Women Flashcards
In what way did the Civil War impact women? (5)
1) By 1870, 13% of unmarried women worked outside the home either in domestic occupations or in factories.
2) Unmarried and married women represented 15% of the workforce.
3) Women represented 1/3 of factory workers, although many were employed in traditional female roles such as dress making.
4) Many women took on the jobs of men that fought in the war - agricultural in the south and in the industry of the North.
5) The majority of roles that women took up during the war were related to the domestic sphere such as nursing.
How did better education prospects in the twentieth century impact women? (4)
1) By 1900, women made up 17% of the workforce.
2) By 1920 3.4 million women were working.
3) In 1920, 949,000 women were working as teachers, secretaries, librarians and telephone operators.
4) Female secretaries paid $7 per week, ford factory workers paid $5 dollars per day.
How were things different for immigrant women? (4)
1) Factory work was increasingly taken by immigrant women who were forced to work out of necessity to support their family.
2) They were seen as cheap, unskilled workers who were unprotected by legislation and were therefore vulnerable to exploitation.
3) Poor working conditions, long hours and low pay.
4) By the end of the nineteenth century, immigrant women were paid $5 for a 70 hour week.
How had marriage and family life changed by 1900? (3)
1) Chores in the house took less time because of labour saving devices and electricity.
2) Families were becoming smaller - By 1900, the average birth rate fell to 3.56 children from 5.42 in 1880.
3) The number of divorces also increased from 1 in 21 marriages in 1800 to 1 in 12 by 1900.
How had education for women improved by 1900? (3)
What was the limitation of this?
1) By 1900, improved education for women had increased opportunity in the workplace.
2) By 1900, half of women were graduates and delayed marriage for their career.
3) By 1900, half of high school graduates were female.
Some women saw education as providing them with better access to a higher class husband.
What was the NCL?
When was it formed?
What was its impact on women? (2)
The National Consumer’s League (NCL) set up in 1899 to gain recognition for the rights of women in the workplace.
1) They put pressure on state governments to provide aid for mothers and improved facilities for children.
2) They campaigned for improvement in the wages and conditions for women and children in the workplace.
What was the WCTU? When was it founded and how big was it?
What was the first mass movement of US women?
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded in 1874, by the end of the 19th century there was over 9000 branches.
Women’s Crusade of 1873 - first mass movement of US women; they demanded for prohibition.
What was the NACW?
When was it founded and how big was its membership?
What was its focus?
The National Association of Coloured Women formed in 1896.
By 1918, it had 300,000 members.
It focused on achieving the vote as well as preventing lynching and discrimination as well as improved education.
What was NAWSA?
How big was its membership?
The National American Women’s Suffrage Association
By 1905, there were only 17,000 members
By 1915, there were only 100,000 members which was half the number involved in temperance.
What was the nineteenth amendment and when did it come about? (2)
Why was its impact limited? (3)
1) President Wilson’s call for a constitutional amendment giving women the vote was approved by congress in 1919.
2) The Nineteenth amendment was set in place in 1920 following its ratification by the requisite 36 states.
Limitations:
1) The campaign for the vote never became a mass movement, it remained largely a white middle class organisation.
2) The women’s movement subsequently splintered into several areas of social action reflecting differences in women’s attitudes.
3) The interest of women in politics was limited at this time.
How did WWI impact women? (3)
1) Between 1917-1918 one million women worked in industry.
2) Approximately 21,498 women served as US army nurses in the US and overseas.
3) 11,000 in US navy as nurses, clerical workers and telephone operators.
How did the post-war boom affect women? (4)
1) The number of working-class married women working increased by 6%.
2) More jobs created for unmarried women and a better home life for married women.
3) The number of women entering the workforce increased by two million.
4) Women worker resented by men because they were seen as a threat to their jobs.
How did the great depression impact women? (4)
1) The expansion of opportunities for women in the workplace reduced rapidly.
2) In 1936, a Gallup Poll suggested that 82% of men opposed the employment of women in factories.
3) 26 states banned married women from working.
4) The female membership of trade unions trebled in the 1930s.
How did the New Deal affect women? (5)
Name four pieces of legislation.
1) In general, New Deal legislation targeted the male breadwinner, and so women benefited indirectly from reformed aimed at wider social and economic issues.
2) Social Security Act 1935 - benefits for poor families which benefited married women indirectly.
3) Aid to Dependent Children 1935 - helped women with children, who were unable to work or who had no male head of the household.
4) The Fair Labor Standards Act - set new minimum wage levels, abolished child labour, and reduced working hours for women.
5) Indian Reorganisation Act 1934 gave Native American Women formal political rights and provided them with training.
How was the progress of rights for women limited during the Second World War? (6)
1) Women were still paid less than men.
2) Women did not participate in major decision-making in military or political affairs.
3) There was limited provision for childcare or cheap meals, so women workers had to deal with dual responsibilities at work and at home.
4) African American women did not experience the same opportunities as white women.
5) By 1945, 70% of all clerical work was being done by women.
6) By 1946, 2 million women lost their jobs.
