*DBQ4

Between 1815 ad 1860, the roles of women were greatly changed from what they had previously been. Women gained many opportunities to break away from the norm and experience new events. They were leaders of social movements, were hired to work, and became a much more influential role in the home life. Around 1815 a social movement occurred. Republican motherhood was the idea that a woman's role was to be strictly in the home and to raise and produce more offspring. It also went along with the idea that women were the purer sex and therefore should not be tainted by the cruel man's world. They had to be covered and had firm etiquette rules that had to be followed. Everything from what they said to what they wore had to be socially acceptable. This all changed though. Another social movement came about that was named Cult of Domesticity. This advance altered what the women could do. They had new opportunities including being able to work when they were still single. Once women were given this freedom, they longed for more. Spinsters, or old unmarried women, became more common even though they weren't socially acceptable. . For example, a major employer of young women was the Lowell Mill. At the mill, the women were housed in dorms and ran a strict schedule. They were paid; the money was sent to their guardian, which may have been a husband (unlikely) or a father, or uncle. They were sent to classes to teach them how to serve tea and everything that was allowed at the time. This was to encourage fathers and other guardians to trust the mill and send their daughters to work there.

NOT DONE!!!