Women In The Late 1800's

There is no argument when it comes to the mistreatment women experienced in the late 1800’s. Treatment of women then was a lot different than it is today. In many situations they were treated as if they were second class citizens. In the late 1800’s, women living in the United States were not seen as equals to men and were treated unfairly in multiple ways. They did not have the right to vote, had different rights after marriage, were not encouraged to obtain a degree or carry out a professional career, and were viewed as housewives who only worried about chores and caring for the family.

Women’s suffrage was of great importance to the women in the late 1800’s. The women’s suffrage movement was one of the most significant political movements in history. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s contribution to this cause was monumental to the start of this movement. They along with plenty of other women and rights activists fought for equality for women in society. Not having the right to vote made women feel as if their opinions and political views were trivial and not equal to those of men. However, men

felt as if women were too emotional, less educated, and that political problems did not pertain to a group consisting of mostly stay at home mothers. Obviously, as history now demonstrates, exactly the opposite is true. Women have been proven to be more capable then men in multiple ways. Statistics show that women have longer attention spans, a greater capacity for noting detail, larger memories, and are far better at multi-tasking. In addition, they are more empathetic and able to see other’s points of view. All of these factors would not only cause them to be equal to male voters, but arguably the favorable sex regarding this topic.
Marriage in the late 1800’s was a lifetime commitment giving the husband full rights to everything the wife owned. This was a huge problem for women at the time because even their body technically was not owned by them. This was in no way right. Women were treated as if they were property and not as human beings. Women did not have the right to get any inheritance. Anything left to a woman went straight to the husband, leaving the wife with no control over how it was used or spent. Also, even a married woman was not able to own here own land. Any acquisition of property had to be placed under the husband’s name, leaving women unable to purchase land without their husband being present to provide his signature. Women were not able to sign any contracts without the presence of their husband. Married women pretty much signed their life away as soon as they got married. During the 1800’s, women were seldom able to get divorced. If a woman ran away from an unhappy or abusive marriage, they were captured by the law and punished. It was not until 1891 that they stopped capturing and punishing women for fleeing. Women were also unable to keep their income if they did work as a married woman. Very few women were anything more than housewives and mothers. They were not encouraged to acquire a degree or seek a professional career.
Many young women were not encouraged to obtain a degree at a college or to pursue a professional career.

Women were not seen as breadwinners in the household but instead as a supporting role to their husbands. A woman’s job was to clean, cook, nurture, and entertain. Very few universities accepted female students. The few that did were segregated for women only and not highly regarded at all. Parents raised their daughters, preparing them to be good housewives and mothers with no support towards furthering their education. Women were not though to be as smart, strong, or capable as men and when seeking jobs, had a very difficult time obtaining the position. The few women able to acquire jobs were not regarded as highly as a “good” stay at home mother and wife would have been. A woman’s role was not to be a student or a professional, but to be a

housewife.
Women in the late 1800’s were mostly seen as stay at home moms. Their jobs as mothers was to cook and clean up after the people in their homes. The mother was responsible for cooking all meals of the day for their kids and husband. They were also responsible for cleaning up after each person in the home. This consisted of messes around the house, laundry, dishes, and any other chores inside of the home. However, this was no way to treat women because it put a lot of stress on the mothers. They constantly had to clean and cook all day with very little breaks to rest.
The repression of women in the late 1800’s was unethical and was almost equivalent to slavery. Women are just as capable as men when it comes to everything. In 2016 women have proven their capabilities in business, leadership, and service. There should never again be a point in time when we treat women as second class citizens. The lost to society would be more than substantial, and the impact of their contribution would effect families, businesses, and every imaginable walk of life.