It also meant a declining birthrate as children represented mouths to feed rather than producers. By 1860 the average family included 3 children. This was accomplished with contraceptives. With this, married women had less status. They were less important since they were seen as having no economic significance. So, in the antebellum 19th century, conditions had actually gotten worse in comparison to the colonial era. This is the Victorian Age, known for structured everything including the roles for men and women and based on the belief that men and women were totally different. This limited the freedom of both sexes. If a person, man or woman, did not fit into the accepted stereotypical roles, they were ostracized. They were considered rebellious at best. These ideas were predominantly middle and upper-class ideals.

See if you agree with the values Americans assigned to men and women. MEN: Men are born to be independent, tough, tempted by vice, impure, not religious, political and economic animals, lack self-control (childlike), and obsessed with sex.

WOMEN: Women are born to be pure, religious, passive, modest, fragile, dependent, not equipped mentally for politics and economics, less intelligent than men (small brain size), and uninterested in sex.

The "separate spheres" evolved based on these assumptions. The result was women spent most of their time with women and men with men. It changed all the rules between men and women: BLATANT OPINION OF THE PROFESSOR: I really believe that many of the problems between the sexes today can be traced back to this era. I think many people still believe some of those stereotypes.

These ideas changed the rules of courtship. The rules changed from the carefree colonial days to strict rules. Girls were told from childhood to beware of men. Men were out to destroy her virtue. They were to always be on guard and always have a chaperone or someone who supervised the date.

Even fashion changed to accommodate the beliefs. Women were fortresses in their hoops skirts, corsets, layers and layers of petticoats, pantaloons, buttons, hooks, and laces. The movement of women was limited, too. Breathing could be a chore and cases of broken ribs and fainting were common.

Language also changed to protect women's virtue. "Chicken breast" seemed offensive so the term "white meat" seemed more appropriate. The same problem occurred to "Chicken leg" so it became the "drumstick."

Advice from doctors added to the frail image of women. Women were told to avoid sex except once of month to reproduce. Doctors advised inactivity during menstruating as it was "debilitating." On the other hand, pregnancy in marriage would enhance women's health. I would be surprised it that information was accepted by most women since they new women who died in childbirth. At the same time, women were told if they had a baby outside of marriage it would ruin their health.

Adult married women had many limit occupationally, educationally, and politically. So what could a woman do? Most immersed themselves into what has been labeled the "Cult of True Womanhood" or the "Cult of Domesticity." Women accepted the ideal middle-class woman participated in respectable activities. She was a "lady." Since the U.S. did not have royalty, terms of nobility were often anointed to others. Women were supposed to be "ladies" and respectable.

Respectable activities included female rituals. Those consist of "showers," food for mourning families, and teas. They also had to supervise the domestics and nurse the sick. They could have a flower garden and do needlework. It seems they did needlework all the time. Houses were filled with their creations as pictured above. They continued to make quilts as well.

Women were also expected to do volunteer work within the church, find evil, destroy it, and uplift others with her superior virtue. That accidentally opened the "Pandora's Box" in woman's history. Once out in the world promoting the temperance and abolitionist movements, they saw their own lack of rights and freedom. The majority of abolitionist crusaders were white, middle-class women yet they could not lead organizations, speak before mixed audiences, attend conventions, or vote to change the slavery situation. Women began to question that reality and the woman's rights movement was born.

The first U.S. women to speak publicly about woman's right were Sarah and Angelina Grimke'. They began in the abolitionist movement. Ironically, they had been southern belles living on a plantation with their wealthy, prominent South Carolina family. Their bother served as a Congressman. But, Sarah and Angelina turned against slavery. They said they hated slavery since as long as they could remember. They could not forget the sens of slaves being beaten. They believed slavery was un-Chrisitan. They became "seekers" to find a better way.

