African American Revolution And Women's Rights

Even though the Revolution declared independence from Great Britain, it was not very revolutionary because there was very little change for women, African Americans, and poor people. Before the Revolution, women had very few rights. In Abigail Adams’ letter (1776) to her husband, John Adams, she told him to “remember the ladies,” which means men should not have unlimited powers and women should have rights equal to men. The Declaration of Independence (written a couple months after Abigail Adams’ letter) did not state anything about gender equality or women’s rights. More than 100 years later, in 1920, the 19th Amendment of the Constitution stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Therefore, the Revolution did not create radical changes for women. …show more content…
Before the Revolution, African Americans had no rights and were slaves to rich, white plantation owners. Although some states abolished slavery a few years after the war, many states, especially in the South, abolished slavery during the time of the Civil War, which was about 70 years after the Revolution. This shows that there were changes for African Americans caused by the Revolution, but the majority of the change was caused by the Civil War. In addition to slavery, racism was still going on in the 1800s. In 1819, a young African American valedictorian of his New York free school made a speech about racism. He stated that he felt discouraged, weak, and insignificant because no one would employ him and white men would not want to work with him. Therefore, changes for African Americans were not