Women in American Society

women's rights
"The Cult of Domesticity." The term used by historians to illustrate the stereotypes given to men and women in American society.  Just what is a woman's role in society? What is a man's role? 
Over the years women have been fighting for social justice.  They started crusading for voting rights and joined forces at women's rights conventions.  Countless women fought for equal rights and were strongly determined to succeed.  Some of their fights were won others are still being battled.  We've come a long way due to their courage, but we still have a long way to go.

women's rights history

We've come a long way.
Imagine a world where women are considered second-class citizens, not allowed to own property, maintain wages, sign a contract, vote or even hold an opinion independent of their husbands. Seems unimaginable doesn't it? Yet that was our history in the United States and it is only through the bravery, dedication and hard work of many individuals and organizations that the rights we take for granted today, exist.
1776  Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John, who is attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, asking that he and the other men, who were at work on the Declaration of independence, "Remember the Ladies." 
1820s-1880s "The Cult of Domesticity," a phenomenon dubbed by historians, reveals that American's in general, held highly stereotypical notions about women's and men's roles in society. 
1829 Author Frances Wright travels the United States on a paid lecture tour, perhaps the first ever by a woman.  She attacks organized religion for the secondary place it assigns women and advocates the empowerment of women through divorce and birth control. 
1836 Sarah Grimke begins her speaking career as an abolitionist and a women's rights advocate.  Male abolitionists, who consider her public speaking a liability, eventually silence her. 
1837 The first National Female Anti-Slavery Society convention meets in New York City. ...