Sarah, the eldest began searching for spiritual answers moving from church to church until she finally discovered a small Quaker church in Charleston, the only anti-slavery group in the South. This led to her being ostracized and hatred directed toward Sarah. Even her family felt humilialated. In 1822, she left the South at the age of 29. She settled in Philadelphia and seven years later Angelina joined her, 13 years younger than Sarah. She also became a Quaker.

Still, they were unhappy. They found the Quakers to be too moderate with their favoring of gradual emancipation. They wanted immediate and complete abolition of slavery. By the mid-1830s they found other radicals like themselves. Angelina began writing letters that were printed in abolitionist newspapers and pamphlets. Being a southerner made her words more powerful. By 1836-7, Angelina began giving speeches to women's groups called "parlor talks" in New York. She said northerners were racist because slavery could not exist without the help of the North.

The Grimke's moved on to Massachusetts, the hotbed of the antislavery crusade. There, Sarah and Angelina were allowed to address huge public audiences of men and women, the first "respectable women" to do so. But it caused controversy. They were accused of being "unnatural" and "freaks." Yet, they won an estimated 25,000 converts to the anti-slavery movement in one year.

The criticism continued. They were "out of their sphere." They were "devils" and accused of only wanted to find African-American husbands. (I'm not sure how many of you realize this has been a constant accusation toward white women who support civil rights of minorities. On the one hand white women were criticized as being uninterested in sex, but when they said minority men should have rights, suddenly they became whores. It was the same way during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. It was even was turned on its head. White women who refused to have relations with minority men were racists and not liberated. I had it happen to me. I refused a date request from a minority man and he accused me of being a racist even though he was a foot shorter than me, bald (nothing wrong with bald unless that's all you can see when you look down at him), and I was not particularly impressed with his personality (and attitude I might add). So what the Grimke's experienced has been common in one form or another. I don't mean to whine about being a white woman but it does have its issues.)

Some halls refused to allow them to speak there. The Puritan Church (Congregationalist Church) issued a Pastoral Letter that said women who became "public reformers" would become infertile and end in "shame and dishonor." The Grimke's had new and unique defense. They argued they had rights as women.

Angelina wrote "if we have no right to act against slavery then may we women well be termed 'the white slaves of the North.'" Both of the sisters began speaking and writing about specific grievances such as lack of education for women and discrimination in the law and economics. And,they scolded "frivolous" women who stood by and accepted their situations.

Not all their fellow abolitionists were not happy about this. They did not want the abolitionist and woman's rights associated with each other. But the Grimke's seemed unable to separate the two. To them, it was one issue, human rights. They believed these were the rights bestowed by God and guaranteed by the law of the Republic. In 1838, Angelina became the first woman to ever address a U.S. state legislature (Massachusetts) and spoke about both anti-slavery and woman's issues. But that was her last real accomplishment in the movements.

Soon after she married Theodore Weld, a leading abolitionist, and had three children that led to economic problems, her health deteriorated, and conflict with abolitionists so the Grimke's left the movements. Sarah retired to care for Angelina's children.

It would be up to other women to carry on like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott who helped organize the Seneca Fall Woman's Right Convention or Seneca Falls Convention. In 1848, they convention met in New York City and marked the official beginning of the U.S. woman's rights movement. Both men and women gathered to draw up a list of demands. These included divorce and custody rights; employment opportunities; educational opportunities; equality in churches; property rights; business rights; and the right to vote which was the most controversial demand. But, the movement had a long way to go. And controversy almost stopped it before it began when Amelia Bloomer introduced her new fashion, bloomers. This was a shorter skirt but had separate legs. They gave women more freedom of movement but it was so controversial it distracted from more important issues.

Amelia Bloomer and Her Fashion Controversy

There were few successes in the antebellum era although some states did grant property rights and a few colleges began to allow women as early as 1821 (Troy Female Seminary) and 1837 (Mt. Holyoke and Oberlin Colleges). Most early gain were the result of individual effort like Elizabeth Blackwell who became the first female physician in 1848 as the result of a joke gone bad. In that era, graduating students chose the next class of potential physicians. When Blackwell's application was received they thought it was so funny, she was admitted so they could make fun of her stupidity. But, big surprise, she excelled and graduated.

