Samantha Curtis

Samantha Curtis

HST-182

2/12/13

How Did the Roles of Women Change Over the Course of the Late Nineteenth Century?

In the early 19^th century the roles of women in American society were predominately as cook, wife, mother, and general homemaker in a mainly rural setting. Families were much larger and relied on the women to provide children to perform free manual labor on the farm in order to maintain the family income and welfare. They enjoyed few political, legal, or social rights and were expected to be subservient to their husbands and fathers in all matters. However, with the coming of the First World War and the industrial revolution the demand for workers to produce goods was higher than the available men in the U.S. at the time. As a result, women gained entry into the workforce and from that grew to establish gender equality within the United States permanently.

Prior to World War I and the Industrial Revolution, women were primarily homemakers. The few jobs that were available to them were being a maid or a servant to a noble family, which entailed the exact same work ethic they applied when caring for their own families. There was little to no education for women and almost no opportunity for growth and advancement within the workplace. Along with the long-hours and hard working conditions, pregnant women were also expected to continue working up until their due date and return to work almost immediately afterward. Combining exhaustion with the sub-par medical practices of the time, most women had a severely low life expectancy and ended up literally working themselves to death.

Toward the late 19^th century World War I broke out, also bringing on an increased demand for wartime goods and weaponry. With the men abroad, women stepped in to fill their shoes working in factories and acting as nurses to the wounded who returned home. This was the first time women were able to branch out in the workforce and try their hand at manual labor. Following the war came the Industrial Revolution, which increased production drastically, and the need for workers even more so than before. Utilizing this platform, women of the late 1800’s utilized it to increase their involvement in politics and enforce their right to vote. With these developments came a drastic shift from rural to city life and the lessening of women dealing only with domestic affairs.

The end of the 19^th century marked a time of change and reform for women. Turning away from the cultivated role of wife, mother, and submissive and toward that of worker and respected equal left many questioning the roles that society had previously cast for them. New opportunities in education, politics, and employment caused many to vastly advance in the United States and to define new roles for women in the decades that followed.

Sources:

Smith-Rosenberg, Caroll. Disorderly Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Hartman, Dorothy. “Women’s Roles in the Late 19th Century.” Corner Prairie: Interactive History Park. n. page. Print. <http://www.connerprairie.org/Learn-And-Do/Indiana-History/America-1860-1900/Lives-Of-Women.asp&xgt;.