The years between the American Revolution and the Civil War saw a lot of change in the ideals of woman hood. Women's roles in not only society, but also family life began to change, and these changes fostered the emergence of "republican motherhood" and "cult of domesticity". Women's lives changed drastically, reforms for women's rights, more specifically for the education of women, and mothers began to stay home to care for the kids. Before these times women had very few rights, more than slaves, but certainly less than men. The idea of women's rights was now beginning to develop, especially in the wake of blacks beginning to earn their rights. People were beginning to realize that mothers have a very strong role in the development of a
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Before then, the only women who even had a chance of receiving an education were those of royalty or rich families. Even then, the odds of them being educated were low, but now the idea of educating women was becoming much more prominent. One main argument behind the education of women was what Benjamin Rush describes in, Thoughts Upon Female Education, 1787, "our ladies should be qualified to a certain degree by a peculiar and suitable education, to concur in instructing their sons in the principles of liberty and government." (Doc. B). Many realized that if the mothers were educated, especially in politics, then in return their children will learn from an early age, this is called "republican …show more content…
During this time, especially in the middle class, who were rich enough to not need the mother to work, but too poor to afford a nanny, women began to learn how to do housework, and stay home rather than living and working at the mills (Doc. A). Mothers were now seen as beings who should be inside to teach and care for their kids to better their futures. This is described in document F, which states, "the influence of a mother, form and mould the man..." (Doc. F). This process can be related to domesticating the mothers, which brought about the term, "cult of domesticity", which described this change. Many farming families began to limit the work mothers had in the fields, in document I, a family hires a field hand in the hopes that the mother will not need to work outside. Document J shows the sad reality of slavery's perspective on this change. In this painting a slave is being sold away from his family because he is a strong field worker, while the women and child are being kept by the original owner because the master either wont sell her because of their aid in the houses, or because the buyer only needs field
Before then, the only women who even had a chance of receiving an education were those of royalty or rich families. Even then, the odds of them being educated were low, but now the idea of educating women was becoming much more prominent. One main argument behind the education of women was what Benjamin Rush describes in, Thoughts Upon Female Education, 1787, "our ladies should be qualified to a certain degree by a peculiar and suitable education, to concur in instructing their sons in the principles of liberty and government." (Doc. B). Many realized that if the mothers were educated, especially in politics, then in return their children will learn from an early age, this is called "republican …show more content…
During this time, especially in the middle class, who were rich enough to not need the mother to work, but too poor to afford a nanny, women began to learn how to do housework, and stay home rather than living and working at the mills (Doc. A). Mothers were now seen as beings who should be inside to teach and care for their kids to better their futures. This is described in document F, which states, "the influence of a mother, form and mould the man..." (Doc. F). This process can be related to domesticating the mothers, which brought about the term, "cult of domesticity", which described this change. Many farming families began to limit the work mothers had in the fields, in document I, a family hires a field hand in the hopes that the mother will not need to work outside. Document J shows the sad reality of slavery's perspective on this change. In this painting a slave is being sold away from his family because he is a strong field worker, while the women and child are being kept by the original owner because the master either wont sell her because of their aid in the houses, or because the buyer only needs field