What Was The Role Of Women In The 19th Century Essay

The Role of Women During the 18th and 19th Centuries From the time of the Revolution to the Civil War, the role and view of women had altered dramatically. The numerous changes in jobs and families were some of the things that caused this. Many women were compliant to “Republican motherhood” as countless men off fighting in the war or having to work all day. The wives of those men then had to raise their children all by themselves. Another view among women of this time was that women were expected to work in the house due to the fact that the entire family no longer needed work to support itself. The “cult of domesticity” is another name for these ideas of the way women should live. Another major factor that altered how women were seen throughout this time was women were fighting for their own rights
Even though women did not completely gain their rights during this time, they made an immense step in the process of becoming equal. One of the changing ideas that had a crucial effect on the ideals of women was jobs. In the 1770s, many men worked on farms and cultivated fields as the women stayed in the house and cared for their family. In Document A, the Philadelphia woman in 1776 writes about how she has relied on homemade products to help their family. This relates to what was happening during that time; women supported the American Revolution by manufacturing many of their own items to sell. Women were no longer needed in the work force so they stayed at home and looked after their household. When the Industrial Revolution began, many men and women began to work in the factories. By 1837, many women were sewing things such as hats and dresses because of their small hands. In Document C, the graph shows more women sewing hats than anything else. The graph was made to show how many women worked during this time and earned wages by means of sewing articles of clothing for the new style of the country. Fashion was becoming a prodigious part of