Women's Rights In The Early 20th Century

In the early 20th century, many laws and cultural norms were set in place or created to discourage miscegenation in the United States. Though these laws were put in place for different reasons, it seems that the primary focus seemed to be on maintaining U.S traditions. In the nineteenth century, it was decided that a married woman's identity was merged with that of her husband. In such a relationship, the man in the relationship was the primary decision maker and possessor of rights. Stripping women of their ability to “have it all”. The way in which these laws played out were punishments to women and demonstrated society’s refusal to allow them to do anything other than carry on traditions. In 1855, an act was created that stated that, by …show more content…
In 1907, the Expatriation Act was created and stated that any female U.S. citizen who chose to marry a foreigner would lose her U.S. citizenship. This was a large problem mainly due to the fact that it left many women stateless. The Expatriation Act especially affected U.S.-born Asian women who married noncitizens, because they lost their citizenship and could not regain American citizenship through naturalization even after their marriage ended. This was due to that fact that they became aliens ineligible to citizenship under the Naturalization Act. In some cases, this forced Asian women to choose between American citizenship and marriage. This act was almost used as a form of punishment to women who chose to marry foreign men. Because the Expatriation Act punished American women who married foreign men, the Act can be compared to state antimiscegenation laws, which prevented individuals from marrying outside their own race. Through the Expatriation Act, Congress was effectively stating its disapproval of marriages between American women and foreign men. DIFFERENT FOR MEN AND