His 72 Final Study Qs/Terms
"brown elite"
"Brown Elite" refers to a sub-community of free blacks in the 19th Century whom were separate from slaves and the poor. Within this community, there was a very high activity in the church, with both genders active in their religious communities. Unlike other communities where women formed their own religious identities, brown elite women generally did not. The perfect, submissive woman was important within the community, and subsequently the division between men and women were more pronounced than other areas.
1. In the mid-nineteenth century, Godey's Lady's Book presented an image of female domesticity centered in a well-decorated parlor. Were the ideas associated with domesticity useful to the many women who did not have parlors, due to their race, their enslavement, their rural locations, their citizenship status, or their mobile lives? In your answer, consider work, sexuality, property ownership, and family relationships. Were ideas like "true womanhood" irrelevant to some women?
Godey's Lady's Book was an American Women's magazine published 1830-1878 by Louis A. Godey. These general interest issues showcased the ideal lady: religious, pure in heart, domestic, and obedient. Issues centered on dress, interior décor, needlework and handcraft instructions and music. The domesticity ideals depicted in this magazine may be relevant to a chunk of women whom were free to purchase them and read them leisurely, women with parlors. However, the ideas associated with Godey's Lady's Book are not useful for many other groups of women, whom may be poor, enslaved, working, or more, because the truth is true womanhood encompasses much more than domestic ideals. Money: working women for wages may not have time to create a perfect home space. The concerns may be more about providing for family with food and comforts, and making sure children have a roof to sleep under. Enslavement: not only were they unlikely to have the means or ability to buy the subscription in the first place, slaves live on their owner's property, often with many others, in living quarters. They only had access to furniture that owners provided them, also meaning no access to décor probably. And no access to the fashions. They got what they got. What was important here, and ideal for a woman here was survival [cite piezas], staying strong in a situation where sexual assault was extremely common [cite Celia]. Racial Reasons: women of color and enslavement often went hand in hand [Tituba, Nancy]; but also, women of color who weren't enslaved may not find domestic ideals for them either. Sarah Winnemucca was a young Paiute Indian whom grew up afraid of white men, and lost everything she had when they burned it all down, forcing the Paiutes onto a reservation. Later a lobbyist for Native American rights, her concerns were the rights and survival of Native Americans, her family, and telling of their history. Womanhood may have meant family and preservation of family to her. Mobile Lives: Property Ownership: In conclusion, the ideals of domesticity aren't negative for a woman by any means, but unfortunately may not apply to well to the countless other women of the US whom aren't able to have a parlor due to enslavement or poverty, or whom use their womanhood in the fight for rights or freedom. Womanhood encompasses strength and individuality above all else, and all of these women express true womanhood in their own unique ways.
Godey's Lady's Book
Godey's Lady's Book was an American Women's magazine published 1830-1878 by Louis A. Godey. These general interest issues showcased the ideal lady: religious, pure in heart, domestic, and obedient. Issues were about fashion and short stories but moved to have substance and showcase awareness about inequalities of women.
Gradual Emancipation
Gradual emancipation refers to the 'grandfathered' freeing of all slaves. Under this, children born to enslaved mothers after July 4th, 1799 were to be slaves until age 25, then freed. Most freed slaves ended up dependent on their owners for support anyway. Additional laws passed with this one prohibited interracial marriage, due to anxiety about the blending of races among the free. This was the US's way of keeping the races apart and on a separate hierarchy even after freedom.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom's Cabin, a story of a slave woman who runs to freedom with her son. Tom is sold and eventually beaten to death; right before his death, he forgives his master. The story mirrors evangelical religion, portraying slavery as brutal under a harsh reality and slaves as suffering like Christ did. The novel was best-selling and adapted into a play later.