But, most women were not interested in feminism. Only a few African-American women like Sojourner Truth cared. Most poor women were not involved. Most reformers believed the priority was abolition of slavery and most feminists assumed incorrectly that if African-American had rights, women would also gain rights. Both black and white women will have to wait 50 years longer than black men to even obtain the right to vote. For Latinas, the situation was even worse.

Until the 1840s, there were few Hispanics in the U.S. That changed dramatically and Latinas were quickly stereotyped and brought into the controversy. And, that takes us to our next topic, the Mexican War and the Movement West.

Do You Know Her?

Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar Activist
Digital Freedom Network: Aung San Suu Kyi
Free Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi
1991 Nobel Peace Laureate
Women of the Millenium

Emily Greene Balch: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
The Nobel Prize Internet Gallery: Emily Greene Balch
Biography of Emily Greene Balch
Encyclopedia Britannica - Women in American History: Emily Greene Balch

Ann Bancroft: Explorer
National Women's Hall of Fame: Ann Bancroft

Janie Barrett: Social Work Pioneer
Janie Barrett, Social Work Pioneer
Women Builders: Janie Porter Barrett

Mary Ritter Beard: Historian
Reexamining American History

Gertrude Bell: Archaeologist and Iraqi Kingmaker
Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell

Antoinette Blackwell: Minister
National Women's Hall of Fame: Antoinette Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell, M.D.:
Matriculation of Women at Harvard Medical School
19th Century Attitudes Toward Women Physicians
The Elizabeth Blackwell Center
National Women's Hall of Fame: Elizabeth Blackwell

Nellie Bly: Journalist
National Women's Hall of Fame: Nellie Bly

Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa):

Margaret Bourke-White: Photographer
National Women's Hall of Fame: Margaret Bourke-White

Belle Boyd: Confederate Spy
In Camp and Prison
Belle Boyd Biography
Belle Boyd House
Belle Boyd

Louise Arner Boyd: Explorer
About.com: Louise Arner Boyd

Myra Bradwell: Attorney
National Women's Hall of Fame: Myra Bradwell

Bessie Coleman Branch: Pilot
Bessie Coleman: First Licensed Black Woman Pilot in the World
Bessie Coleman Branch Highlights
Bessie Coleman: Early Aviator
It Wouldn't Have Happened Without Her: Bessie Coleman
Encarta Africana - Bessie Coleman
Handbook of Texas Online: Bessie Coleman

Selena Sloan Butler: Educator, humanitarian
Selena Sloan Butler
Biography of Selena Sloan Butler

Mother Frances Cabrini: Saint
Frances Xavier Cabrini
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini
Mother Cabrini Shrine
Biography of Mother Cabrini
National Women's Hall of Fame: St. Frances Cabrini

Donaldina Cameron: Missionary
Donaldina Cameron's San Francisco

Mary Ann Shadd Cary: Educator, abolitionist, activist
National Women's Museum: Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Blackfamilies.com: Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Contributors to Canadian Life: Mary Shadd Cary

Mary Cassatt: Artist
National Gallery of Art
Web Museum: Mary Cassatt
Artist Profile: Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt, Modern Woman
Mary Cassatt, American Impressionist
National Women's Hall of Fame: Mary Cassatt

Carrie Chapman Catt: Suffragist
National Women's Hall of Fame: Carrie Chapman Catt

Shirley Chisolm: Politician
Women's History Encyclopedia: Shirley Chisolm
National Women's Hall of Fame: Shirley Chisolm

Kate Chopin: Author
PBS: Kate Chopin
Ahead of Her Times: The Life and Works of Kate Chopin
University of Michigan Reading Room: Kate Chopin
Kate Chopin
About Kate Chopin

