Women in the 19C United States of America: Everyday life in 19th century America

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Everyday life in 19th century America - Working Together

Thompkins H Matteson (American painter, 1813-1884) Hop Picking 1862

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). Husking Bee, Island of Nantucket

Henry Mosler (American genre artist, 1841-1920) Quilting Bee

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). Study for the Cranberry Harvest

Thompkins H Matteson (American painter, 1813-1884) Making Ammunition 1855

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). Sugaring Off at the Camp, Fryeburg, Maine

Enoch Wood Perry (American painter, 1831-1913) Women Weaving Baskets

Frank Waller (1842-1923) Harvesting Hops near Cooperstown, New York

John Lewis Krimmel (German American arttist, 1786-1821) The Quilting Frolic 1813

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket

Winslow Homer (American artist, 1836-1910) The Berry Pickers

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). Sugaring Off

Hal Morrison (American artist, 1848–1927) Watermellon Picking

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). The Conversation

Linton Park (American painter, 1826-1906) Flax Scutching Bee 1885

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). The Maple Sugar Camp Turning Off

Thomas Eakins (American artist, 1844-1916) Mending the Net

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). Cranberry Pickers

John Whetten Ehninger (1827-1889) October

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). In the fields

Thomas Eakins (American artist, 1844-1916) Pushing for Rail

Eastman Johnson (American genre painter, 1824-1906). Sugering Off at the Camp in Freyeberg ME

Harry Roseland (American artist, 1867-1950) An Important Letter

Louis Lang (Amreican artist, 1814–1893) The Sewing Party

Charles Sprague Pearce (American Painter, 1851-1914) Women in the Fields

About this blog

In colonial America, men were considered superior to woman in all ways. In a strict patriarchal hierarchy, men controlled not only wealth & political power but also how their children were raised, religious questions, & all matters of right & wrong.

In the early part of the 19Cy, however, many Americans experienced a revolution in gender. The doctrine of “separate spheres” maintained that woman’s sphere was the world of privacy, family, & morality while man’s sphere was the public world -– economic striving, political maneuvering, & social competition. But women were interested in equality.

In 1848, New York passed the Married Woman’s Property Act. Now a woman wasn’t automatically liable for her husband’s debts; she could enter contracts on her own; she could collect rents or receive an inheritance in her own right; she could file a lawsuit on her own behalf. She became for economic purposes, an individual. By 1900, every state has passed legislation modeled after this, granting married women some control over their property and earnings.

In 1870 after the Civi War, the 15th Amendment was ratified, saying, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” African-Americans could vote, but women could not.

But it was not until 1920, that the 19th Amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote. “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”