2. Between the American Revolution and the Civil War, women's rights advocates used two seemingly contradictory arguments, one emphasizing sameness between genders, the other emphasizing difference. Which approach most effectively improved the daily lives of women in America, and why do you think so? Your essay should discuss republican virtue, revolutionary rhetoric, politics, reform, and abolitionism. In addition to lectures, draw on Charlotte Temple, Celia, A Slave, and documents from Root of Bitterness. Remember to explain which women you are discussing—no hiding behind the "imaginary woman"!
19th Century ways of thinking. Sameness arguments promoted the idea that men and women are fundamentally equal and deserve the same rights and treatment. Difference or 'special qualities' argument states that the sexes are inherently equal but different: men are strong while women are weak, and each gender should be protected in it's specialness. Sameness arguments likely most improved the daily lives of women in America. Republican Motherhood was an 18th Century idea that motherhood was essential to the US as a society and political entity. With the importance of virtue (courage and self-sacrifice) to good men, mothers were seen as responsible for instilling those values of virtue in their children. The system on one hand provided more freedoms to these mothers; women were considered independent from the government in raising their children and were allowed to attend school to better be equipped to raise fine young men. On the other hand, such benefits were limited primarily to upper class white women with more leisure time. It also emphasized domestic labors, forcing a stricter role onto women in a way. This was likely based on the difference argument, but it pigeonholed women into specific roles, and while allowing them education, limited what they could learn to what might be useful for their sons to know, and focused them into a life of domestic duties. Simply put, if the same and equal, a woman could raise a virtuous son but also be virtuous and contribute to society too. In 1848, the Seneca Falls women's rights Convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucrietia Mott came together to discuss social, civil and religious issues faced by women. This Declaration expressed these problems and a critique on society by listing the rights denied to women, expressing that women AND men were "created equal" and stating that universal human rights should include women. It argued confidence and self-respect were stripped from women, and proposed ideas on moving forward. It used the sameness argument. Charlotte Temple - novel by Susanna Rowson about a schoolgirl seduced, abandoned, pregnant and in poverty by a British officer; a seduction novel - during the late 18th Century, Seduction Novels were the most popular in the US. This genre typically featured young virtuous women and selfish, bad men. The books also had an unhappy ending, such as a betrayal or death; essentially, women were portrayed as trying to do good and virtuous deeds, and corrupt men betrayed them for a bad end. Such books were meant to represent actual dilemmas women faced in life and critique the sexual double standard; an example is Charlotte Temple; this was likely fitting more into the difference argument: women are virtuous but frail and vulnerable and should be protected from corrupted men... this highlights vulnerabilities well but difference arguments can be dangerous as they can go the other way. Celia, A Slave - She was treated differently because she was a black female slave; if she were treated the same as white men and women, and seen as deserving the same rights, perhaps she may not have been sentenced to death, for her rapes would have been seen as inherently wrong (the book states that the rape of a woman of color mattered inherently less than that of a white woman)
1776 New Jersey Constitution
A 1776 document declaring you could vote if you owned land in race and gender-neutral terms. Voting in NJ during this time was seen as a privilege for those with status, over physical characteristics. Under this, land-owning single women and widows could vote (but not married women under coverture), until subsequent laws came to pass around 1800 that limited voting by race and gender. This was due to anxiety about women being able to vote, in part.
Dolley Madison
A prominent political hostess in the 19th Century; her husband was James Madison. A charming woman, she was skilled at helping two parties reach middle ground and strike deals, even if this meant making something up such as a distant relative in common. She appeared to withdraw from politics in order to have an influence through/on her husband's political career, and ownership of a parlor.
Oregon Trail
Also called the California or Mormon trail, this path to the West Coast was travelled by thousands 1841 to the 1870's. People travelled by wagon trains which could provide mutual protection and support, but each wagon (family) was responsible for the daily life/health of itself. Wagon trains had 1-2 male heads and were its own community. Goals were to travel about 22 miles per day, but they travelled about 15. It took 6 months.
