gilded age Flashcards
improvements in economic opportunities for women
- opportunities outside of domesticated work due to urbanisation/diversification
- decline in domestic service
- industrialisation changed employment patterns/opportunities
- women given greater economic responsibility during civil war (as men fought)
who did not benefit from the economic opportunities for women
AA women - continued to be employed in factory/domestic work
how much did the number of female servants fall by 1870-1900
fell by half
how many women were employed by factory work in 1870 compared to 1900
1870 = 18%
1900 = 22%
how many states had regulations about female working hours (8-10 hours) by 1900
36%
how many free women held jobs in 1924 compared to 1870
1870 = 15%
1924 = 24%
female high-school graduates by 1890
more female high-school graduates than male
how did women’s political participation improve
- increased political participation via temperance movement
women’s christian temperance union (WCTU)
- founded 1874
- appealed to protestant opinion in midwest
- initially worked to ban alcoholic drinking to safeguard family
how many states was the WCTU a national organisation in by 1880
24 states
members of WCTU in 1880s compared to 1920
1880s = 168,000 members
1920 = 800,000 members
benefit of WCTU
- provided valuable experience in publicity & mobilising support for cause
- eg. lobbying, mass meetings
how did women’s political participation also increase
= charity work
- eg. ‘the charity organisation’
- led many cities/states to appoint women to administer public charities = experience of influencing local government
development of movement for women’s suffrage
- 1848 seneca falls convention (lucretia mott & elizabeth cady stanton)
- NWSA formed 1869 (susan b. anthony & elizabeth cady stanton)
- rival organisation AWSA formed (lucy stone & julia ward howe)
- NWSA & AWSA merged 1890 forming NAWSA
actions of national woman suffrage association (NWSA)
- campaigned for national change
- membership restricted to women
- broader view & adopted feminist line
actions of american women suffrage association (AWSA)
- aimed to get women voting in individual states for state legislatures
- men/women members allowed
limitation of suffrage movement
- splits had weakened the cause
- many women turned to temperance/social reform as an alternative
name another movement women were involved in politically
anti-slavery movement
eg. first female anti-slavery convention dates from 1837
when did some individual states grant the right to vote to some women
- wyoming (1869)
- utah (1870)
how did the economic poisition of women not improve
- industrialisation led to harsh conditions/sexual exploitation & accentuated inequality
- women concentrated in textiles & cotton mills
- confined to unskilled labour
- pay gap (greater in southern factories)
- expansion of cities meant rapid growth of prostitution = alternative to poor wages/conditions in domestic service/factories & sweatshops
- proportion of women in high education remained lower
how many trade unionists were women in 1900 compared to how much female employment was in factories
- trade unionists = only 2%
- even though 25% female employment was in factories
how did the social position of women not improve
- belief in separate spheres remained (women belonged in the home)
- extreme discrimination against AA women (especially in south due to jim crow laws)
how did the political position of women not improve
- unable to vote (AA men given vote under 15th amendment)
- abolition of slavery/temperance movement was often white, middle-class concerns
- suffrage cause weakened by divide between AWSA & NWSA in aims/methods
- opposition to female suffrage
legal challenge in 1875
- ruled women weren’t allowed voting rights (but states could give women the vote
- campaigns in 33 states to get votes but only colorado & idaho voted in favour before 1912
