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady and the goal of the Feminist Movement was to create new meanings and realities for women in terms of education, empowerment, occupation, sexual identity, art, and societal roles. In short, the Feminist Movement was aimed to gain women freedom, equal opportunity and be in control over their own life.
Men basically controlled the ability of women's rights, such as voting, wages, and labor laws, also the way they behave, but the drastic changes women implemented for themselves and the rights they gained is even more amazing. Treating women the same as men is what is right. The power hasn't been equally distributed yet, but it's better for one sex to have all the power instead of evenly spreading it around. The future women who are able to become doctors, lawyers, and astronauts can now stand back and look behind them admiring the bravery of the women who fought for what was rightfully theirs in the first place, and for the bravery of the men to do the right thing by advocating women to have equal rights.
Many Americans, men and women, have become feminists to promote equal rights for women. Now when couples get divorced. the men don’t get everything; both the man and the woman have an equal chance to prove they are worthy enough to obtain assets and children. Usually, the female acquires the children and the male acquires the assets. “The Story of an Hour” might inspire some modern-day wives to oppose their husbands if their marriages are not going so well.
Challenging the normality, Margaret Fuller rips the chains of women arguing for equal status in marriage, education, and participation in society throughout her essay “The Great Lawsuit.” During the late 1800s to early 1900s, the daily lives of women and men were undoubtedly divided. Based on gender, people were expected to execute specific tasks to ensure that the home and community functioned as smoothly as possible. Men typically worked outside of the house and participated in many city functions. Women, however, were much more limited in their movements. The majority of their expected work were done within the home– cleaning, cooking, gardening, and sewing. Women were also expected to marry and conceive, and anyone who did not, were seen