Abolitionist Women in 1790-1850 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Abolitionist Women in 1790-1850 - Research Paper Example As the Victorian cultural age began to seep into the previous colonies, the rights that women previously enjoyed began to be stripped away. The history of the abolitionist movement among white women was an attempt to better than position in the newly formed United States of America. Not only did these women want to gain more political clout but also to recapture the rights that were taken away. The women who took a stand prior to 1790 became the forerunners in the women’s abolitionist movement. Immigrants came to North America to get away from persecution in Europe in hopes of being able to have the ability to live their lives how they say fit. In the new country there was the ability to make the laws they want, in the manner that benefited the community the most. Because of this the laws and regulations regarding voting and land owning were different that of Europe. Initially women held many of the same rights as their male counterparts. This was due to both a lack of populat ion as well as many of these women held positions of power in their home countries and that attitude carried over to when they immigrated to the United States. Most of the colonies before 1776 and the creation of the United States allowed women to vote in elections. When the states gained the power to rewrite their constitutions, many retracted the right and refused to allow women the freedom to vote. It was only New Jersey who maintained the right to vote for women in the 19th century when the men who held power stripped the right as well. Although women were not allowed to publically voice their opinion, many were still maintained as the head of household, and their husbands listened to what the women were saying. Women have always held a position of power inside the home, while men tended to be powerful outside the home. Because of this, many women began to meet while husband worked to talk about the political and social issues of the time. When their husbands returned home, thes e homemakers related what they learned and how they felt to their husbands who in turn responded by voting a specific way. These small groups of women also began to vocally demand change with a lot of the societal issues of the time. What began as small home based groups quickly turned into large groups of women meeting to discuss suffrage and other issues occurring in their respective areas. Due to the Victorian era of cultural ideals, women were expected to be at home, managing the home and not dealing with political or social issues.1 So when women started to come out of the houses to fight for suffrage and abolishing slavery it was considered scandalous. Due to the causes that women were fighting for, it commonly believed that there should be more black women than white women. Many of the issues these women fought against directly impacted the black populations. However during the abolitionist movements of the late 1790s and early 1800s the majority of women who were vocal were white.2 This is not to say that there were not highly vocal black women, but the majority of the abolitionist movements were white women. Soon after the United States became a country, individual states began to take away many of the rights that women held prior to 1776. This caused many women to stand up for their rights. In the beginning they were viewed as a group of women who had too much time on their hands, and could cause no real waves in both the social or political realms. In 1780 however laws started to be passed that allowed a method for slaves to become free. This led to the Northwest Ordinance of 1878 that stated all slaves northwest of the Ohio River were free, and prohibited the act of slavery.