Topic: Women’s Suffrage- Early Women’s Rights
Movement
Andrew Reed
East Syracuse –Minoa
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic-art/223449...
International
gathering of woman suffrage advocates in Washington, D.C., 1888; seated (left
to right) Alice Scotchard (England), Susan B. Anthony
(United States), Isabella Bogelot (France), Elizabeth
Cady Stanton (United States), Matilda Joslyn Gage
(United States), and Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg
(Finland).
Introduction:
Between 1820 and 1860 woman were
supposed to live up to an ideal of behavior.
A women’s role was defined in something called the “Cult of Domesticity or True
Womanhood.” The cult of domesticity
applied to middle class housewives in the industrial age (1820-1860). It was believed that the work world was for
males and it would be too dangerous for women.
The world of work was “was full
of temptations, violence, and trouble.” Women were weak and delicate creatures who would fall prey to the work
world. Women who worked were paid only half of what men made. Women also needed to cultivate four virtues of piety, purity,
domesticity and submissiveness in order to be an ideal woman. (Lavender,
1998) The view that women needed to fit
into an ideal created a situation that prevented woman from being seen as
equals with men.
Therefore, a number of inequalities began to take shape during the early 1800’s. Women began to push for reforms in the areas of work, religion, fashion, and the law. In the world of work, pay equity was at issue. Women made half the salary of a man and were not the managers or owners of businesses. They could only participate in certain professions. The fashion during the mid 1800’s harmed women. Many women wore long skirts that were corseted to a tiny waist. Many women suffered a number of physical complaints and died in childbirth. In American society common law was based on canon law. Church law placed women in a subservient role to her husband. It was because of this tradition that men were allowed and had the legal responsibility to chastise their wife into obedience. A husband was lord and master over his wife. He had to ensure his wife makes it to heaven. Therefore, husbands could beat their wives as long as there was no permanent injury. A man taken to court on wife beating in the 1870’s was cleared of the charge of severely beating his wife. The court didn’t want to upset domestic tranquility. A woman who was married and brought property to the marriage lost the property even if she was an heiress. If she her husband died and she took care of the property, she was required to pay taxes but did not have a voice in government that tax her. She was taxed without representation. Women were political slaves and had no right to testify, sue or be sued and no vote. It was God’s divine plan that women were helpless and dependent. How could they survive on their own if not for her husband? (Wagner, 1992, A Time of Protest) Something had to be done.
In 1840, the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention was held in London. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, on her honeymoon, and Lucretia Mott decided to attend the convention but were not allowed to participate. Because they were women, they were told to sit behind a curtain and listen to the men speak on abolition. William Lloyd Garrison, America’s most famous abolitionist, was so opposed to this action that he refused to participate and sat behind the curtain with the ladies. Stanton and Mott developed a friendship and vowed to meet and discuss the oppression of women in America. Back in Seneca Falls, New York, Jane Hunt had befriended the local suffragists in the area and agreed to hold a tea that would welcome Lucretia Mott to Seneca Falls. Mott and Stanton would fulfill their pledge to do something about the oppression women faced in society. Jane Hunt’s tea would be a meeting for “protest and discussion.” In attendance were Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright (Mott’s sister), Mary Ann McClintock and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They sat around Hunt’s tea table and thought about the way women faced discrimination. Their grievances were written down in a document known as the Declaration of Sentiments. The Declaration of Sentiments began “We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men and women are created equal.” Taking a statement from the Declaration of Independence, these suffragists dropped a political bombshell. Women needed to have political power and be treated as equal to men. The Seneca Falls Convention in July 1848 officially adopted the Declaration of Sentiments and would mark an important date in the fight for women’s rights. http://www.nps.gov/wori/historyculture/jane-hunt.htm
After the first Regional Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, many influential women began to join the movement advancing women’s rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott continued their struggle for women’s rights by organizing several women’s rights conventions. Then, Susan B Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage joined the movement during the Third National Women’s Rights Convention held in Syracuse, New York in 1853. Stanton, Anthony and Gage developed a friendship and became the Triumvirate of the women’s rights struggle. Together they organized and led the National Women’s Suffrage association. They also worked closely to co-edit the first three volumes in the six volumes of The History of Woman Suffrage (www.matildajoslyngage.org). In March 25-April 1st 1888, the First International Council of Women met in Washington D.C.. This gathering included the most important suffragist of the early women’s rights movement. There, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton presented issues to those interested on law and the family, women and early Christianity. Other leading suffragist discussed a myriad of women’s rights issues that were of concern around the world. Unfortunately, as much as Gage, Stanton and Anthony organized, wrote, spoke, marched and protested for a suffrage amendment, it had not been added to the constitution in their lifetime. However, their contributions paved the way for future suffragists to eventually push for the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Task:
Pretend that your class has taken a field trip to the Women’s Rights museum in Seneca Falls, New York. When you arrived, you somehow stepped through a time portal that transplanted you to Jane Hunt’s front door in 1848. Jane invites you in and asks you to join herself and her guests for some tea. Her tea was held as a “protest and discussion” on the oppression of women. She wants her guests to come up with a list of problems women face in society. You decided to summarize the problems women faced in 1848 from their discussion. Next, when the tea was over you walked out the front door and you ended up in Washington D.C. at the 1888 International gathering of leading women suffragists. There you met the triumvirate of the suffrage movement, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. You decided that you should interview the three to get their background, their views on problems women faced because they did not have the vote, their take on the causes of those problems and the actions they took to bring about suffrage. You feel you should create a pod cast of your interviews with the suffragists to share with your class when you return to your own time. You must choose one person you interviewed and create a pod cast to share with the class.
