Works Cited

Primary Sources: 13

Beecher, Catherine E. Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, with Reference to the Duty of
American Females (Philadelphia, 1837) pp. 5-6, 27, 41, 101-08, 128
A letter written by Catherine Beecher addresses how abolitionism affected women, how
both genders have been separated into “superior” and “subordinate” but have equal
importance, how women should stand in society, and states her opinion on education.
Her opinion on how women are in relation to men is important because she is a first-hand
source on the matter. This letter is considered primary because Beecher experience
abolitionism movements, gender separation, and was an influence on both topics.
Beecher gives great insight on gender roles and how women should have acted
respectively in their spheres.

"FREE LOVE SYSTEM, THE :Origin, Progress and Position of the Anti-Marriage
Movement.. " New York Daily Times (1851-1857) 8 Sep. 1855. ProQuest Historical
Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2006), ProQuest. Web. 9 May. 2010.

This article from the New York Times is primary because it is explaining the new “Free
Love Act” and ideas of Mary Lyndon in regards to a new book written by her, and it is
from the time period so it is firsthand knowledge. The article has no reason to distort, it is
from the New York Times so is authoritative, and it was meant for public viewing,
making it an authoritative and informative primary source. Within this article, it explains
how this new system should be an act for free love, based on lust, not Christian beliefs or
women’s coercion to men. It also states how the system is trying to be created and spread
through the country and love and lust should be the only bond between genders.

Geller, Jeffery. Women of the Asylum: The Unheard Voices of America's Madwomen. The
Doubleday Religious. June 1994. Print.

A collection of twenty-six first person accounts that were written by powerless women
who were forced into admitting into mental institutions. Primarily, they were forced by
their husbands or other male figures. They admitted them for thinking or acting upon
ideas that were revolutionary or different. The accounts were written between 1840 and
1945, so not all accounts are relevant to our topic.

Grimké, Angelina Emily. Letters to Catherine E. Beecher. New York, Arno Press. 1969. Print.

A primary source that is a collection of letters that Grimké wrote to Beecher.

Unfortunately they are primarily on the topic of slavery, however a couple letters are
about women’s rights and what their place is in the world. Her opinions contrast with
Beecher’s. Beecher believes that women are subordinate to men, but Grimké argues that
they are equal “companions”. She also quotes Beecher’s book, which gives a small but
good insight into what Beecher argued.
Grimké, Angelina. "Womens Rights ." Liberator August 2nd, 1837

Grimke also writes about abolitionism, as did Beecher, and opposes Beecher about
women’s duties. She provides controversy for what a woman is able to do, and states that
women have the same right to do whatever men can do. She also has first-hand
experience because she worked to gain more rights for women in the mid-nineteenth
century. Grimke helps us see exactly how people reacted to controversial topics such as
gender “spheres” and gives good opinions about women’s rights.
Opportunities of Women, The. New York Daily Times (1851-1857). Dec 2, 1852. Proquest
Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). Pg 8. Proquest. Web. 4 May
2010.

The article’s author writes about and quotes an extended excerpt from Catharine
Beecher’s column in the Evangelist. Beecher passionately reacts to women’s demands for
professional jobs and career equality to men. She argues that women’s professions are to
take care of the home and educate and nurture the children, because men are not qualified
to do such a task. She glorifies the woman’s role of educating the youth of the nation, and
argues that instead of seeking out the glory of man’s work, women’s current domestic
work should be glorified as well. Her personal opinion of the events of her time serves as
great insight.

Rights of Married Women. New York Daily Times (1851-1857); Jun 7, 1855; Proquest Historical
Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). Pg 4. Proquest. web. May 4, 2010

Examples of state legislative reform are listed and briefly explained in this article. Some
states were passing new laws to allow women to separate their selves from their husbands
if unfairly treated, and carry on with their lives on their own. Some laws also guaranteed
women portions of separate property from their husbands. This primary source article
demonstrates the trend of reform which caught on throughout the states. The article also
admits that the old legislation was unjust and outdated for the new and changing
American world.

Rose, Ernestine, Paula B., Doress-Worters, and Ellen Carol DuBois. “Mistress of Herself
Speeches and Letters of Ernestine Rose, Early Women's Rights Leader.” New York:
Feminist at the City University of New York, 2008. Print.

This is a primary source because although it is a book, it includes letters and speeches
written by Ernestine Rose, an important figure in women’s rights. Ernestine Rose was a
Polish immigrant who is a unique founder of women’s rights who was also associated
with religious freedom and abolition. This book, and the pieces within it, shows how
important she was in comparison to other influential women like Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, by speaking at many conventions and creating the first petition
in favor of women’s rights in 1838. This book helps look at both public and private ideas
of her women’s rights actions.

