Women in the 19C United States of America: Genre Paintings of Everyday Life in 19C America

Friday, October 1, 2021

Genre Paintings of Everyday Life in 19C America

William Smith Jewett (American artist, 1812–1873) The Promised Land The Grayson Family.

George Caleb Bingham (American artist, 1811-1879) Raftsmen playing cards

George Caleb Bingham (American artist, 1811-1879) The Jolly Floatmen

George Caleb Bingham (American artist, 1811-1879)Fur Traders Going down the Missouri

Henry Mosler (American artist, 1841 – 1920) Just Moved

Henry Ossawa Tanner (American artist, 1859–1937) Spinning by Firelight

James Wells Champney (American artist, 1843–1903) Wedding Presents

Jerome B. Thompson (1814–1886) Apple Gathering

Jervis McEntee (American painter, 1828-1891) Little Fisher Girl 1875

Otto Henry Bacher (American painter, 1856-1909) Richfield Center, Ohio, 1885

Theodor Kaufmann (American painter, 1814–1896) On To Liberty

Thomas Le Clear (American artist, 1818–1862) Young America

Thomas Prichard Rossiter (American artist, 1818–1871) Spilt Milk

Thomas Waterman Wood (American artist, 1823–1903) Election Returns

Thomas Waterman Wood (American artist, 1823–1903) His First Vote

Thomas Waterman Wood (American artist, 1823–1903) Politics in the Workshop

Thomas Waterman Wood (American artist, 1823–1903) The Toothache - His Own Doctor

Thomas Waterman Wood (American artist, 1823–1903) The Yankee Peddler

William Lippincott (American artist, 1849–1920) Love Finds the Way

William Lippincott (American artist, 1849–1920) Love's Ambush

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.”