Women's Rights In The 1700s

700 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Revolutionary war and the womens movement

Due to the unequal treatment of the French people in the 1700s a revolution was sparked. The purposes of the revolution was to obtain equality for all (that is all free men) whereas previously only those who had large titles were exempt from hardships. As the war came to a halt those free men began to enjoy more freedoms. While a drastic change came about, in the eyes of some what the National Assembly came up with was simply not enough. With a passionate spark a new movement of women’s suffrage was attempted. One charismatic women’s leader spoke of these injustices and what must be done to correct the mistakes of the past. Two Declaration of Rights give insight to the thoughts of those involved during revolutionary movements during the 1700s …show more content…

In her preamble, she notes that “The powerful empire of nature is no longer surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and lies” (Declaration of the Rights of Women), eluding to the idea that no longer is the French nation run by a select few and because of this new liberation it is time for women’s suffrage. While de Gouge, the accredited author of these articles strongly believes in the equality between man and women, not just due to the nature of things, but because she really believed that men and women were equal in every (mental) way, the author(s) of the Declaration of the Rights of Man failed to mention the role of women in their articles. While this does leave some questions in the mentality of those in charge, it can be assumed that because a later declaration composed by a woman, the previous one in regards to man was literally composed simply for the free (biological) …show more content…

The Declaration of the Rights of Man provides new freedoms for those under the French kingdom; however, in this patriarchal society it fails to include women causing a new feminist movement to take place in the late 1700s. And while this movement was not necessarily successful, it has led to a shift in views as well as established, and soon to change gender roles in post French

Show More
Related

  • Women's Suffrage in the 1800’s-19th Century

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women, like black slaves, were treated unequally from the male before the nineteenth century. The role of the women played the part of their description, physically and emotionally weak, which during this time period all women did was took care of their household and husband, and followed their orders. Women were classified as the “weaker sex” or below the standards of men in the early part of the century. Soon after the decades unfolded, women gradually surfaced to breathe the air of freedom and self determination, when they were given specific freedoms such as the opportunity for an education, their voting rights, ownership of property, and being employed.

    Read More

  • Women's Rights In The 1840s

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the 1840s and into the 1850s, a rather modest women’s reform was in the process. This group was full of visionaries that began a movement that would soon lobby in change and this movement was the groundwork of equality for women and their right to vote within in the United States. Despite their efforts this movement required a length of seventy years to establish this necessarily equality and the right for all women to vote along the side of men. According to the CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION “After male organizers excluded women from attending an anti-slavery conference, American abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott decided to call the “First Woman’s Rights Convention.” Held over several days in

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The English Bill Of Rights And The French Declaration Of The Rights Of Man

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    The English Bill of Rights (1689) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) are roughly around the same period, in that it is possible to think the both documents share similar ideologies. To the thought’s dismay, it is not. Even if both documents start from the same question of taxation, the outputs vary enormously in that each has different aims: the English Bill of Rights (shortened as the English Bill from now on) only changes the crown and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (shortened as the French Declaration) changes the whole society. However, they are similar in that both strived for the representation of the masses.

    Read More

  • Joan Kelly's Did Women Have A Renaissance?

    2001 Words  | 5 Pages

    From the Renaissance, women did not achieve equality in European society for another six and a half centuries. Looking at the women from the Renaissance to the Colonial era and into the Industrial Age, as well as women in the suffrage, World War I and World War II, and making way into Modern Day, those roles and rights changed subtly and at a much slower pace than those of men.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Vindication Of The Rights Of Women By Mary Wollstonecraft

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 18th and 19th centuries were a time of immense social change across the European continent as the Enlightenment took hold and France immersed itself in revolution. The impact of these events was amplified by a flood of documents declaring the undeniable rights and equality of man. However, the documents contained an inherent hypocrisy. The highly praised authors had neglected to award any dignities or justices to women. In response, the female writers of the time released their own declarations of rights, and pointed out just how unequal their position was. One of these documents, The Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft, argues for the equality of the sexes and against the male need to suppress women. Her initial

    Read More

  • Unveiling Inequality: The Struggle for Rights in America

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Declaration of Independence of 1776 promised “unalienable rights.” However, these rights were targeted towards men. In the eighteenth century, the men who were provided with “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” were white males. Although liberty was fundamental to the establishment of the declaration, minorities were disregarded. Women were citizens but did not have a voice in politics. In both Vindication of the Rights of Woman and “Declaration of Sentiments,” females argue for their rights to be freed from a man’s oppression. Inequality of white males was conveyed in Cannibals All! In addition, emancipation and the voice of African Americans was argued in the “Corner Stone” Speech and “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

    Read More

  • Rights Of Man Dbq

    417 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Declaration of the Rights of Man was a very important step in the progress and change of France. This event was a major step in the progression of the French society for several reasons. First of all, when the National Assembly approved this idea, the document stated, “Men are born and remain free and equal in their rights.” These rights included “Liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” This shows the unitment of French men, and instead of some being superior over others, they are equal, causing people to ideally get along better. Furthermore, this event changed the French society in a number of ways. To begin, the French society was unequal. For example, men having higher standing on the social rank and acting superior