Sojourner Truth
Born in 1797 as Isabella Bomfrey, Sojourner Truth was a NYC slave before abolition. She ran away with her youngest child, and after abolishment, she learns one of her sons was illegally captured and sold in the south. She sues the court and wins his freedom. She has a religious conversion experience, and ends up in a cult that begins murdering one another, but she escapes and becomes a travelling preacher, notable for making private matters public; it was the heart of her activism. She called out the sexual exploitation of enslaved women and disruption of motherhood, issues not previously spoken about. She personalized slavery, emphasizing her personal experiences when she talked to her audiences.
Camp Meeting
Camp Meetings were an open preaching marathon analogous to music festivals existing today, in which different ministers and preachers gave all kinds of sermons over several days. They were popular in the 19th Century, differing from outdoor revivals during the First Great Awakening, these were large events with a lot of planning beforehand. One was supposed to react to a preacher with 'religious ecstasy' with mosh pits defined to reduce injury.
Catherine Beecher [Treatize on Domestic Economy 1841]
Catherine Beecher stated a woman has to be trained to be doing domestic duties correctly, although it is claimed to be natural. Made a schedule of what wives should be doing.
Changing Works
Changing Works was an 18th Century social labor system under which free white women worked as a community. A woman would undertake a project (sewing a quilt, for example), and she would receive help from other women in exchange for her help on their projects later.
"domestic relations"
Domestic Relations refers to the hierarchical relationships within the household, thought to hold societies together in the 19th Century. For example, marriage was a natural hierarchical relationship within the family which had unequal powers but benefitted each party. Slavery was also viewed as one of these domestic relationships but in ways that differed based on viewpoint. Pro-slavery individuals believed this relationship was hierarchical, biblical, and traditional, taking advantage of strengths to make up for others' weaknesses. Abolitionists argued slavery was an attack on the sanctity of marriage, due in part to rates of men raping their slaves. Others argued both slavery and marriage were bad, as a slave or married woman had no control over their own person and could not defend themselves against their owner/husband.
Seduction Novels [virtue and seduction, charlotte temple]
During the late 18th Century, Seduction Novels were the most popular in the US. This genre typically featured young virtuous women and selfish, bad men. The books also had an unhappy ending, such as a betrayal or death; essentially, women were portrayed as trying to do good and virtuous deeds, and corrupt men betrayed them for a bad end. Such books were meant to represent actual dilemmas women faced in life and critique the sexual double standard; an example is Charlotte Temple.
American Anti-slavery Society
Established in 1833, this was a mix-race anti-slavery organization with a two-pronged approach to abolition. They tried to coordinate local grassroots movements as well as a moral anti-slavery component. They would have meetings, visit people in parlors, publish literature, get children involved, and book abolitionists to speak. They frequently petitioned Congress to chip away at slavery, as opposed to abolishment altogether. They called for abolition of slavery in Washington DC, chipped away at the 3/5 compromise, and the admission of new slave states into the Union. Petitions were the major avenue for change, based on ideas of womanhood, piety, domesticity. Women were the major signers of such petitions, important because they could not vote. When Congress decreed no more petitions, this posed a big problem because it stifled the voices of woman the people of color.
Free African Societies
Free African Societies formed in the Northern US in the 19th Century as societies of American-born blacks in a community built on mutual support. Everyone paid in money that was used to build schools, charities, social clubs and churches. Additionally, as health/life insurance was scarce, in hard times the community came together and money was pooled. Essentially, white people kept free blacks from their establishments, so free black communities forged their own. The first of these was established in Philadelphia.
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions
In 1848, the Seneca Falls women's rights Convention organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucrietia Mott came together to discuss social, civil and religious issues faced by women. This Declaration expressed these problems and a critique on society by listing the rights denied to women, expressing that women AND men were "created equal" and stating that universal human rights should include women. It argued confidence and self-respect were stripped from women, and proposed ideas on moving forward. It used the sameness argument.
