Women Gilded Age Flashcards
1
Q
Negative View
A
- Concept of “separate spheres” remained dominant
- Inequality enshrined in new work opportunities created
- Campaign for suffrage and temperance largely ignored
- Poor economic rights
2
Q
Positive View + Quote
A
- Changes in the economy compounded with women’s activism led to fundamental changes in women’s relationship with work and set up future changes
- Increase in workforce participation
- C. Hymowitz and M. Weismann emphasise the role of “Mother Jones”, a female unionist who struggled for mine workers
3
Q
Female Union membership in this period and support for women from Unions (+ve)
A
- Female union membership was 50,000 by the mid-1880s
- By the mid-1880s there were 113 women’s assemblies
- In 1881 the KOL offered support to women workers
- New organizations did form in the 1900s
- 1903- Formation of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was significant in creating other female trade unions and helped to educate the public on the problems and needs of working women. BUT: AFL generally ignored the WTUL.
4
Q
Key organisers in Trade Unions for Women (4) (+ve)
A
- Mary Jones- Campaigned for mine workers for 50 years. Famous march of factory children from Pennsylvania to Washington
- Kate O’Flynn
- Rose Stokes
- Elizabeth Flynn
5
Q
Role of AFL (-ve)
A
- Unsympathetic to women
- AFL supported skilled workers, something few women could become
6
Q
General status of women in Unions (-ve)
A
- By 1900, only 2% of unionists were female
- Male unionists saw women as undercutting wages
- 1882 Strike in a textile mill following a 20% pay cut failed after 4 months with no support from male unions
7
Q
Wages for the few women who could access white collar jobs by 1890s
A
- $7/week
- But still no proper career pathway for them
8
Q
Female employment stats (+ve)
A
- By the 1880s 26% of Philadelphia’s workers were women, ⅓ in Atlanta, where there was much textile work
- By 1900 there were 949,000 women working as teachers, secretaries, librarians and telephone operators.
- Number of women in factory work increased from 18% of employed women in 1870 to 22% in 1900
- The number of working women rose from 2 million in 1870 (15% of all women) to 8 million in 1910 (21%)
- Between 1870 and 1900, Clerical occupations increased ten fold
9
Q
Educational opportunities (+ve)
A
- Education opportunities for women boomed from 1865 to 1914.
- By 1870, 30% of colleges were co-educational.
- By 1900, ½ of high school graduates were female. Eval: They felt pressure to stay at home
10
Q
Hull House (+ve)
A
- Set up by Jane Addams in 1889
- Focused on working hours and conditions
- By 1913, 413 settlement havens established as a result of Hull House
11
Q
Impact of Immigration in this period (-ve)
Especially on wages
A
- Lowered wages
- 1890 Bureau of Labor study of 800 men and women quoted in and emphasised by Kleinberg showed the majority of men receiving higher pay for equal work
- Women from poverty-stricken areas in Europe worked from poor homes, in crowded cities with poor pay, conditions, etc.
12
Q
Type of occupation (-ve) and conditions as a result
A
- Limited to jobs similar to the domestic sphere such as textiles and cotton mills
- Hazardous and oppressive working conditions were common in sweatshops
- Expansion of cities → Rapid growth of prostitution
13
Q
AWSA, NWSA and NAWSA in this period
A
- AWSA (American Woman Suffrage Association) and the NWSA (National Woman Suffrage Association), both founded in 1869, were critical in gaining female suffrage in Wyoming in 1869 and in Utah in 1870
- BUT: Divisions over issues such as 15th Amendment
- 1890: NAWSA (National American Woman Suffrage Association) is formed → Colorado in 1893, Idaho in 1896
14
Q
Women in Rural Protests
A
- Women were active in the Populist Party (est. 1891)
- The party opposed big business and railway companies
15
Q
Role of Susan. B Anthony
A
- Established the NWSA alongside Elizabeth Stanton
- In 1872, she registered to vote and was subsequently arrested