Skeleton on the Hearth, The. New York Daily Times (1851-1857); Apr 13; Proquest Historical
 Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). Pg 4. Proquest. web. May 8, 2010.

The action of men beating their wives was thought of as insignificant unless he beat her
to death. Therefore, there was no legal punishment or prevention of drunken rage against
women. This made wives helpless, and it also encouraged neighbors of those men to see
beating as acceptable behavior. The article’s author(s) had a first-hand look at the affects
of the lack of legal involvement, and the impact that it had on wives and the definition of
marriage. The author believes that husbands and wives are not equal, and that their
spheres create a gentle and beautiful necessary balance, and that because of this women
should have greater legal protection to preserve the rightful name of matrimony.

Spectator, The. "Mary Wollstonecraft." ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times
[New York] 16 Mar. 1879: 3. Print.

A controversial event is discussed in this article. Mary Wollstonecraft, who had always
thought of marriage as unnecessary, has found a man with whom she would like to
legally marry. She believes is Christian morals and they somehow tie into her decision to
get married, but the point of the article is not clear on why she is changing her ways. The
article is a primary source because it is taken from an actual event in the nineteenth
century and the author has the point of view of the time period. The information we can
gather from is will help us with the revolution, because it explains how marriage is seen
by a woman of the time.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. “The Declaration of Sentiments”

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/senecafalls.html. Seneca Falls, New York. 1848.
April 24, 2010

A document written to address woman’s rights and other issues of the time. It is boldly
modeled after the Declaration of Independence, and was signed by both men and women.
It lists what they demanded needed change and gives supporting evidence for why they
deserve better and more equal treatment and rights. It was a catalyst for the women’s
rights movement of the time, and truly sets into perspective how American women were
treated and oppressed by men and oppressed by the laws made by men.

Stowe, Charles Edward., and Harriet Beecher. Stowe. Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Detroit:
Gale, 1967. Print.

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s son Charles Edward Stowe bound a collection of his mother’s
private letters from throughout her life and provides an inside look into her experiences.
Harriet did a great deal of traveling, and lived very separate from her husband for large
quantities of time. Because of this, they kept in touch through frequent letters, which
demonstrates the gentleness of their marriage. This collection allows one to experience
first-hand an example of a 19th century marriage. The book also includes numerous letters
to many other people, so the marriage is not the most prevelant, but the reader can
compare how her relationship with her husband differs from her relationships with others.
"Women's Rights. " New York Daily Times (1851-1857) 4 Aug. 1853,ProQuest Historical
Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2006), ProQuest. Web. 9 May. 2010.

This primary document from the New York Times is an article about the Seneca Falls
Convention and the new uprising of women’s rights movements before they happened. It
rhetorically questions to the reader asking why these movements are taking place. The
answer is explained in this public and authoritative article because the world was made
for all people to have equal rights and since other movements are essentially the same,
women’s rights should be allowed to speak and express ideas. This article is pretty much
hyping up the upcoming synod and saying how women are now having their time to
assert their rights and do what they can in society.

Secondary Sources: 16

Appleton’s American Biography. “Susan B. Anthony”. http://susanbanthony.net. Virtualology.

2000. April 24, 2010.

A brief informational summary of Susan B. Anthony’s life and activist activities as a

feminist. She took part in abolitionism, the temperance movement, public/political power
movements for women, suffrage movements, and others. Susan B. Anthony is an
example of someone taking part strongly in a revolution for women, because of her
revolutionary ideals and actions. Her biography shows more specifics, rather than giving
a generalization about the women who fought for their rights.

Columbia Law Review, Vol. 99, No. 5 (Jun., 1999), pp. 1344-1392 Published by:
Columbia Law Review Association, Inc.

In the book about parental custody, insight is given into how judicial action was taken
when a child was in the middle of separated parents. One law explained in the book
states how the father has most or all the power over his children. Women were not
considered for custody of their own children, and that is important to our study because it
shows how apparent it was that women had no rights. This source is secondary because
the author did not have fist hand experience on the matter, it was written based on laws
passed at the time and studies.

Julian B. Carter. Journal of the History of Sexuality, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 2001), pp. 213-249
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3704815. 1 May 2010.

