African American Women

809 Words4 Pages
Perhaps the most recognized factor of the United States is the liberty, equality, and freedom granted to each and every individual within its boundaries. These are just some of the rights that women throughout history seem to have been missing. However, between the American Revolution and the outbreak of the Civil War, “republican motherhood” and the “cult of domesticity” introduced new openings for women, changing the roles and ideals of American womanhood and giving them a new importance while at the same time, helping to maintain their inferiority to men. But, segregation and social stratification had yet placed another unwanted restriction on women as African American women, as well as lower class women, faced even more hardships and less…show more content…
The “Cult of Domesticity” assigned them a set of virtues and responsibilities in the house. Also, it gave women an advantage over men morally giving them the title of “moral guardians”. Women were thought of as more spiritual than men. In general, they were supposed to be care takers of the house and children, and stay faithful wives to their husbands. At a time when Americans were revolting against the British, the Americans boycotted British goods such as tea and denied their services. A letter written by a Philadelphia woman in 1776 states that they had to learn how to fend for themselves due to the cutback of their expenses and learned household jobs such as knitting while the Americans were fighting for their freedom. Women during the Revolution also became educational leaders to their children and became teachers. They were required to spread the “principles of liberty and government” on to the youth, receiving support as evident from Benjamin Rush’s “Thoughts Upon Female Education” for educational advancements so that children too understand the importance of what they were fighting for which was their…show more content…
Women saw even more opportunities to expand their roles outside of their household duties. Women became a large factor in the employment of factory workers. According to a graph showing the occupations of women wage earners in Massachusetts in 1837, a total number of 105,977 women were employed in factories manufacturing items such as hats, textiles, boots and shoes. Mostly poor and lower class women found themselves working in factories or in cotton mills for twelve and a half to thirteen hours a day, as Sarah Bagley said in “the Ten Hour System and Its Advocates” in order to provide a financial source for her family and help them survive. The working conditions for the women were no where near anything pleasant. However, they were forced to tough it out and sometimes even enjoy their jobs like Malenda Edwards had as she looked at the bigger picture in being able to serve her family well. Evidently, the rise of “republican motherhood” and the “cult of domesticity” had played a big role in the changing of American womanhood ideals. Women roles in society have developed quite a bit from remaining in the household to other available slots in workforces outside of the home. However, most women were still inferior to men and some even faced more of a chokehold because racial as well as social class
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