The History and Evolution of the Feminist Movement in America

The American Revolution was focused mainly on gaining independence from England for the white male citizens of America. However, the ideas of the Revolution also extended to American women, inspiring them to fight for their freedom and setting in motion the vehicle that would later enable them to make strides toward equality in a male-dominant society. The Revolution encouraged an atmosphere of protest that would become essential for women seeking to amend the historic disfranchisement of their sex. Wielding ideas set forth by white men in the Revolution, feminists encouraged females as a whole to stand up for civil rights against the very people who had fought for their rights less than a century before.

The extent to which the Revolution altered the social role of women in America can be observed over the century following the development of provocative feminist leadership, successful implementation of relevant legislation, and change in public perception.

The earliest stages of the feminist movement in America could be observed during the Revolution itself.

A famous 1776 letter from Abigail Adams to her husband John discusses the tyrannical nature of men and suggests that it is time for women to be included in the “independent” population, which was being defined at the Continental Congress. John Adams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was one of the greatest revolutionaries of his time. It makes sense that his wife would also engage in similar pursuits on the behalf of the group closest to her: women. She believed that wives should not be dominated by their husbands but should be respected and encouraged, an assertion that the Revolution provided an opportunity for her to make.

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Many wives of the Revolution considered themselves “Daughters of Liberty,” a group that stood resolutely in support of trade boycotts on English goods as the main users of imports in America (Doc. A). Direct involvement in the Revolution contributed to the sentiment that women should reap some benefit, not only their husbands. These were the first women who stood up for themselves in America, and their ideas caught on.

The progression of the feminist movement from its advent with Adams is reflected in how the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention built upon these ideas: “Now, given this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, … we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States.”

(Doc. E). The movement had become more direct, combatting prejudices with vocalization and action. A new brand of leadership emerged to accommodate this more vigorous protesting. Susan Anthony asserted her right to vote even before the law granted it to her. On November 5th, 1872, she “unlawfully” voted in a New York Congressional election. The court hearing following Susan B. Anthony’s “indiscretion” reflected exactly the attitude she was protesting: “Susan B. Anthony did knowingly, wrongfully, and unlawfully vote … without having lawful right to vote in said first election district … against the peace of the United States of America and their dignity” (Doc. H). The idea that women’s suffrage violated the dignity of the United States was a popular opinion in older, eastern states that needed its roots shaken by leaders like Anthony before it could be uprooted. A few years after being brought to court for her actions, Anthony coauthored the Declaration of the Rights of American Women, published on July 4, 1876, recognizing that even after years of feminist efforts, men still marginalized women’s rights in society and condemned them to disfranchisement. The strength of this movement had its roots in the Revolution but would continually place pressure to change policy involving women’s rights for decades to come.

Passing legislation successfully on their behalf was one of the most empowering events for activists participating in the feminist movement. In the style of Abigail Adam’s letter, they appealed to all-male legislatures on their behalves. The first “official” victory of the women’s rights movement was in 1848 with the passing of the Married Women’s Property Act. Pushed by the Seneca Falls Convention, women gained the right to “…not be subject to the sole disposal of her husband, nor be liable for his debts, and continue her sole and separate property as if she were a single female” (Doc. D). Each victory proved courage the movement to proceed–beginning with property rights, women eventually began securing suffrage in limited locations. In 1869, Wyoming passed a women’s suffrage act that enabled all women over twenty years old to participate in elections (Doc. G). While these early examples are limited in scope, any passage of laws indicated the most significant progress of all: changes in public perception.

The 1850 illustration “The Sphere of Women,” published in Philadelphia, demonstrated the pervasion of the idea that women should mainly function in the domestic setting, tending to children and the household. “Cult of Domesticity,” a popular upper-class ideal for women that supported a pious and unassuming lifestyle, contrasted sharply with the ideals of feminists speaking for their cause. At the Women’s Convention in Akron Ohio, Sojourner Truth spoke a year after the illustration was published. She essentially asserted her independence from men and expressed the absurdity of the public stereotype of the man. She says “the white men will be in a fix pretty soon” (Doc. F) because everyone was beginning to realize the injustice of their continued dominance over women. The feminist movement created conflict in society because it spurred all to develop an opinion on the issue of women’s rights, something never considered in American society before the Revolution. The circulation of ideas began the eventual shift of public opinion in favor of the feminists.

In the context of the feminist movement, the American Revolution can best be described as thought-provoking. It stimulated many disadvantaged groups in the New World to consider freedom as a possibility for themselves for the first time, which led to action and protest. The Civil Rights movement developed later from the same root, marked by self-sufficiency spoken to by self-sufficient individuals such as Sojourner Truth. As a black woman, she helped people to realize that women should enjoy and celebrate independence. Women were considered socially inferior to men by the English heritage of the colonists, sentiments that were difficult to expel in the New World. But part of the American Revolution was establishing a new identity, one that eventually came to include women and abandon these former sentiments due to the feminist movement. The American Revolution’s revolutionary impact on women can be measured by its change in the way they thought. The encouragement they gained empowered them to stand up for themselves as a whole instead of accepting life in the shadow of men.