1. What is the history of women and work (productive, reproductive, rural, urban, free, coerced, paid, unpaid, etc.) prior to 1865?
In the 16th century, Native American women were known for tending to agriculture while men hunted and protected their families. In the 17th century upon the coloinization of the Americas, women's roles remained the same, however, Europeans women were usually expected to tend to the homes, cook and take care of the children. Men had different jobs, and were more so educated on different tasks and trades. Men often times were excepted to fight in wars, leaving women in charge of taking care of them and making sure meals were prepared, clothes were tended to, and people were being taken care of medically. Emerging in the 1700's, colonialism gave way to chattel slavery, a system in which a human being could be bought and sold as if they were property. This culture tied together slavery and blackness. This condition of slavery was permanent and inheritable. Blackness and slavery was being tied together. These slaves were usually black; this permanence and inheritability naturalized slavery for black people (i.e., it was 'natural' for a black person to be born a slave). Permanent black slaves, whose children and grandchildren would be passed down through generations as property. Throughout the 17th and 18th century, the gender division of labor for slaves did not necessarily exist. Men and women were expected to work in the fields, however, often times women were expected to work in the house, completely domestic duties and often times raising children that belonged to their masters. A person who's travel expenses to America were paid in exchange for 4-7 years of servitude. During this time, servants could not marry and had to carry a pass when they left their master's property.. Often died before their contract ended. Individuals were not allowed to marry or leave their place of work. If a woman were to get pregnant it would be considered that she was stealing time from her servitude, in that the child requires time and provides no gain to the master, women in this case were fined for having children out of wedlock. During this period of time individuals were not allowed to own property or stand in court. If one was to live to the end of their servitude they would be granted freedom dues which included money, tobacco, clothes, or guns. In a Gang System, dominating 17th to 18th centuries, slaves worked from sun-up to sun-down, managed by a white overseer. Labor was constant, strenuous, and sometimes gender-divided. Common in Chesapeake. A Task System, commonly in the deep south, was a system in which slavers were given tasks to complete as they saw fit, though within a certain timeline. Watched by a black overseer, slaves usually had considerably more autonomy than in gang systems. Slaves had more free time in this system as well. Changing Works was an 18th Century social labor system under which free white women worked as a community. A woman would undertake a project (sewing a quilt, for example), and she would receive help from other women in exchange for her help on their projects later. Putting Out System was early 1800's system based on how many goods were manufactured. Raw materials from businesses were shipped to private homes with the resources to turn over a final product. Once finished, the products came back and those who helped received store credit. For a manufacturer, this system took advantage of a worker surplus by enabling less hiring and supervision which meant less monetary resources they had to expend. However, it ran the risks of slow production, losing product (stolen items), or receiving poor-quality items. In the 19th Century, factories dominated and all steps to production of a product happened under one roof by workers for an hourly wage, as opposed to payment-per-item-produced. Young women were the first large wage-workers, receiving $1-2 per week, 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. Wages enabled greater money savings and disposable income. The Waltham-Lowell System was a textile production system in the 19th Century that's technology came from British mass market textile mills. The manufacturers idea was to brand their products and push them onto buyers. Under this system there were new labor relations: young women mainly came to work in textile mills full time for wage-pay per hour rather than product-based pay. Under this systematic labor schedule, wages allowed for more savings and disposable income for these women later.
Wages
In the 19th Century, factories dominated and all steps to production of a product happened under one roof by workers for an hourly wage, as opposed to payment-per-item-produced. Young women were the first large wage-workers, receiving $1-2 per week, 13 hours a day, 6 days a week. Wages enabled greater money savings and disposable income.