    Read More

  • The Other By Simone De Beauvoir

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    Feminism has always a hot topic no matter what time period you may look at. And while it might not have been called feminism at those times, women’s rights seem to have always been up for debate. People seems to have this idea about women and that they are lesser and weaker than men. Throughout history, many people have been trying to change the idea that women are weaker than men. However, one person who might think that that narrative might be hard to change would be Simone de Beauvoir. She wrote the book The Second Sex in order to show how she believed women were looked at to as inferior to men, not because of something biological, but because throughout history women have been referred to as “the Other”. I see her argument as a stepping-stone

    Read More

  • French Revolution Dbq

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    Before the French Revolution women were basically an object to men. The French revolution started to give women a voice. Instead of just rioting for their rights, women had started attending political clubs and even getting some men to vouch for their rights. One man who vouched for rights was Marquis de-Condorcet. Condorcet wrote “The Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship” which basically states that like all adults, including women, were entitled to the rights written in “The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”. While women could still not be politically involved, they were granted rights to inherit land and divorce by the end of the Revolution. We might not see land inheritance and divorce as a big deal right now but back then, it was a huge deal and set the stage for other thinkers and people fighting

    Read More

  • The Declaration of the Rights of Women

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    The French Revolution was a period of time in which France underwent many changes, many which could be considered revolutionary. France’s whole system and way of being was completely changed. New ideas were proposed everyday. An idea is revolutionary when it is a new idea, when it is something that has never been thought of before. The Declaration of the Rights of Women written by Olympe de Gouges on September 1791, was one of the ideas proposed to the National Assembly (Hunt, Web 1). The document proposed that since the French Revolution was all about finding equality for all people, women should be equal to men and therefore, should have the same rights as men did. Women at the time live in terrible conditions. They had little access to education, and therefore could not enter professional occupations that required advanced education, were legally deprived of the right to vote, and were not considered citizens (Class Discussion Notes). If equal rights were not given to women, the French Revolution had not reached its full potential, according to Gouges. She expressed this idea in her document, saying, “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights they have lost in society” (Gouges, Web). Anyone that questioned the Revolution was immediately put to death (Class Discussion Notes). If Gouges’ document and ideas were important enough to catch the attention of the National Assembly and for her to be put to death, her ideas could be considered important and revolutionary (Britannica, Web 1) But, the document was not revolutionary. The Declaration of the Rights of Women was not a revolutionary document because its ideas were taken from other people and were no...

    Read More

  • Women's Rights In The Antebellum Era

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    The beginning of change, also known as the antebellum era started in the 1840s and lasted till the Civil War began. This was the opportunity women have been waiting for, a chance to fight for the freedom of all women’s rights and be equal citizens. Before the women’s rights movement, women were seen less superior than to men and looked down upon politically, socially and economically. Cult of Domesticity also known as true womanhood is what society believed a women’s sole purpose in life was. Politically, women had little to no rights at all, they could not even vote. Socially, people believed that women should stay home, to take care of the kids and be submissive to their husbands. Economically, women were not given many educational opportunities

    Read More

  • Women's Rights During The Ancien Regime

    1253 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the Ancien Regime, women were hardly considered to be people capable of rational thought, and the disorder of the revolutionary government meant that much of the planned policy that may have helped women was never enacted. This disorder also meant that women, many of whom had been speaking out for gender equality, were silenced as terror swept the nation. While it is easy to look at these events through a bitter feminist lens, the Revolution was built on top of ideas that had existed for centuries, and although the revolutionaries moved to erase the old order; deeply ingrained prejudices are not easily erased. In the beginning, the French Revolution did intend to exclude women from the universal struggle for “liberty, equality,

    Read More

  • Abray The French Revolution Summary

    244 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this article, Abray provides a brief history of feminism during the French Revolution and suggests reasons for its failure. She argues that the most important reason for the failure of Revolutionary feminism was that it that it was a minority interest and that the movement was inaccessible to the majority of French women who accepted their status during the 18th century. Another reason she provides is that the movement was incapable of garnering support from the male leaders of the Revolution and therefore, was unable to gain support from any of the important Revolutionary groups. Abray also underlines the disreputable characters of the feminist leaders, the fact that they made strategic errors, and a “spirit of the times” which countered

    Read More

  • Women's Rights Thesis

    338 Words  | 1 Pages

    Women’s right is the fight for the idea that women should have equal rights with men. Throughout history, the right to property is what has engaged in this process of everyone having equality. Women’s suffrage has been a very big part of gaining the right to vote, the right to work for equal pay and reproductive rights. However, the revolution and its principles of liberty and equality had little impact on how everyone saw women, and their status was insignificant. During that time of revolution and later jumping forward to the 1830s, women began to take part of the antislavery movement that was drawing close and closer to home. Although, the struggle for women’s liberation in the United States was real, and these women were not going to go

    Read More

  • Feminist Individualism Essay

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    “In the history of feminism universalism has played a crucial role. The revolutionary promise to realize the individual human rights of liberty, equality, and political participation has been the basis for women’s claim for citizenship in Western democracies since the eighteenth century. I would go so far as to argue that feminism, even as we know it today, would not exist without abstract individualism, not because abstract individualism included women in its definition, but precisely because it had such difficulty doing so. Feminism is not, as pluralist arguments might have it, an inevitable correction to the imperfect implementation of theories of universal individual rights. Nor will simple declarations of human universality solve the problem

    Read More

More about Women's Rights In The 1700s

Open Document