Eileen Collins: Astronaut
National Women's Hall of Fame: Eileen Collins

Martha Cotera: Raza Unida Activist
Chicano! Biography: Martha Cotera
Handbook of Texas Online - Mexican American Business and Professional Women's Association
Chicana Feminist
Handbook of Texas Online - Raza Unida Party
Handbook of Texas Online - Mexican American Women
Handbook of Texas Online - Women and Politics

Lotta Crabtree: Actress
San Francisco Museum: Lotta Crabtree
Lotta Crabtree: Variety Star
Lotta Crabtree: Fairy Star of the Gold Rush
Lotta Crabtree and Lola Montez

Celia Cruz: Singer
Africana.com: Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz
Salsa Goddess
Honorary Doctor of Music
Hot Salsa: Celia Cruz

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz: Poet
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz & Selected Works
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Project

Angie Debo: Historian, Activist
Angie Debo Papers
Video: Indians, Outlaws, and Angie Debo - available DCCCD Media
Articles on Choctaw Life - See "Choctaw Tradition: Raising Children" and "Choctaw Life before Removal" by Angie Debo
Ralph Ellison Award - See 1997

Bernadette Devlin: Irish Civil Rights Activist

Anna Dickinson: Abolitionist
Carte de Visite: Anna Dickinson

Rita Dove: Poet Laureate
Rita Dove
Africana.com: Rita Dove
Faculty Page at Univ. of Virginia
Rita Dove Home Page
Black Collegian: Rita Frances Dove
The Circle Association's Rita Dove Page
HomeArts: Rita Dove
Voices from the Gap: Rita Dove
Rita Dove HomePage
Rita Dove Page
Rita Dove, Playwright
Academy of American Poetry: Rita Dove

Abigail Scott Duniway: Suffragist
Feminist Voice & Vision: Abigail Scott Duniway
Historical Gazette: Abigail Scott Duniway

Mary Dyer: Religious Leader
Mary Dyer: Quaker Martyr
Making a Difference: Mary Dyer
Mary Dyer: A Quaker Martyr for Religious Freedom

Crystal Eastman: Activist
Crystal Eastman
Work Accidents and the Law by Crystal Eastman (1910)
Crystal Eastman: Radical Feminist

Fanny Elssler: Dancer
Fanny Elssler
Fanny Elssler

Frances "Sissy" Farenthold: Politician
Chicano! Biographies: Frances Farenthold

Geraldine Ferraro: Politician
National Women's Hall of Fame: Geraldine Ferraro

Mary Fields: Woman of the West, Ex-Slave
Ex-Slave Mary Fields in Montana
Mary Fields
Stagecoach Mary Fields
Afro-American Almanac: Mary Fields

Abigail Kelley Foster: Abolitionist
Women in American History: Abigail Kelley Foster

Janet Frame: Author
An Angel at My Table - Janet Frame
Janet Frame: Heritage Trails
Janet Frame: The Self as Other/Othering the Self
Janet Frame and the Language of Autobiography
Janet Frame

Hilda Gadea: Revolutionary, Che Guevara's First Wife
The Che Guevara Page

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Philosopher
National Women's Hall of Fame: Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Irma Grese: Nazi S.S. Terrorist
Excerpts from the Belsen Trial

Sarah and Angelina Grimke': Abolitionists, Feminists
National Women's Hall of Fame: Sarah and Angelina Grimke'

Janet Guthrie: Race car driver
Guthrie Recalls Racing Indy 500
Indy Not Up to Speed

Sarah Josepha Hale: Writer, Poet, Editor
Woman's Empire Defined - Sonnet
E-Text Library
Godey's Lady's Book and Sarah Josepha Hale
Early American Fiction
Sara Josepha Hale
Mary's Lamb by Sarah Josepha Hale
19th Century Women Writers: Sarah Hale