Luzena Stanley Wilson [female entrepreneur]
Luzena Stanley Wilson was a Midwestern woman whose husband moved the family to Sacramento, California during the Gold Rush in 1850. However, soon there was a flood and they lost everything they had. Luzena decided to open a business called El Dorado in which she fed miners in the area. She became successful over time, added amenities to her set-up, and eventually created a boarding house. She capitalized on gendered division of labor by providing services to male miners they no longer got from female relatives (as they moved west to mine by themselves). Men felt more comfortable paying a woman for such domestic services.
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the idea that expansion of US physical, political and authoritative boundaries were 'destined' the spread from the Atlantic to Pacific Coast. Really, it was a US justification for taking the land of others. "Manifest" refers to God, as the destiny of expansion was 'manifested' by God's will, because whites were supposedly superior and meant to spread religion and democracy. White migrated by the thousands to the west coast through the 1840-50's.
Manimussion [slave until proven free]
Manumission refers to the freeing of individual slaves, a practice that remained in the Southern states, for whom slavery was a way of life. Post-American Revolution rates of manumission increased, often in the form of gradual manumission, freedom with many strings attached. A slave worked until their owner died, and then under the system of "slave until proven free," needed papers or a badge to then prove they were free. More women (about 60%) were freed due to male slaves making more money for their owner on average. Additionally, female slaves who were 'lovers' or forced to commit sexual favors were more likely to be freed. Despite freedom, the badges worn by free blacks were similar to those enslaved Africans wore; treatment wasn't much different, and restrictive laws were in place which hampered their ability to thrive compared white people.
Maria Stewart
Maria Stewart, living in the late 1800's, supported herself as a writer and public speaker. She was the first African American woman to speak about abolition in front of a mixed audience of men and women, as well as about abolition to the free black community. She spoke that the power to fight prejudice was in the hands of the free blacks, to transform their communities with intellectual improvement. She also claimed that free black women could facilitate the moral transformation of these communities as teachers, mothers and wielders of influence. The idea was that these transformations would impress whites, and their prejudice would drop.
3. How did women in the nineteenth century view marriage: As a partnership? A legal status? An emotional support? A tool for survival? In your answer, choose four women—an African American woman, a Native American woman, a Mexican woman, and another woman of any race or nationality—and compare and contrast their perspectives.
Marriage in the 19th Century was viewed in many different ways, all depending on cultural roots. African American Woman - Native American Woman - Tituba married to Indian John as a legal status, so that Parris wouldn't look like he had her as a concubine; he held a high position in the very strict Puritan faith as a minister Mexican Woman - marriage/family central in civilized Catholic society, bond sanctified by Christ, and was indissoluble; courts usually enforced reconciliation, made sure each party was doing their duties to one another/the family; women had right to hold men responsible for neglecting to fulfill obligations for exceeding their power/authority as heads of households 1843, Luisa Dominguez complained of beatings, husband Pollorena complains she had 3 children outside marriage; judges order reconciliation; they promise to if he treats her well, versus, if she is prudent Another Woman - Dolly Madison - saw marriage as love, support, and a tool maybe A prominent political hostess in the 19th Century; her husband was James Madison. A charming woman, she was skilled at helping two parties reach middle ground and strike deals, even if this meant making something up such as a distant relative in common. She appeared to withdraw from politics in order to have an influence through/on her husband's political career, and ownership of a parlor. hosted partied & social connections to find relatives jobs and create political connections for husband.
Martha Washington Societies
Martha Washington societies were societies of working class women first established in 1841. Focusing on domestic abuse, alcoholism, and poverty, women were encouraged to influence their husbands or fathers to completely give up their drinking. Societies also provided these men with clothes so he may better pick himself up and find work, attempting to work on the soul and physical body at the same time. They held charity events and fairs to raise the money they gave to these needy families. They also recognized women could be alcoholics too, unlike most middle class societies. The MWS movement thus was also about the disruption of male-female roles on both sides caused by alcohol consumption. Here is the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous, where people could come together and share.