The Comstock Law of 1873 is somewhat a base of Carter’s book, and the law focuses in
on how the “production” of abortion and use of contraceptives were criminalized. In the
book, an example of an actual arrest from 1872 is discussed. The arrest is argued by a
man and a woman who share their opposing opinions on the matter. It is helpful to get a
 man’s point of view because it is part of the reaction to women’s rights movements.
From reading the pages in this book we can get an idea of what really happened, even
though it is not a primary source because Carter uses information from specific events
peoples’ reactions to them.

“Late Nineteenth Century Married Women's Property Law: Reception of the Early Married
Women's Property Acts by Courts and Legislatures”. Richard H. Chused. The American
Journal of Legal History. 1985. Temple University. Web. May 1, 2010.

Richard H. Chused summarizes the causes and catalysts of the women’s rights
movements of the second half of the 1800’s. He writes about what laws were enforced
against women, and how there was reform in the rewriting of some of these laws. He
focuses on Oregon, and how it was impacted by these reforms. There was much debate
about whether women should be considered legally equal to men or not. For example, in
1850, however, the Donation Act (which granted married women access to ownership of
one half of their property, and married men the other half) was passed. Other related
legislation was passed as well.

“Lucy Burns Photograph.” 2010. The History Channel website. Apr 25 2010, 9:08
http://www.history.com/videos/lucy-burns-photograph.

A video from The History Channel shows a photograph of an influential woman named
Lucy Burns. The photograph is not as important as Burns herself, a prominent suffrage
leader for women. In the photograph she is in jail, for she was arrested for one of her
extreme suffrage movements, picketing the White House. Her goal was to attain support
from the government to create an amendment for women’s voting rights. This video
serves as a starting point for more research on Lucy Burns and shows insight from a
historian’s perspective.

Mankiller, Wilma Pearl. The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History. Boston, Mass.:
Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Print.

With a full range of women’s movements throughout a wide span of time, this book
provides a very broad context for us. Even though it is broad it still has authoritative
information on all sorts of events, including women’s marriage and the Declaration of
Sentiments. It is like an encyclopedia specifically for women’s history, but the
information is more in-depth and credible information, since the book is simply for
women’s history. We cannot get very much reaction out of this book, but it will serve a
good purpose for finding the revolution and reform.

"Marriage."Dictionary of American History. Stanley I. Kutler, ed. 3rd ed. 10 vols. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington
Hills, MI: Gale. http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.bpl.org/servlet/HistRC/

This article explains marriage throughout US history. It shows the importance marriage
has been to our society, but also how it oppressed women. It explains how martial laws
 are regulated not by the national government, but by each state. This created a large
difference within the rights for women’s and in many states women were completely not
being treated fairly. Marriage is based of early religious beliefs and supposed to be an
example of the importance of the men and women, but it clearly degraded women, which
eventually led to the spark of changing perceptions as many other things changed within
America. This source illustrates the change in history and how women reacted, after
being tired of treated poorly. Although it is not primary it is detailed and clearly explains
how big a change women’s rights movements were.

Matthews, Glenna. American Women's History: A Student Companion. New York: Oxford UP,
2000. Print.

Insight into specific events that happened throughout women’s history in America is
provided, as well as how what triggered that event, how it fits into history, and what
happened in the country as an effect of that event afterwards. Matthews touches upon a
vast number of related topics, such as feminism, marriage, property acts, divorce, Seneca
Falls, gender spheres, and the civil war. She also provides the reader with biographies of
influential female leaders and activists.

Prieur, Jean-Pierre. “Women’s History In America.” Women’s International Center. 1995. Web.
April 25, 2010. <http://www.wic.org/misc/history.htm>

The Women’s International Center’s description of women’s rights in history illustrates

how women have been disregarded as individuals and seen as inferior to men within
multiple aspects. Women were denied many rights including ownership of property,
respectable job opportunities, suffrage, and overall were just seen as weaker because of
physical characteristics, which created their role in the household. This source provides
detailed accounts of women’s rights within marriage and outside the household, which is
very helpful for understanding how things were at that time. The website was created to
educate and honor women so it provides helpful information about women throughout
time, and explains the hardships for women.

"Reform Movements: Women's Rights (1815-1850)." American Eras. 8 vols. Gale Research,
1997-1998. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.
http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.bpl.org/servlet/HistRC/

This brief but informative secondary source article has a lot of information about women
and their roles around the Civil War time period, when they realized not only did they
want to fight for movements such as temperance and abolition, but they needed to defend
themselves. Unfortunately women were denied so many rights they could not do much do
actually get active and involved. The Seneca Falls convention was a big meeting that
helped women get involved and understand what they wanted changed. Race also played
 a large part in the movements because even though many African American women were
first involved, they had even more limited rights so could not partake. This article helps
me understand movements that were happening so I can further look into those specific
acts to find more information relating to women’s right within specifically marriage, not
just as a whole.