Hatshepsut: Egyptian Queen
Queen Hatshepsut's Temple
Queen Hatshepsut
The Queen Who Would Be King
The Great Queen Hatshepsut

Oveta Culp Hobby: Women's Army Director, Cabinet Member
The Little Colonel: Oveta Culp Hobby
National Women's Hall of Fame: Oveta Culp Hobby
Houston Who's Who: Oveta Culp Hobby
Social Security Administration: Oveta Culp Hobby
Oveta Culp Hobby

Dolores Huerta: Activist, Labor Organizer
Chicano! Biographies: Dolores Huerta
National Women's Museum: Dolores Huerta
Woman of the Year: Dolores Huerta
UFW's Grand Lady of Steel: Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta Biography

Anne Hutchinson: Religious Leader
National Women's Hall of Fame: Anne Hutchinson

May Irwin: Singer
May Irwin
Virtual Gramophone: May Irwin

Helen Hunt Jackson: American Indian Rights Activist, Author, Poet
Helen Hunt Jackson
Helen Hunt Jackson on the Web
Poets' Corner: Helen Hunt Jackson
Selected Poetry of Helen Hunt Jackson
Helen Hunt Jackson
Helen Hunt Jackson
Sonnets.org: Helen Hunt Jackson
Helen Hunt Jackson Biography
Glass Ceiling Biographies: Helen Hunt Jackson

Georgia Douglas Johnson: Poet
Georgia Douglas Johnson Poems

Margaret Jones: Accused Witch
Margaret Jones
1648

Mary "Mother" Harris Jones: Labor Activist
National Women's Hall of Fame: Mary Harris Jones

Sarah Kemble Knight: Colonial Writer
Sarah Kemble Knight
From the Private Journal

Umm Kultoum: Egyptian Singer
The Diva of Arabic Song
Listening to Umm Kultoum

Susette La Flesche: Indian Rights Activist, Writer
National Women's Hall of Fame: Susette La Flesche

Lena Levine: Birth Control Pioneer
Lena Levine

Maya Lin: Architect, Memorial Designer
Maya Lin
Women to Watch: Maya Lin
Architect Maya Lin
Maya Lin
Maya Lin: Monumental Artist

Belva Lockwood: Presidential Candidate, Feminist
Belva Lockwood: For Peace, Justice, and President
Belva Ann Lockwood Collection
National Women's Museum: Belva Lockwood
Pioneer Profiles: Belva Lockwood

Sybil Ludington: Revolutionary messanger
Sybil Ludington
The Other Paul Revere

Mary Lyon: Educator
National Women's Hall of Fame: Mary Lyon

Mary Mahoney: Nurse
National Women's Hall of Fame: Mary Mahoney

Mary Mallon: "Typhoid Mary"
Grave of Mary Mallon
Typhoid Mary
Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public's Health
Dinner with Typhoid Mary

Wilma Mankiller: Cherokee Chief
National Women's Museum: Wilma Mankiller
Chief Wilma Mankiller
Gifts of Speech from Sweet Briar College: "Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation" by Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller

Mary McDowell: Labor Activist
Mary E. McDowell: Angel of the Stockyards

Luisa Moreno: Labor Activist
Chicana Activists
A Reminder of Mexican Heroism

Lucretia Mott: Antislavery and Woman's Rights Advocate
Women's Hall of Fame
About Lucretia Coffin Mott
Notable Women: Lucretia Mott
Lucidcafe: Lucretia Mott

Judith Sargent Murray: Writer, Feminist
Judith Sargent Murray
Judith Sargent Murray Society
Judith Sargent Murray
The Virtuous Republic

Antonia Novello: Surgeon General
National Women's Hall of Fame: Antonia Novello

Clara Noyes: Nurse
Clara Noyes

Leonora O'Reilly: Labor Organizer, Civil Rights Activist
Leonora O'Reilly
Women in the Workplace: Labor Unions
How the NAACP Began