Mary Boykin Chestnut
Mary Boykin Chestnut was a slave owner in the South who wrote a famous 19th Century diary detailing her disgust with the poisonous dynamic between slaves and their owners under the system of domestic relations. She notes the prevalence of white men surrounded by their wives and concubine slave women, and says white women were disgusting for gossiping about the emergence of mixed-race children in other homes and ignoring it in their own. She also demonstrated an immense lack of sympathy by expressing her disgust in the enslaved women forced into that position; she claims they are enslaved due to their bad family values, acted like prostitutes as if they have a choice, and were not 'true women.'
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
One of the organizers of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, along with her friend Lucretia Mott. They both came from wealthy families and met at a world anti-slavery conference. After they came back from the world anti-slavery conference, they were upset at how they were treated there as women (told they needed to go upstairs and not speak). They wanted to change that, so they created this Convention and came up with the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions.
Mother Ann Lee
Originally a Quaker in England with a terrible husband whom raped and beat her, Mother Ann Lee became one of the main preachers of the Shakers, an early radical utopian experiment. Called so because she was believed to be the female expression of Christ, she staunchly believed that sexual intercourse and marriage were evil. Thus, the shakers believed in total celibacy, and the idea that marriage violated God's plan for equality of all humanity and all souls because it was based on a hierarchy and subordination of women to their husbands.
Married Women's Property Acts
Passed in 24% of the states by the mid-1800's, this law chipped away at coverture by stating property a woman brought into marriage remained under her control and cannot be taken by her husband. It additionally asserts a woman may control the money she inherits, write her own will, and keep her earned money for herself.
Piezas
Piezas referred to captives bought and sold during the Indian practice of captive Slavery. The practice was primarily by patrilineal societies, specifically the Nomadic and Pueblo Indians, whom would raid one another's settlements to seize women and child captives to trade. Later, the Spanish joined in this practice in the 19th Century. Translating literally to 'coin,' piezas were treated as currency and circulated as labor and props. Unlike slavery of black people, this captivity was not generational: the child of a slave was born free, and provided piezas with some security later.
Plains Indians
Plains Indians were those nomadic peoples on the plains, encountered by people travelling the Oregon Trail in the mid-1800's. Attempting to make room for white settlement, the US government tried to 'concentrate' Indian tribes to one area of land, leading to the Indian Reservations existing today. The government promised protection and annual payment or regular provision of food/clothing. Most Indians resisted, which took a toll on American Indian life, leading to war and violence.
Borderlands
Post Mexican-American War in the mid-1800's the Borderlands area formed, regions where nobody agreed on boundaries or who had legal control over the region. Those in the region were blended and mixed races. The regions also featured cultural borrowing, where cultures pull ideas from one another in their own. Trade and commerce were at the epicenter of everything: the economic character of a borderland is connection and monetary gain through trade. Another character is gender frontiers, where new gender systems force a group to rethink and reassess their own.
Paternalism
Prior to 1820 slavery was believed to be a necessary evil, but starting about 1820 the idea of Paternalism rose. Slavery was claimed to be a positive good; masters thought of themselves as the fathers of big, multi-racial families. Slaves were seen as 'children' who were inferior, immature and unable to help themselves. Thus, by owning slaves, masters were 'saving' them from the world in which they could not take care of themselves. Work was life-long, as slaves were seen as property, so in a sense under Paternalism ideas, the black slave was never at risk for 'unemployment' and had someone who 'cared' for them, their master. Slaves were able to take advantage of this Paternalist fantasy and their overall material and health conditions improved during this period.
Putting Out Systems
Putting Out System was a 19th Century system based on how many goods were manufactured. Raw materials from businesses were shipped to private homes with the resources to turn over a final product. Once finished, the products came back and those who helped received store credit. For a manufacturer, this system took advantage of a worker surplus by enabling less hiring and supervision which meant less monetary resources they had to expend. However, it ran the risks of slow production, losing product (stolen items), or receiving poor-quality items.
