GENERAL CURRICULUM TEST OBJECTIVE : 0006 Understand major developments in the history of the United States from precolonial times to the present.
Because women were not seen as equal to white male citizens, they were not included in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 or the 13th through 18th Amendments to the Constitution. They were not granted the right to vote until 1920 after the end of WWI with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
In 1848, the first recorded women's rights meeting was held in Seneca Falls, NY and was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Speakers at this event, including the Black activist Frederick Douglass, supported among other changes the right for women to vote, called women's sufferage.
During WWII women took on many of the roles of men at work and at home due to men being abroad fighting. However, once the war ended, men returned and there was an expectation that traditional gender roles would return.
The Women's Movement became most active in the 1960's, during a time of much social protest among marginalized groups. It gained momentum in 1963 with the publication of Betty Friedan's book, The Feminine Mistique, which attacked the middle class "cult of domesticity" and argued that society did not allow women to use their individual talents. Also the National Organization of Women was founded in 1966, advocating for equal pay and employment. This group also advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment proposed for the Constitution which has not passed; they promoted changes in divorce laws and legalization of abortion.
Resources:
http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-womens-movement-causes-campaigns-impacts-on-the-us.html
https://youtu.be/pFOieRHRzh8 (SchoolHouse Rock - Women's Suffrage)
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