DBQ+4ka

Women's role in society is an important conflict that is discussed in many pages of a history book. One main focus is from 1815 to 1860. This was when women just started to change their role in society. Before they were in a distinguished part of society where they were pure and clean. They were supposed to stay home and teach the children the ways of the country so they could be prosperous in the new society. Women were compared to the people in an insane asylum(Document D). People in insane asylums were locked up and were looked down upon in society. Women's statuses changed in the family, workplace, and society through the market revolution and the Second Great Awakening. Women's role in society changed in the family through women being able to work outside the home. They were looked down upon and were not looked at as being fragile. Women wanted to do it though. It was also looked down upon if they kept their job after getting married. Women were supposed to teach the children. So really the future generation was being taught by women. Women did not have an education though so the kids were just taught life lessons. If the women would have been more educated then the next generations would be more educated also(Document C). The roles really changed because of this new idea. It went from being "Republican Motherhood" to this new idea of the "Cult of Domesticity." "Republican Motherhood" was the idea that the mother was supposed to stay in the house and take care of the children. "Cult of Domesticity" really was a movement of reform for women to change their role. They wanted to change society. Women were looked down upon in society. If they kept their jobs after getting married they were looked down upon as the lowest of the low. Women became more outspoken and came out in society(Document A). They were looked down upon more after they started coming out of the home. They started to become somewhat independent from the home. They still relied on their husband but they started to leave the home and do more things they wanted. They started to wear shorter, knee-length skirts with bloomers underneath. This made the women that still believed in "Republican Motherhood" look at them like they were crazy to do that. They wanted to do what they wanted so they got out and worked outside the home. Women started to work in places outside the home such as factories or mills. It was hard work but they wanted a new experience. They would work long hours and then afterwards they would have a little bit of free time to do what they wanted in their dorms(Document B)They lived in dorms while working and were away from the family. They wanted to be more independent and work themselves. They were still the authoritative figure in the household but also had a need in society to help out America. They wanted to change America in their own way. One example of a woman wanting to change America is Dorothea Dix. She wanted a better living environment for the mentally insane. She believed that they were people too and needed to be treated with respect. Also Suzan B. Anthony was a big figure in the Women's reform movement. She was a suffragette. That meant that she was a woman fighter for the right for women to vote. After the mid 1800s, women had a less defined place in society. It was not that they could only work in the home, it was that they could be more independent and work outside the home. There were many women figures that helped bring this about. Women's roles changed from being only inside the home to being more out in society and working. If it were not for them, women still might be looked down upon and would not be allowed to work outside the home.