19th Century (Ch.7) Pre-test regarding the role of women in American history, society and culture

One hundred years ago, married women were not allowed to keep the money they earned or inherited.

TRUE By law, the money became the property of their husbands.

The 19th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution gives women the right to vote.

TRUE The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote, a right known as women's suffrage, and was ratified on August 18, 1920, ending almost a century of protest.

In our past, a divorced woman did not have legal rights to her won children.

TRUE The Custody of Infants Act of 1839 permitted a mother to petition the courts for custody of her children up to the age of seven, and for access in respect of older children. The Infant Custody Act of 1873 changed the direction of the 1839 Act by indicating that the correct principle for deciding custody was the needs of the child rather than the rights of either parent. The Act therefore allowed mothers to petition for custody or access to children below the age of 16, but not in all circumstances.

One hundred years ago, many people believed that allowing women to be educated was dangerous.

TRUE The decision to educate woman threatened men. Allowing women know what men knew and not keep them in the dark? Are you mad?! Regardless of the reasons, by 1880 one-third of all American students enrolled in higher education were women, "a percentage "without parallel elsewhere in the world," according to one historian. Why? America needed women to educate children in schools. They needed teachers, and young, females were just the ticket.

Historically, married women have always kept their first names and changed their last names.

TRUE This change in women's identity, by taking a husband's name, has emerged from patriarchal history where wives had no surname except "wife of X". The wife was the husband's possession and right up to the late 19th-century, women in England ceded all property and parental rights to husbands on marriage.

Suffrage is the right to bear arms.

FALSE Suffrage is the right to vote.

Public schools have always offered sports programs to girls.

FALSE The passage of Title IX, the 1972 Education Amendments to the Civil Rights Act, expanded high school athletic opportunities to include girls, revolutionizing mass sports participation in the United States.

It has always been against the law for a husband to beat his wife.

FALSE Until 1920, it was legal to beat your wife in America. (that's only 100 years ago, mS.hArLe's grandmother was 3 years old when this law was passed)