A Place For Women DBQ

As our new nation progressed, so too did the roles of women. They went from working at home fulfilling domestic needs to factories where they would slave for over fourteen hours a day. Even though the work was hard, women were now making their own money and playing a more dominant role in society. Therefore, they often fought for suffrage, abolishment of slavery, and temperance. The seed for women’s rights had been planted, but it would take nearly 100 years for it to start prospering. However, women were changing; they were changing their opportunities in their family, their work life, and society along with them. When the first Europeans arrived in America, the role of women was at the home. She would cook, clean, and be of service to her husband and children, but as the eighteenth century began they moved towards factories. Women were no longer the central feature in the home. Instead of having huge families, women were steadily having fewer children. They were also fighting for education as can be seen in document C, an editorial from Godley’s Lady Book magazine. They believed that as a man’s first teacher, they should be well educated; but it didn’t stop there. Women’s roles in the workplace were also changing. Their slow shift from the house to factories was drastic and resulted in the women’s place being more prominent in society. Women worked hard, as can be seen in Document B, a letter from a Lowell mill girl. She describes her fourteen hour day shifts as better than what girls could expect. A woman’s wages were usually only half of a man’s and her work were almost intolerable, but they were earning their own money for the first time. As the women’s work place moved, it isn’t surprising that her place in society moved as well. Women became more outspoken and would fight for their beliefs. People like Charles G. Finney would try to help other girls realize their importance as shown in Document A, comments on a convert in New York. Other women