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Women & the Gilded Age - Coggle Diagram
Women & the Gilded Age
the concept of 'separate spheres' reinforced the view that men and women had different roles to play and placed women in the 'private' sphere of the home and family - excluding them from work and politics
there was a thriving women's suffrage movement - both the AWSA and NWSA formed in 1869 - in 1890 they merged into the NAWSA (National American Women's Suffrage Association)
the majority of men, and many women, believed that a woman's place was in the home
the majority of men (and many women) were of the option that 'votes for women' was unnatural and damaging
women did not have the right to vote in Federal elections, or stand for Federal office - individual states could determine regulations for their own elections
women were excluded from many sections of the workforce, and experienced wage discrimination in other areas, leading to a significant pay gap
the suffrage movement was itself divided, with divisions between rival groups
even where women were active in the public sphere or employment, it was often in the 'caring professions' and domestic or charitable concerns
any progress was generally limited to white, middle-class women - eg AA women experienced both racism and sexism
in 1872 Susan B Anthony was arrested for trying to vote - at her trial she was barred from speaking or representing herself
in the 1874 Minor v Happersett ruling the SC unanimously agreed that the right to suffrage was not protected by the 14th Amendment
by 1900 only four states gave women the right to vote - Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896) and Idaho (1896)
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many single women found employment limited to low paid, low skilled jobs
involvement in campaigns such as the Temperance Movement weakened women's position as it associated women with domestic issues
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industrialisation led to harsh conditions, accetuated inequality and increased sexual exploitation
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male trade unionists offered limited support to women as they were concerned about the undercutting of wages
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the 1882 Lawrence (MA) mill strike over a 20% pay cut failed after 4 months due to a lack of support from male unions
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women were active politically eg the suffrage movement, the temperance movement - the WCTU had 168,000 members by the 1880s
industrialisation led to increased opportunities for women in the work-place, changing employment patterns and allowing women to organise
between 1870 and 1900 the number of domestic servants fell by half, clerical occupations increased x10 and the female workforce in factories rose from 18 to 22%
unions such as the KOL offered support to women workers - by the 1880s there 113 women's assemblies and 50,000 women members
'Mother Jones' spent 50 years organising miners' wives to oppose strike breaking and a factory children's march from Pennsylvania to Washington
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women were involved in the Granger movement, the Farmers' Alliance, the Charity Organisation Society and the Populist Party - for example Elizabeth Lease was a well known orator
1866 saw the founding of the American Equal Rights Association (AERA), which fought for gender equality
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Individual states such as Wyoming and Utah gave women the vote, showing progress could be achieved
the lack of contraception meant many women were tied down by large families, and stuck in a cycle of pregnancy and childcare
by 1870 15% of women held jobs yet the proportion in domestic service fell, suggesting greater employment opportunities
Hull House, Chicago, was a community of university women whose main purpose was to provide social and educational opportunities for working class people
The Daughters of St. Crispin (1869), a union of women shoemakers, was the first national women's labor union
The National Consumers League (1899) founded by Jane Addams and Josephine Lowell achieved many social reforms in communities and workplaces across the country
The Atlanta washerwomen strike (1881) was a labour strike carried out primarily by African American women who argued for increased wages and greater autonomy - it achieved some successes
it was primarily poor, uneducated single women who entered the workforce, often as piece workers in manufacturing or as employees in other people’s homes
single women who worked generally exited the workforce upon marriage - 8 percent of employed women in 1890 were married (in 1870 15% of the workforce was female, by 1900 it was 18.3%), however by 1900 only 6% of married women worked outside the home, usually when their blue-collar husbands were unemployed