Summary Of Catharine Beecher's Views On Feminism

Group 1, Question B The eroded status of the American women in Fuller’s time period is emphasized by her blatant indications to American society’s demands for women. Society’s narrow-minded perception of what an American woman should be even goes so far as to denote the occupation most suitable for women. One such instance is when Fuller briefly discusses society’s presumption that women are more fit to be teachers since women are “…less immersed in other cares and toils [and] from the preparation it gives for their task as mothers” (484). This stereotype is not significant because it provides reason for sexism but significant because it displays the deeper, more convoluted belief that society has towards women. Inevitably, the very reasons
Beecher’s reference to M. De Tocqueville, who states that, “[he] never observed, that the women of America considered conjugal authority as a fortunate usurpation of their rights, nor that they thought themselves degraded by submitting to it” (30) and that women, “…attach a sort of pride to the voluntary surrender of their own will…” (30) provides further insight on how women of the nineteenth century viewed their status. Beecher’s firm beliefs on claiming and refining skills in the domestic sphere which enables the ability for equality amongst men and women influences modern-day culture to a certain extent. To many feminists of this century, Beecher’s argument may come as a surprise as her emphasis on female submission towards men initially seems to be the stark contrast of what many modern-day feminists argue for. But it is easy to forget that such thinking actually influenced modern feminist belief. Beecher recognizes the worth of women and what they can offer and all such recognition falls upon their duties in the domestic sphere – this type of belief, albeit seemingly diverting from the current feminist belief, is what helped women progress to establishing a sense of worth and status than just the domestic sphere. Now, women in this century have responsibilities outside of the domestic sphere and have built a
For starters, O’Sullivan places sole responsibility of westward expansion on the American people, stating that “[i]t [was] time for the common duty of Patriotism to the Country to succeed…” (5). In this, O’Sullivan portrays westward expansion as an inherent task that a “good American” should uphold. Additionally, O’Sullivan also refers to the annexation of Texas as an unavoidable event, explaining that, “…their [Texas] incorporation into the Union was not only inevitable, but the most natural, right and proper thing in the world” (8). His allusions to common sense, as is the case when he explains that there would have ultimately been nothing America could have done “[i]f Texas became peopled with an American population” (6), creates a sense of entitlement towards Texas and purposefully dulls down the magnitude of dominance that Mexico had over Texas. This is also emphasized when O’Sullivan discusses the inevitability of Mexico’s release of California in which he again uses both common sense and the will of soon-to-be American people as a means to clarify and assert ownership of California, stating that, “[a] population will soon be in actual occupation of California, over which it will be idle for Mexico to dream of dominion” (9). Ultimately, the authority of the notion behind “manifest destiny” originates not only by the will of the American people but also through natural