strengths and weaknesses of the position of women by 1865

strengths and weaknesses of the position of women by 1865

1. experience of public life in temperance campaigns

   • these campaigns of abolition and temperance were often linked to women's roles in church organisations, education and charities. women were often effective campaigners for social improvement, and this led them into more political roles.

2. participation in war work

   • the civil war had important effects on women, both sides relied on their home fronts to support the troops by running farms and plantations and working in some factories. women found themselves taking charge of the households in the absence of men. women raised funds and tended to the wounded.

3. limited birth control

   • women suffered from having limited birth control, in 1865, families remained large and there was limited use of contraception which left women with heavy childcare responsibilities.

4. beginnings of the campaign for women to have the vote

   • one major turning point for women was the first convention to discuss female suffrage in seneca falls in 1848. it was organised by a handful of women who were active in the abolition and temperance movements, the convention was intended to call attention to the unfair treatment of women.

5. male attitudes

   • most men did not support a greater political role or social equality for women.

6. some famous women

   • there were some energetic, pioneering individuals, like elizabeth cady stanton (suffragist, social activist, abolitionist and leading figure in the early women's rights movement) and lucretia mott (her speaking abilities made her an important abolitionist, feminist and reformer). these women were prepared to organise and lead women's rights groups.

7. limited job opportunities

   • there were very few opportunities for women in professional work outside teaching, nursing, and to some extent, the performing arts.

8. many roles limited to traditional female concerns

   • when women worked it was often in lower-paid, casual employment, domestic service, or in unskilled and poorly rewarded manufacturing jobs. where they worked alongside men in farms they were expected to bear the burden of domestic chores as well as helping with agricultural work.