Process:
AHPPA –
Introduce class to the AHPPA
Identify the problem Complete worksheet 1 Pick one problem from the Declaration of Sentiments (Teacher may assign problem to research)
Gather Evidence – Complete worksheet 2
Determine the Causes Complete worksheet 3
Evaluate the policy
– Complete
worksheet 4
Process
Checklist:
- _____Interview one of the women from the early suffrage movement. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony or Matilda Joslyn Gage)
- _____Begin with a quote from the suffragist
- _____Give a brief background of the suffragist
- _____Summarize problems listed in the Declaration of Sentiments
- _____Discuss the problems relating to the political power of women.
- _____Determine the cause of the problem.
- _____Discuss actions taken by the suffragists to correct the problem.
- _____Evaluate the problem-How would a Suffrage Amendment solve the problem of the lack of political power and advance women’s rights?
- _____Write a script and use the information in a pod cast.
Resources:
Matilda Joslyn
Gage’s house in Fayetteville, NY
Susan B Anthony’s house in Rochester, NY
Elizabeth
Cady Stanton’s house in Seneca Falls, NY
How to conduct a pod cast interview
Evaluation:
|
|
CATEGORY |
100-90 |
89-80 |
79-65 |
64-0 |
|
Partner
Work |
The
group functioned exceptionally well. All members listened to, shared with and
supported the efforts of others. The group (all members) was almost always on
task! |
The
group functioned pretty well. Most members listened to, shared with and
supported the efforts of others. The group (all members) was almost always on
task! |
The
group functioned fairly well but was dominated by one or two members. The
group (all members) was almost always on task! |
Some
members of the group were often off task AND/OR were overtly disrespectful to
others in the group AND/OR were typically disregarded by other group members.
|
|
Delivery
|
-Extremely
well-rehearsed, smooth delivery in a conversational style -Highly effective
enunciation, expression, pacing, and rhythm keep the audience hooked -Volume
of voice, music, effects, etc. enhance presentation |
Well-rehearsed
and almost always smooth delivery. Effective enunciation
,expression, pacing, and rhythm keep the audience interested. Nearly
always uses correct grammar. Volume of voice, music, effects, etc. is well
done and effective but somewhat inconsistent |
Practice
your presentation until it doesn’t sound like you are reading. Make your
voice sound expressive and rhythmic. Increase or decrease your pace. Try it
again without laughing or giggling. Double check your grammar. Check vol. to
determine if your voice, music, effects, etc. are complimentary to your
presentation |
Delivery
was poorly done. Very little effort put into project. No practice was very
obvious. Inappropriate language and subject matter. |
|
Originality
|
Product
shows a large amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and inventive. |
Product
shows some original thought. Work shows new ideas and insights. |
Product
shows little original thought. Uses other people's ideas |
Product
shows little to no original thought. Uses other people's ideas, but does not
give them credit. |
|
Music
Enhancements |
Music
enhances the mood, quality, and understanding of the presentation All music
enhancements are owned by the creator of the podcast or copyright cleared
with appropriate documentation. |
Music
provides supportive background to the podcast. Music enhancements are owned
by the creator of the podcast or copyright cleared. |
Music
provides somewhat distracting background to the podcast. Use of copyrighted
works is questionable. |
Music
is distracting to presentation Copyright infringement is obvious. |
|
Requirements
|
Checklist
and script is complete with great detail. It was done in a timely manner. It
includes a wide variety of appropriate, well researched and informative
sources and has well edited quotes from "expert" sources. |
Checklist
and script is complete with good detail and done in a timely manner. Includes
appropriate and informative quotes from "expert' sources. |
Checklist
and script is incomplete with detail. It was not done in a timely manner.
Includes some variety of informative quotes from some "expert"
sources, and one or more source quotes need some editing. |
Checklist,
script were not done. Includes no source quotes. |
Conclusion:
Students should be able to:
- Identify major suffragists and explain their contributions to a suffrage Amendment.
- Explain problems of women in American society prior to the Seneca Falls Convention and through the late 1800’s.
- Interview a one suffragist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, or Matilda Joslyn Gage
- Create and perform a pod cast of the problems women faced, address how early suffragists worked to fight for equality and evaluate the 19th Amendment
- Evaluate the public policy created to help women gain equality. (19th Amendment)
New York Learning Standards:
Social Studies
Standard 1: History of the United States and New York
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in
the history of the United States and New York
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental
system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution;
the basic civic values of American constitutional
democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship,
including avenues of participation.
English Language Arts
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding Students will listen, speak,
read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers,
students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts,
and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and
electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and
written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language
to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and
evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas,
information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established
criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that
follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a
variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas,
information and issues.