Salmon, Marylynn. "The Legal Status of Women in Early America: A Reappraisal." Law and
History Review 1 (1983): 129-51. JSTOR. 25 Apr. 2010
<http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.bpl.org/stable/744005?
seq=1&Search=yes&term=America&term=century&term=rights&term=marrige&term=1
8th&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dmarrige
%2Brights%2Bin%2Bthe%2B18th%2Bcentury%2BAmerica%26gw%3Djtx%26prq
%3Dwomens%2Brights%2Bin%2Bmarriage%2Bin%2Bthe%2B18th%2Bcentury
%26Search%3DSearch%26hp%3D25%26wc
%3Don&item=1&ttl=2&returnArticleService=showArticle&resultsServiceName=doBasi
cResultsFromArticle>

It is disappointing to see how many historians have failed to answer questions about the
legal status’ of women in early America. The article explains how much of the actual
improvement occurred in the 19th century, where many feminists demanded the
improvement of legal status of married women. The seventeenth century, led by Richard
B. Morris, holds a title for “significant change and improvement.” This journal article
holds high authority due to it’s reference to many historians and articles, and provides
strong information on the time periods where women’s rights in marriage were
interpreted and acted upon differently.

Salmon, Marylynn. Women and the law of property in early America. Chapel Hill: University of
North Carolina P, 1986. Print.

Marylnn Salmon examines the time period from 1750 to 1830, and explains the
connection of law to women’s lives. Women were not always treated fairly under the law,
yet she shows the connection over time that women did have the ability to contain their
own control over property. Salmon’s interpretation shows how geography and time
contributed to property laws, and how eventually in the Married Women’s Act of 1848,
married and single women could all own property. Although the author is credible, she is
not primary but does provide detailed and factual information as well as personal
interpretations.
Smith, Merril D. "Women, Marriage, and the Family." Women's Roles in Eighteenth-Century
America. Greenwood, 2010. 1-30.

In the first chapter about household life within marriage and family, it is explained how
women become their husbands property when they marry and assume all domestic duties.
It also explains how over time, as America changes and forms a nation, the lives of
women changed, no matter what race or class. This chapter of the book provides a
detailed analysis of married life for women, and although it is not a primary source, the
author has also written many other books on the topic of women’s rights.

Waldron, FlorenceMae. "The Battle over Female (In)Dependence: Women in New England
Quebecois Migrant Communities, 1870-1930." Frontiers 1(2005):158. eLibrary. Web. 01
May. 2010.

Some Americans had strong opinions about what the roles of women in society should
be. However, all attentions should not be limited to simply the native born American
women. There were also many immigrants and immigrant communities which had
opinions about what the proper sphere and role of women was meant to be. Insight into
the ideals of French Canadian immigrants demonstrates an example of reaction. They
reacted to women’s rights movements and opposed women being in the working and
political world. The French Canadian Immigrants believed that the woman’s sphere was
at home to take care of domestic tasks and her family. Women being in the working
world interfered with men being able to receive jobs that allowed them to earn enough
money to support their families.

"Why Did Some Men Support the Women's Rights Movement in the 1850s, and How Did Their
Ideas Compare to Those of Women in the Movement?" Women and Social Movements in
the United States, 1600-2000. Alexander Street Press, 11 Apr. 2010. Web. 9 May 2010.
<http:/http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/malesupp/doclist.htm>.

This online datable provides a lot of information about women’s rights movements
throughout history, and this specific document shows a list of letters or appearances of
men in history and their importance in support of women’s rights movements. This is
extremely helpful because from here we can find the actual primary sources of these
events and use them for reaction, because within these humanity movements it’s not one
sided, men are influential too. It also helps provide some women’s rights conventions that
aren’t as famous yet are still important for our search.
Zeigler, Sara L. Uniformity and Conformity: Regionalism and the Adjudication of the Married
Women's Property Acts. 4th ed. Vol. 28. 1996. 467-95. Www.jstor.org. Palgrave
Macmillan Journals. Web.1 May 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3235342.

A book that has a specific section for domestic women’s rights movements is perfect for
our topic because it is straightforward and relates directly to it. Zeigler explains how
different regions handled women’s marriage laws separately and in different manners.
This will help us research the different states’ laws and how and when they were applied.
However, the country was “unified” when dealing with marital property law. Zeigler’s
book gives us information that will not only explain one of the women’s rights
movements, but also the information that will guide our research. It specifies how the
country reacted to the movements because it separately made laws, state by state.