Before the 1900's, women mainly worked in the home, doing domestic work, such as taking care of the household and children. They did not have a great voice in political matters and were not treated as equals to men. However, the early twentieth century, 1900-1920, brought great change for American women. It brought greater independence, more educational opportunities, and more social rights. The Women's Suffrage Movement grew tremendously during the 1900's, which led to greater equality between genders and later, in 1920, the right for women to vote. World War I also brought great change to how society viewed women. With women having to step into the jobs of men who left to fight for war, society began to see women as more responsible, and realized that they could do the jobs. The war and women's suffrage movement both brought great change for women in the early twentieth century politically, economically, and socially. Education This time period brought a rise of higher education for American women. The women's suffrage movement sought to gain equal education rights in the United States. They argued that the only fundamental differences between women and men were socially created ones, and because of this, women should be offered the same extensive and practical education that was offered to men. After several battles and oppositions, they were finally granted the right to be educated through government acts. This led to the opening of women's colleges, because there were still many schools that were not willing to teach women in higher education levels. This was still a great achievement, because now women had the opportunity to continue into higher education. Because of this new opportunity, women began to continue their education and became teachers, doctors, and even lawyers. Economic During the 1900's, more and more women began to join the workforce. By 1900, 18.8% of women were in the workforce, and by 1920, this increased to about 24%. This shows that during the time period of 1900 to 1920, women were given more independence in that more women were allowed to leave the household to work. The booming American industry allowed for women to find jobs in factories and mills, while others became teachers, nurses, typists, and sales clerks. There were also a few women who furthered their careers in science, medicine, and law, which were then considered "male careers", due to women receiving higher education. After the start of World War I, women had to step into the jobs of men when they left to fight the war. Women helped make airplane and automotive parts, became truck drivers, and even police officers. There was a high demand of building jobs, such as building ships and ammunition. Even when the men came back from war, women continued to stay in the workforce. Social In the 1920's people began to focus more on entertainment rather than work. This was because it was after the war and people were all about celebrating. Many people, including women, went to jazz clubs, drank, smoked cigarettes, and dated freely. It seems that women completely changed during this decade. During the 20's, flappers, young women who wore short flappy dresses, and had a reputation of drinking, smoking, and partying all the time. They were seen as rebels, because it was not normal for a women to wear such short clothing and drink, smoke, and date so freely. Society believed that women should remain conservative and act mannerly because it was thought of as proper and subordinate to men. Political The women's suffrage movement began before the Civil War, however, its greatest accomplishments took place during the 1900's. During World War 1, women took over men’s jobs because men were at war. These jobs were usually dangerous and meant only for men. Some examples of jobs taken over by women were: engineering, farmers, and heavy lifting such as building ships. When women took over men's jobs, this lead the women to believe that they were equal to men. More jobs were open for women after the war. In the 1920’s suffrage movements emerged and the first generation of college-educated women entered professions. One of the most famous suffrage movement was the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This suffrage movement believed that women should be allowed to vote. They also believed that women’s goodness made them necessary for politics. On August 18th, 1920, the 19th Amendment was added to the US Constitution giving women the right to vote. The 19th Amendment boosted women’s confidence, made them feel less like property, and helped women to stand up for themselves. Citation
Coppens, L. M. (2000). What American Women Did, 1789-1920: A Year-by-Year Reference. McFarland.
Lacey Young
3/19/2017 01:48:30 pm
I like that you organized the post into sections. You did a great job of covering all the different subjects that make up your topic during the early 1900s. The pictures that you added after each section help back up the information you are writing about. What was the reaction of society to the fact that women were receiving a higher level of education?
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Rachel Loyd
3/19/2017 04:48:56 pm
I really liked the addition of pictures to your blog post; that is something that is unique to your blog and is very supportive of the facts in your post. I was wondering if there were any schools that taught both men and women during this time period?
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Jessica Stevenson
3/20/2017 10:06:30 am
Wow what an appealing and interesting blog post! The roaring 20's was definitely a time of tremendous prosperity and success for women in all aspects of life. How were their lives affected after the men returned from war?
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Minahil Shahbaz
3/20/2017 06:13:22 pm
Overall I really like your blog post. My favorite part was how you divided the post into the main sections. My question is who were some of the women who made this change happen? How effective were these movements?
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Mr. Ray
4/15/2017 02:59:53 pm
Overall, you two did a pretty good job with this post. I liked that you focused on a number of different issues within your topic; however, your section about politics was mostly about jobs, which though important, was mostly a reiteration of your economics section. The major missing piece of this post was the more expansive statement or synthesizing it with another aspect of history.
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