American Womanhood Dbq

Throughout America’s history, women have been fervently oppressed and labeled as inferior to men. The initial view of women were sources of lust and sin. Their attempts to speak their minds and act as independent figures almost always seem to be repudiated. Although the ideals of American womanhood during this time period moved positively up the scale, women were still identified as subordinate and did not receive the credit and rights they contested for. The time period after the American Revolution held the birth of women becoming independent. Women working at home, performed tasks such as caring for the children and knitting for the servants, giving them the sense that their worth was that of a slave (Doc. 1). They also began to expand …show more content…
6). Abigail Adams strengthened these adjusting ideals by demanding equal rights for women, such as owning property, entering contracts and initiating lawsuits. The American Revolution also brought the concept of Republican Motherhood, which reinforced a domestic women's sphere in order to keep them separate from the outside world of men. Republican Motherhood, which evolved from the idea that women were only sources of lust and sin, brought the idea that a woman’s rights were to care for children and raise their sons to understand democratic principles. This vision was contradictory in and of itself, as women were deemed to be inferior to men, yet expected to raise boys to possess a role in politics. Moving ahead toward the Civil War, women took over jobs outside of the house, …show more content…
More women came to adopt the proposal that they should be able to live freely and independently as they possessed the nature to grow and “unfold powers that were given to [them] when [they] left [their] common home” (Doc. 3). That type of attitude attributed to the passion for women’s rights In addition to that belief, associations such as the Female Moral Reform Society were founded to curb prostitution and protect single women from corruption in order to preserve their progress. The Seneca Falls Convention repudiated the natural inferiority of women and the idea of separate spheres. It became a turning point in American history because it was the first convention that stood up for women’s rights and equality. With positive advancements in the women's sphere came opposing stances that supported the idea of natural inequality of the sexes (Doc. 4). Because of the attention being drawn toward women’s rights, attempts were made to undo women’s accomplishments by vehemently imposing previous views, suppressing their rising