The role of women in America has advanced over a period of time since the late 1700’s. In 1776, Abigail Adams expressed her discontent with the lack of women’s rights when she wrote to her husband, President John Adams, stating that women “will not hold ourselves bound by laws in which we have no voice.”1 Ever since then women have spoken out against such unjust rule in which restricted them from making decisions in political, social and even personal realms, such as reproduction. Women were not supported by The Constitution of the United States in the way men were until the 19th century, and many would argue even beyond. The Constitution declares the rights of the people among other things, and for hundreds of years it failed to include women, blacks, Native Americans and immigrants in its appropriations. Created by the founding fathers, the Constitution placed minimal responsibility and worth on women, something society did as well. Women were considered to be inferior to men in most aspects; they were not allowed to obtain an education, vote, work, have control of their reproductive systems, serve in political office, serve in the military or purchase land. In fact, the only thing that women were deemed fit to do was bear children and look after their families; a women’s place was considered by both law and society to be in the home. Slowly but surely women began to realize their worth should not be determined by a man and spearheaded a revolution of policy changes and social constructs based on the same ideology of Abigail Adams, and fortunately an ideology that persists today.
The 1848 Seneca Convention marked a starting point of this revolution. The two-day convention spawned a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, which set the agenda for the Women Rights Movement in 12 resolutions calling for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.2
The purpose of this blog is to highlight the lives of women who have made it their life goal to push the Women Rights Movement and other social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement as far as they could, despite strong opposition. These are the ladies I call, “Women Who Win.” Voting rights for women did not come into law until 1920 but my blog starts in the year 1872 when Susan B. Anthony illegally cast a vote for the presidential election in Rochester, N.Y. and was consequently fined and arrested. I then go on to chronicle the actions and lives of other women such as, Fashion Designer, CoCo Chanel, Army Nurse, Mabel B. Anderson, a real-life “Rosie the Riveter,” Crena Anderson and Civil Rights Activist, Fannie Lou Hamer. These women defied norms and often faced harsh judgement and reprecrussions in order to change the shape of America’s view on women, blacks and other minority groups plagued by discrimination and oppression.
These women supported different facets of the fight for equality such as voting rights, sexual rights, racial rights and managed to change many political and social policies while also striking down many social constructs. By placing a spotlight on them, my goal is to depict how women in general have played an irrevocable role in changing the course of history in America while overcoming obstacles along the way. They were the soldiers at the forefront fighting a country that failed to recognize their worth and their ideals persist today. There are many Americans in 2014, whose beliefs align with those of the women that fought against racial, sexual and social injustices in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today these injustices still exist in some fashion and there are groups of people fighting against them to make this country, and also the world a better place just as the women in the following blogs posts did.
1 Bloombsburg University of Pennsylvania . "Women's History Timeline ." Accessed November 10, 2014. http://www.bloomu.edu/wrc/timeline.
2 "Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.." Accessed November 10, 2014. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html.
The 1848 Seneca Convention marked a starting point of this revolution. The two-day convention spawned a Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, which set the agenda for the Women Rights Movement in 12 resolutions calling for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.2
The purpose of this blog is to highlight the lives of women who have made it their life goal to push the Women Rights Movement and other social movements such as the Civil Rights Movement as far as they could, despite strong opposition. These are the ladies I call, “Women Who Win.” Voting rights for women did not come into law until 1920 but my blog starts in the year 1872 when Susan B. Anthony illegally cast a vote for the presidential election in Rochester, N.Y. and was consequently fined and arrested. I then go on to chronicle the actions and lives of other women such as, Fashion Designer, CoCo Chanel, Army Nurse, Mabel B. Anderson, a real-life “Rosie the Riveter,” Crena Anderson and Civil Rights Activist, Fannie Lou Hamer. These women defied norms and often faced harsh judgement and reprecrussions in order to change the shape of America’s view on women, blacks and other minority groups plagued by discrimination and oppression.
These women supported different facets of the fight for equality such as voting rights, sexual rights, racial rights and managed to change many political and social policies while also striking down many social constructs. By placing a spotlight on them, my goal is to depict how women in general have played an irrevocable role in changing the course of history in America while overcoming obstacles along the way. They were the soldiers at the forefront fighting a country that failed to recognize their worth and their ideals persist today. There are many Americans in 2014, whose beliefs align with those of the women that fought against racial, sexual and social injustices in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today these injustices still exist in some fashion and there are groups of people fighting against them to make this country, and also the world a better place just as the women in the following blogs posts did.
1 Bloombsburg University of Pennsylvania . "Women's History Timeline ." Accessed November 10, 2014. http://www.bloomu.edu/wrc/timeline.
2 "Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.." Accessed November 10, 2014. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html.