Notes, Questions, Comments

A Brief History of Women's Rights

Before the Civil War

sue – to take legal action against someone

endowed – funded

lecturers – a speaker giving useful information on a specific topic

empowerment – to give somebody power

illegitimate – born to parents who are not married to each other

 fervently – showing strong feelings of interest

criticism – an opinion of what is wrong or bad of somebody or something

abolition - outlawing slavery

 abolitionist – a person who opposes slavery

assigned – to give somebody a job to do

denounced – to publicly say someone is wrong or bad

preaching – to urge people to accept an idea

In the 1700s, men treated women like children. They did not let them work at any jobs. The law did not let them sign a contract or sue people in court. They could not be on a jury. Once she married, her husband owned a woman’s land and money. He even owned her clothing and jewelry. Most men believed that women could not run their own lives.

At first, women could only vote in one state—New Jersey. In 1807, New Jersey joined the other states. It banned voting. Men did not want women to vote. They thought they would just vote like their fathers, brothers, or husbands.

Changes began to occur. Education was an important issue for women. In 1821, Emma Hart Willard founded the Troy Female Seminary in New York. Hart was unable to get funding for the school from the governor of New York but later the town of Troy voted to raise money if Hart would move her school to the town. This institution was the first endowed school for girls.

One of the first female lecturers in the United States was Frances Wright who came to speak in 1829. She spoke out for not only the political rights of working men but for equality for women, empowerment of women through divorce, emancipation of the slaves, free religious inquiry, free public education for everyone, birth control, and equal treatment of illegitimate children.

In 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society was formed. William Lloyd Garrison, one of the leaders of the society, was fervently for women's rights. Unfortunately the other members were not. When women were not allowed to sign the Declaration of Purposes, they formed the Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1837 as an answer. The society spread and it became the target of much criticism. There was strong opposition to abolition and even stronger opposition toward the female abolition societies. Meetings were often mobbed and the hall was burnt down where the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women was being held.

In 1836 Angelina Grimke and her sister Sarah arrived in New York as the first female abolitionist agents in the country. They were brought by the Female Anti-Slavery Society and assigned to give parlor talks to women. Their lectures soon began to attract larger and larger audiences so the meetings were moved to public auditoriums. The sisters were denounced by the clergy for going beyond women's "God-given place."

In addition to fighting for the abolition movement, women began to rise to leadership roles. Margaret Fuller, a writer, began to have essays written about women’s rights published in newspapers and journals. In 1845, Fuller published her book titled Women in the Nineteenth Century, which has become a classic book in the women’s rights movement. In addition to authors, women were making some progress in the field of science. Maria Mitchell became an astronomer and discovered a comet in 1847. Although discovering a comet was not rare, being a woman astronomer was not common. A year later, Mitchell became the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

African American women joined the movement as well. In 1851, former slave Sojourner Truth was the only African American to attend a women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio. She delivered her famous “Ain’t I A Woman” speech at this convention. She spent her life preaching the message of equality for all people.