Taylor Molinaro

History 113 D

Women’s Fight for Equality

Women’s fight for equality has always been a political and social issue

and has always been under scrutiny. From the beginning of time men have

always put women below themselves in the social “totem pole”, and always

making them out to be the weaker sex both physically and mentally. Over

time women have become aware of their status and their power or the lack

of it. They have compared themselves to others and have decided to push

for equality as fellow human beings. Women have always been pushing to

obtain the same rights as men in the ever expanding new world on the

American continent. Fighting for equality is a long, drawn out process that

takes lots of time where women have suffered, been banished, and even

killed for revolting against the men in power.

Early Virginia was in demand of an important element which was to

obtain a stable family life which was essential in an early English society.

Tobacco was the one of the main cash crops of the south and demanded

many male servants to work the fields. At that point in time, men in the

Chesapeake outnumbered women by four or five to one. The Immigration of

women was highly encouraged which set a high demand for “tobacco

brides”. These “tobacco brides” were sent to the colony in 1620 and 1621 for

arranged marriages due to the fact that the tobacco plant owner must give a

payment in tobacco to his wife. The Virginia Company preferred that the

woman marry only free colonists but most of the women that came to the
colonies in this time period were sent over as indentured servants and were

not allowed to be married until after serving their time. Virginia remained a

society with mostly single men, widows, and orphans for many years rather

than having a family-oriented community as the company of Virginia desired.

As these women were sent from overseas they came with a message asking

for the men of the company to take them into their care, to be housed,

lodged, and provided with food until they become eligible for marriage. Soon

women were mainly transported over to be a “house wife” and a means of

proto produce offspring. They were also essential for keeping the colonies

strong to prevent any threats of the population to die off.

Over time women started to think and even push against authority

figures that kept them from achieving the same moral rights as the opposite

sex. As an example of the ramifications of rebelling against authority figures,

there was a daughter of a clergyman by the name Anne Hutchinson which

was placed on trial before a civil court for sedition which is expressing

opinions that are dangerous to authorities. While Hutchinson while holding

meetings in her house about religious issues, she stated that most of the

ministers in Massachusetts were guilty of faulty preaching. It was more or

less a collision or clash between the established power of the men and the

individual conscience of women. This example is an act of rebellion which

further helped the fight against the established authority of men, which also

showed the men that they aren’t just the ones with ideas and power but

woman are just as keen. Hutchinson acted as a leader to woman of her time,
she showed that woman can think on their own and be as cunning and smart

as men.

As the women and men grow accustomed to one another after the

initial surge of “tobacco brides’, women were now essential for the

eighteenth-century style of living. The household economy of the eighteenth

century America was centered around the family which was the basis of the

economic life. All members of the family were put to work to benefit the

family; the men, women, and children all did their parts around the house

and on the land that they owned. In the beginning of the eighteenth century

women were essential for a functional, successful family. The main roles of

women would be making most if not all the clothes that were to be worn by

the family, while using their own cotton, wool, and flax. They would make

enough efficient clothing so that the family wouldn’t be in debt to any

merchant and so that they could save money. The women of this time period

married very young, as young as thirteen of fourteen years of age. Their sole

purpose was not just to spin and sew clothing for the family but also have

grown to help around the farm. While working on the farm they have started

to help with the dairy and the keeping of the animals. They also got their

hands dirty by helping with any planting or any servile work. The whole

movement from spinning and sewing in the house working on the fields was

a huge step for equality. The boundaries between the men and women’s

work were increasingly getting smaller which gave women more rights and

seemingly more equality.

 Around 1776 about one hundred-fifty years after the first arrival of

women, they were beginning to gain more status, more than just a house-

wife or an indentured servant. A very influential woman in the late

eighteenth century by the name of Abigail Adams has shown and proved the

potential mental strength and capability of all women given the correct

education. During the War of Independence she played a huge and strong

role of keeping her husband John Adams on his toes, thinking twice about

each and every decision he would make. She kept him informed with what

was happening in Massachusetts and offered her opinions on political issues.

She sent many letters back and forth to her husband during the revolution

and among those letters was her most famous one that was written on March

31st, 1776. In this letter to her husband she asks and makes sure that her

husband situates the army accordingly so that they have the best chanced of

winning the battle for independence. Along with the battle field questions

she talks about how sure she is about the outcome of this war. One of the

things she says to her husband very wit full and confidently “But now I feel

as if we might sit under our own wine and eat the good of the land…I think

the sun looks brighter, the birds sing more melodiously, and nature puts on a

more cheerful countenance”. The way she writes and expresses her ideas to

her husband through letter are outstanding for her time; not many women

are of this magnitude of intelligence and wit. In her letter she also talks

about how they should “Remember the Ladies” while giving women more

respect and to be more favorable to them than their ancestors. She also
explained that all men can and will be tyrants if they had the chance and

would help keep them in line and help influence and maintain order; she also

asks to not be bound by laws in which women had no voice. John Adams

simply replies with “This is too coarse of a compliment but you are too saucy,

I won’t blot it out…Depend on it. We know better than to repeal our

masculine systems” which is saying that we have not yet exhausted the

power we have. The men of the era will not become soft and the power they

have is in full force. Recognizing the struggle of women many other

Americans including slaves, servants, Indians, apprentices, property less

men were also denied full freedom. The struggle against Britain inspired

challenges to all sorts of inequality which was the fight of the American

Revolution.