Republican Motherhood
Republican Motherhood was an 18th Century idea that motherhood was essential to the US as a society and political entity. With the importance of virtue (courage and self-sacrifice) to good men, mothers were seen as responsible for instilling those values of virtue in their children. The system on one hand provided more freedoms to these mothers; women were considered independent from the government in raising their children and were allowed to attend school to better be equipped to raise fine young men. On the other hand, such benefits were limited primarily to upper class white women with more leisure time. It also emphasized domestic labors, forcing a stricter role onto women in a way.
Sarah Winnemucca
Sarah Winnemucca was a young Piyou Indian who grew up during western migration of white Americans in the mid 1800's. Her only knowledge of white Americans were fron stories told by relatives that they eat small children. As a child, she and other children were buried to their necks and hidden in bushes to avoid them. When she emerged and returned home, she found the white men had burned everything they had leaving no provisions for winter. The tribe was forced to a reservation by the US.
Gertrudis Barcelo
She was a woman who ran a gambling house and saloon in Sante Fe during the time of the Mexican American War (1840s). She became somewhat of a mythical figure, a lady saloon keeper with loose morals, through images that circulated in magazines in Newspapers across the US. The images that circulated of her are presumably made up; she was to represent what the US believed to be the immoral nature of Mexicans. However, in her own community, she was highly regarded. She worked behind the scenes in politics, had the governor over often, donated to the church and poor, and was a go between for visitors, traders, Americans, and Mexicans. When they drank in her saloon, they were able to learn about each other's cultures and practices. Her story shows the discrepancies between truth and what is depicted in the media.
Community Property and Separate Property
Spanish law treated husbands and wives differently than English law. In Spanish law, they consider the larger family line more important than the husband/wife couple. Prior to 1848 when the territory was still considered Mexico, Anglo traders had to accept Spanish law. If Anglo traders were working with a man who owes them money and he died, they would attempt to seize the wife's money and property; however, if she contested it in court she would win due to Spanish law. After 1848, the land gradually steers away from Spanish law as new judges and jurys move in. The laws move toward community property, which is English law, where husbands and wives have community property; they do not own their own separate property.
Temperance
Temperance describes a mid-1800's movement towards the moderation of alcohol consumption, following the early 1800's alcohol consumption which was seriously high (5 gallons per year per capita) and posing a serious problem. As a religious matter, temperance meant people drank on the Sabbath and could not get to work Monday, causing poverty. As a health matter, the addiction was dangerous (according to doctors especially), and could be seen as being slave to the bottle across all people of all races (stripping personal power). In these senses, the movement of temperance was able to be the most widespread and popular reform movement.
Bloomer Costume
The Bloomer Costume was women's clothing that enabled a greater range of mobility and practicality. Elizabeth Bloomer designed the costume in the 1840's because clothing at the time seemed to limit women: large immobilizing skirts and immodest tight tops. The Bloomer Costume featured a loose dress that doesn't drag on the ground, over baggy pants, with a modest touch; it allowed a woman to feel beautiful and get things done, and to not just be an ornament. The major argument against this was against women wearing pants. Men's argument was that if women were to wear pants, how could a man know who he should marry.
Cult of Domesticity
The Cult of Domesticity was a cultural response to 'work' with the idea of 'home' in the 19th Century. Work and home were now separate spheres; working away from home created a nostalgia for 'home,' a fantasy ideal of the home as a special caring place. Domestic labors such as cooking, cleaning and childcare were seen as acts of love rather than labors. It was believed women should stay at home ands solely undertake these domestic duties.
Donation Land Claim Act; 1850, Oregon; land grand; right of preemption
The Donation Land Claim Act was an Oregon 1850 law providing free land to single men and married couples who already lived there. Married couples received twice as much land, with each partner owning half equally. Lasting 4 years, the idea was to help families set up civilization in Oregon, but this did not succeed because the land couldn't be farmed.
