Women

• The civil War offered opportunities for married women to work as agricultural labourers or nurses however nursing was seen as an extension of women's nurturing role + it didn't open up a path to becoming a doctor
• Industrialisation transformed the US economy creating more jobs for women that changed the pattern of female employment from domestic service and agriculture to factory work and office jobs. the % of total workforce engaged in agriculture fell from 53% to 37% 1870-1900
• Westward expansion created job opportunities for women as cleaners, cooks, nurses, teachers and agricultural labourers. the Homestead Act 1862 gave either sex 160 acres of land in the west to stay on it for 5 years. Some state govs in the West like Wyoming in 1869 gave women the vote in the hoe of attracting female migrants.
• The 15th Amendment which gave the right to vote to black men angered female activists like Susan B Anthony who had campaigned for the abolition of slavery and equal voting rights for AA's and women
• Women's Christian temperance Union

  Campaigned for higher age of consent laws and banning alcohol and tobacco, a second option for women to join because it was centred around being a mother and wife
• Anti-Saloon league, US; leading prohibition group had lots of
• Industrialisation transformed the US economy creating more jobs for women that changed the pattern of female employment from domestic service and agriculture to factory work and office jobs. The percentage of the total workforce engaged in agriculture fell from 53% to 37% from 1870-1900
• Westward expansion created job opportunities for women as cleaners, cooks, nurses, teachers and agricultural labourers
• The Homestead Act 1862 gave either sex 160 acres of land in the west to stay on it for 5 years
• Some state governments in the West like Wyoming in 1869 gave women the vote in the hope of attracting female migrants
• The 15th Amendment which gave the right to vote to black men angered female activists like Susan B Anthony who had campaigned for the abolition of slavery and equal voting rights for African Americans and women
• Women's Christian Temperance Union


  Campaigned for higher age of consent laws and banning alcohol and tobacco, a second option for women to join because it was centred around being a mother and wife. Founded by Francis Willard in 1874
• The Anti-Saloon League, a leading prohibition group, had lots of women involved, over 60,000 women were involved in anti-alcohol demonstrations
• By 1918 1 million women were working in industry supporting the war effort and replacing men. 11,000 worked for the navy, women's activism and independence raised the case for female suffrage
• However, the gains for women were temporary, it was expected men would have their jobs back after the war
• There had already been significant progress before the war, job-wise during the Gilded Age
• The Settlement House movement set up houses for immigrants and other working class people to educate them and give them better life prospects, e.g. Hull House in Chicago and then 420 houses in 13 states at the movement's peak. Led by Jane Addams, activist and social worker. Gave women a chance to get involved in politics by campaigning against poverty and child labour
• By 1865 29 states had acts passed protecting married women's rights to own property and by 1887 two-thirds of the states had given married women control of their earnings
• Due to employment, reduced infant mortality and birth control, the birth rate fell from 5.4 to 3.6 between 1850-1900. The divorce rate doubled 1880-1900 from 1/21 to 1/12 marriages due to changes in divorce law and women becoming more independent and educated
• However, divorce was often very difficult and women would lose their children and property. Women were forced into prostitution to make ends meet. The Comstock laws in 1873 banned the sale of contraceptives
• The Seneca Falls convention in 1848 can be seen as the start of the campaign for female suffrage
• The two main feminist groups, the NWSA and AWSA, merged in 1890 to form the NAWSA to campaign more effectively for the vote
• The Young Christian Women's Association (YWCA) was set up in 1867 to care for the welfare of young urban women
• Female activists at this time were mostly white and middle class, especially for the vote, because immigrant and black women had no time or money because they had demanding jobs and domestic lives
• The number of women employed in domestic service halved 1870-1900 while the number in better paid clerical work increased tenfold. Inventions like the telephone and typewriter transformed secretary jobs and made it easier for women to get them. By 1900 950,000 women worked as teachers, secretaries, librarians and telephone operators
• Women became increasingly active in trade unions and by the 1880s there were over 100 female trade unions
• However, due to the separate spheres idea it was still expected that women stay home and take care of children when the time comes and men be the breadwinner
• Female employment increased but only in lower levels, there was no progression either because they were expected to leave their jobs when they got married. Ethnic minority women were trapped in unskilled labour and had to work 70 hours a week to earn $5. Women were paid less than men and exploited because of this, because of laissez-faire ideology there was also little protection/regulation (e.g. Triangle Shirtwaist fire, 150 dead). Lots of trade unions were unsympathetic, by 1900 only 2% of trade union members were female
• By 1900 half of high school graduates were female. Women had more access to higher education and in 1900 half of graduates were delaying marriage to prolong their careers