Many of the women who have stepped up during the Revolution have

accomplished the unthinkable. They started partaking in political discussions,

were able to read newspapers and hear orations even though women outside

of New Jersey could not vote. One of the most accomplished American

women of this era was Judith Sargent Murray, she has written plays, novels,

and poetry. She has also written essays on public issues for the

Massachusetts Magazine and other journals under the pen name “The

Gleaner”. During her time she was unable to attend any college due to her

sex but luckily she was able to study alongside her brotherwith a tutor

preparing him for the admissions to Harvard. She was getting tutored to go

to one of the most prestigious schools ever to be built and from the tutoring
she had become intelligent, strong minded, and learned how to think outside

the box while pushing for sex equality. As Murray became more independent

with her work, in 1790 she had written an essay called “On the Equality of

the Sex” which stated and insisted that woman have the same amount of

rights as men do and should be able to exercise all their talents and to be

allowed equal educational opportunities as men. One of the many points that

she makes throughout the essay is a woman’s creative power. She says that

women’s brains are so quick and sharp that they are able to fabricate stories

and lies in an instant while being able to produce slander.

Nearly fifty years have passed since the essay was published by Judith

Murray and women were now allowed to work during the industrial

revolution. The industrial revolution was centered on factories producing

cotton textiles with water-powered spinning and weaving machinery. By the

year 1836 a group of merchants had set up a new factory near Boston,

incorporated in the city of Lowell. They built a group of modern textile

factories that brought together all the phases of production from spinning

thread to the weaving and finishing of clothe. As factories were being built,

young unmarried women from farm families started to dominate the work

force. The owners of Lowell set up boarding houses to supply a place to live

for the young women along with lecture halls, schools, and literature. Women

of this time were greatly appreciative of the educational opportunities and

also valued the ability to earn money independently. This whole movement is

a huge step for obtaining the same rights as men; women are finally able to
work independently and were essentially free in a sense that they worked

were their “own” hours. They chose to work and chose to study within the

lecture halls, libraries and schools. Having women move from the farm life of

rural areas to the industrial factories gave them more power and more of a

reason to demand equality.

Soon after entering the work force, more debate and demands were

made for the equal rights for women. A woman named Angelina Grimke had

written a series of letters defending the rights of women and how they

should be welcomed into political debates and issues. She states “Since I

engaged in the investigation of the rights on slaves… I have necessarily been

led to a better understanding of my own”. Basically within her writings she

demands that whatever a man can do that is morally right so can a woman.

She also talks about how everyone is a moral being, from the king to the

slaves; everyone is built upon moral nature. With all men having a moral

nature makes all men equal with the same rights.

With women still fighting for their rights and gaining respect as new

doors are opened for them. The next big accomplishment for women and

their rights was the civil war and how they wereinvolved. The Civil War gave

women everywhere an opportunity to help the nation in the time of peril.

Some women took advantage of the wartime labor shortage to move into

jobs in factories and into the nursing business which was mainly dominated

by men at the time. Hundreds of thousands of women from the north took

part in organizations that gathered money and medical supplies for soldiers
and also sent books, clothing, and food to the men of war. Women also took

the leading role in the sanitary fairs and also raised money for soldiers’ aid. A

woman named Mary Livermore was a postwar activist for women’s rights,

who toured military hospitals to look over and gather information of the

conditions and the supplies they needed. After participating in the war, she

came out with a great deal of resentment against women’s legal and political

subordination and founded her state’s first woman suffrage convention. She

was for the movement for emancipating women no less than slaves while

creating new opportunities in education, employment, and law.

Women’s rights have come a long way since setting their feet on the

American Continent. First they came over just to play a part as a wife so

tobacco plantation owners wouldn’t lose business from faulty regulations.

Soon women were then being imported to play an essential role in an

English-style family, mainly just supplying the family with clothing while

maintaining the house. Women started to get wise and began to hold

meetings with other women talking about where they stand in relation to

men. They eventually started working next to the men on the fields of their

farms and started to care for the dairy animals which helped supply the

family with food. Abigail Adams was a huge idol and an influence on her

husband who played a huge role in the American Revolution. They started to

gain momentum with the respect they started to gain and the roles of which

they played within society. The writing of essays, poems, and letters were

looked down upon when written by women but that changed when a Harvard
tutored woman started writing about the inequalities women face and what

they are demanding. The Industrial revolution was also a big time for women;

they gained the right to work in factories sewing and spinning clothes

alongside men. Gaining rights and benefits over time are clearly being seen

and the more they fought the more they gained. During the Civil War men

were drafted into the army which in turn gave women the chance to take

their spots in the factories which made them even more equal than ever

before. The fight that the women have fought has been long and trying, they

have come from being indentured servants to almost having equal rights as

the opposite sex. No one can tell what is in store in the future. The rights of

everyone are constantly being tested and tried in courts everywhere. Maybe

sooner than later will there be equality not only in America but also around

the world. The struggle and fight for equality is seemingly never ending.
Works Cited

Forner, Eric, ed. Voices of Freedom. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton &

Company, Inc, 2008.