Question: Women in the 19th century America have been described as “domestic household

slaves” referring to their status in society. From the documents, what is the evidence?

Response: From reading the documents that was listed above prompt one and reading from our

book, American Civilization: A Brief History, I would say that women during this time did not

have equal rights as men did. Women in the nineteenth century were classified as “domestic

household slaves” because they are argued to be not as superior to men because of religion, both

genders were taught different roles in life, and women were below in society by their physical

appearance and purpose in life. Women weren’t given the equal rights they deserved, when they

could have been the ones who made an impact and a difference.

Women in the nineteenth century were considered not to be as superior to men because of

how religion has taught the society that “Christ wasn’t a woman!” (Ain't I a Woman?). This

claim made the society think that to be superior and have rights then you must be born and

created like Christ. Since women were the opposite of a man, they were already considered not

important to society when it came to making decisions in their life. When the society claimed

this, Sojourner Truth responded to this by saying “Where did your Christ come from? Where did

your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with him” (Ain't I a

Woman?). Christ was born a man, however it took a woman to carry Christ and give birth to

him, while a man had nothing to do with his birth. The society focused their thoughts on Christ

being born a man when the women was the one who gave life to the man. This showed that men

were neglectful of women and ignored the righteous ways that women had to offer, which lead to

them being less equal to men.

In the nineteenth century, women and men growing up were taught different family

duties that made the society view women less to men. Boys were taught how to work, achieve
goals, and how to support a family when they were growing up. While the girls who were born

were raised to “learn the lighter family duties” (Woman in the Nineteenth Century), which was

how to take care of one another and their responsibilities in the household. Being raised this way,

the boys grew up knowing that they were the ones to go out and make money for the family that

gave them the power and control. While the girls grew up knowing that they were going to spend

the rest of their life taking care of family while their husbands oversaw the land and their lives as

well. Both genders were taught in different ways, which shaped the society to define women as a

“slave and plaything, and in civilized state is as you confess, his “upper servant” (A Fourierist

Newspaper Criticizes the Nuclear Family) because of how the society raised their children to

view women this way.

The defining attributes of a woman made society not allow women to hold positions that

men had so they were “denied the right to vote and hold public office, they had no access to

higher education and were excluded from most professional occupations” (From Antislavery to

Women's Rights) which restricted women to do anything that they wanted to pursue in life

beside taking care of the family. Since the beginning of time, women didn’t have these rights

because they were thought of as “weaker vessel, inferior in stature, and has much less physical

strength” (The Rights and the Condition of Women). Women followed under man’s law and

never took a stand for their rights until the Women’s Rights Movement took into place when it

started with the 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Convention.

Before the Women’s Rights Movement, women were claimed as “domestic household

slaves” because of religious facts, family traditions, and their physical appearance which set their

status in society. Women and supporters of equal rights between men and women final stood up

and took a stand against the government and men all around the world. In doing this, feminism
was starting to act into society, which later in time granted women the right to vote, own

property, and not be under men's control. Which changed the lives of many women in the world

today.

Citations

American Civilization: A Brief History. OpenStax College, 2014,

file:///C:/Users/cortn/Downloads/HIST_1700_Whole_3rd_Ed%20(4).pdf.

Fuller, Margaret. “Woman in the Nineteenth Century.” Digital History, 2016,

www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=3599.

Grimké, Angelina. “From Antislavery to Women's Rights.” Digital History, 2016,

www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=304.

May, Samuel J. “The Rights and the Condition of Women.” Digital History, 2016,

www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=3611.

Phalanx. “A Fourierist Newspaper Criticizes the Nuclear Family.” Digital History, 2016,

www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=359.

Truth, Sojourner. “Ain't I a Woman?” Digital History, 2016,

www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=4471.