Women's rights - American History (WooHyun Kim)

The movement of women in history

Such social reforms brought many women to a realization of their own unequal position in society. From colonial times, unmarried women had enjoyed many of the same legal rights as men, although custom required that they marry early. With matrimony, women virtually lost their separate identities in the eyes of the law. Women were not permitted to vote and their education in the 17th and 18th centruies was limited largely to reading, writing, music, dancing and needlework.

The awakening of women began with the visit to America of Frances Wright, a Scottish lecturer and jounalist, who puplicly promoted women's rights throughout the United States during the 1820s. At a time when women were often forbidden to speak in public places, Writhgt not only spoke out, but shocked audiences by her views advocating the rights of women to seek information on birth control and divorce.

By the 1840s a group of American women emerged who would forge the first women's rights movement. Foremost in this distinguished group was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In 1848 Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, another women's rights advocate, organized a women's rights convention - the first in the history of the world - at Seneca Falls, New York. Delegates drew up a declaration demanding equalit with men before the law, the right to vote, and equal opportunities in education and employment.