Vijaya Pandit: Feminist, Politician
Quotes by Vijaya Pandit
India and the Struggle Against Apartheid

Frances Perkins: Cabinet Member, Reformer
Frances Perkins: Pioneer of Social Security
Labor Reformers
Frances Perkins
Portraits: Frances Perkins
Speech by Frances Perkins (1960)
Radio Speech by Frances Perkins (1935)
National Women's Hall of Fame: Frances Perkins

Annie Smith Peck: Adventurer, Archaeologist
A Woman Before Her Time: Annie Smith Peck

Esther Peterson: Labor Activist
National Women's Hall of Fame: Esther Peterson

Pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Women Pirates
Anne Bonny
Mary Read

Mary Ellen Pleasant: The Mother of Civil Rights
Mary Ellen Pleasant
Mary Ellen Pleasant

Lucy Terry Prince: Poet
Africans in America
Pioneer Profiles

Alice Ramsey: Automobile Adventurer
Early Adventures with the Automobile
Woman Motorist

Jeanette Rankin: Politician
National Women's Hall of Fame: Jeanette Rankin

Sarah Parker Remond: Abolitionist
Sarah Parker Remond

Ernestine Louise Rose: Woman's Rights Activist
Ernestine Louise Rose
An Address on Women's Rights by Ernestine L. Rose (1851)
Jewish Heroes and Heroines: Ernestine Rose
Women in American History: Ernestine Rose
National Women's Hall of Fame: Ernestine Rose

Edith Sampson: Judge, U.N. Delegate
Edith Sampson

Rose Schneiderman: Labor Activist
Do You Remember? Triange Shirtwaist Fire

Elizabeth Ann Seton: Saint
National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Seton
National Women's Hall of Fame: Elizabeth Bayley Seton
Seton Heritage Pages
Elizabeth Ann Seton
Patron Saints Index: Elizabeth Seton
Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Manuela Solis Sager: Labor Activist
Chicana Activists

Mabel Keaton Staupers: Nurse
Nurses Hall of Fame: Mabel Keaton Staupers

Bertha von Suttner: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Baroness Bertah Sophie Felecita Von Suttner
Bertha von Suttner

Maria Tallchief: Ballet Dancer
National Women's Hall of Fame: Maria Tallchief
Kennedy Center: Maria Tallchief

Emma Tenayuca: Labor Activist
Chicana Activists

Mary Church Terrell: Activist
Progress of a People: Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell House
Women Writers of Color: Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell
Mary Church Terrell
Gifts of Speech from Sweet Briar College: "The Progress of Colored Women" by Mary Church Terrell

Adah Belle Samuel Thoms: Nurse and Activist
American Nurses Association Hall of Fame: Adah Thoms
The History of African-Americans in White

Mary Edwards Walker: Civil War Nurse
Mary Edwards Walker
Mary Edwards Walker: Surgeon, Spy, Suffragette
Mary Edwards Walker
Mary Edwards Walker Links

Miriam Van Waters: Reformer
The Miriam Van Waters Story

Ella Watson: "Cattle Kate"
Carbon County Outlaws: Cattle Kate

Sarah Winnemucca (Tocmetome): Paiute interpretor, peacemaker
Sarah Winnemucca
National Women's Hall of Fame: Sarah Winnemucca
Powersource: Sarah Winnemucca
Woman Spirit: Sarah Winnemucca

Victoria Woodhull: Feminist, Presidential Candidate
Victoria Claflin Woodhull
Victoria Claflin Woodhull: Feminist and Spiritual Firebrand
Victoria Claflin Woodhull: Suffragist
Victoria Woodhull: Unorthodox Feminist and Radical

Fanny Wright: Abolitionist, Feminist
National Women's Hall of Fame: Fanny Wright

Chien-Shiung Wu: Physicist
National Women's Museum: Chien-Shiung Wu
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu

Babe Didrickson Zaharis: Athlete
Babe Didrickson Zaharis