Oneida Community
The Oneida Community was found by Noyes mid-1800's, a graduate of Dartmouth whom believed in perfectionism. After being rejected, he claimed monogamy was a sham, as you were 'worshipping' that person and worship should be reserved for God. He believed in the sharing of relationships as well as wealth, and began the Oneida Community as one of 'complex marriage' under which Noyes was the ruling patriarch. He made the rules, assigned sexual partners, decided which men could father children and forced other males to use male continence (to not ejaculate). The community featured no private property, permanent marriage, coverture, and children being raised communally. They were a manufacturing community; their silverware is still known today.
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals 1790-1835 in English nations, the most dominant form being evangelical denominations such as Methodist and Baptist. Regular church attendance became the norm compared with a rate of 1 in 20 church-goers per month during the colonial period. Also arising was the marketplace of religion, the idea that religion competes for your attention and money. Laws decreed a person could therefore choose which church to give their money to and support. Churches experimented with ways to bring in new audiences; membership fluctuation was high and people didn't stick to the church their parents did as much. A belief shift is observed from predestination to free will; behavior was the determinant in going to heaven or hell.
Waltham-Lowell System
The Waltham-Lowell System was a textile production system in the 19th Century that's technology came from British mass market textile mills. The manufacturers idea was to brand their products and push them onto buyers. Under this system there were new labor relations: young women mainly came to work in textile mills full time for wage-pay per hour rather than product-based pay. Under this systematic labor schedule, wages allowed for more savings and disposable income for these women later.
Monogenesis vs. Polygenesis [scientific racism]
The shift from Monogenesis to Polygenesis during the Enlightenment in the 18th Century reflects scientific racism. Under monogenesis, it was believed that all humans came from Adam. But with Polygenesis, it was believed that white people came from Adam (they were Adamic), and other races came from a secondary origin the bible does not specify. This revision of biblical interpretation to fit the current beliefs about different races reinforced the idea that with different natural origins, natural rights that each group was endowed with were different as well.
Sameness vs. Difference Strategies
These were 19th Century ways of thinking. Sameness arguments promoted the idea that men and women are fundamentally equal and deserve the same rights and treatment. The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions uses this approach. The Difference or 'special qualities' argument states that the sexes are inherently equal but different: men are strong while women are weak, and each gender should be protected in it's specialness. For example, mothers have a special claim to their children and say they should have custody after divorce; such becomes the case and judges rule in the woman's favor.
Tong
Tong were secret societies in China with business connections to American cities, involving the procurement and distribution of women. In the mid-1800's, 87% of Chinese women were transported as sex workers by the Tong organization, mirroring the issue of human trafficking still going on today. Women were kept in rooms behind bars, paid to entice men and were involved in contracts that were near-impossible to get out of. It was illegal to marry white men for any protection, and they would be arrested for running away for violation of contract.
African Methodist Episcopal Churches
Traditional northern Methodist churches were considered radical, arguing for emancipation, the equality of the souls of blacks and whites, and the idea that anyone could preach regardless of color. In the late 1700's North African Methodists decided that rather than worship in mixed-race congregations, they would worship separately with their own preachers and schools. In 1816, the African Methodist Episcopal Church won independent recognition as a church, the first all-black one in the US.
Virtue [virtrus, virtu/republicanism]
Virtue is a term which, prior to the American Revolution, referred only to men. A true leader was said to possess virtue, described as courage and self-sacrifice for the republic in warfare. The ideals of virtue held together society under the theory of republicanism. There were no monarchs; instead, leaders were decided on virtue of the men. This was thought to be a masculine trait, one men possessed only. Existed in the 18-19th centuries.
"women's rights"
Women's rights in the 18th Century referred to spiritual equality, social elevation, and intellectual equality. This included access to information (political or otherwise) and ability to debate (NOT voting). It was argued that although gender and it's inherent/physical differences come from God, the social/political hierarchy and power divisions between men and women are a result of society.