Women\'s Lives After American Revolution

Women's Lives After American Revolution

Whereas the American Revolution has had a significant on people living in the thirteenth American colonies in general, it was also responsible for generating change in domains that appeared to have nothing in common with it. Previous to the War of Independence, most women in the colonies were relatively accustomed with being discriminated on a daily basis. The American Revolution, however, played a major role in changing the way that women in the colonies behaved, as it presented them with the concept of freedom as being one of the most important values that one could uphold. Thus, ever since the American Revolutionary War women in the U.S. took on new ideas and engaged in a process that was meant to gradually improve their social status. The American Civil War was also essential in assisting women in experiencing progress, as, similar to African-Americans, they acknowledged the fact that they were free to exercise their rights, regardless of what society previously thought concerning their position.

One of the main factors for which women came to be more appreciated consequent to the American Revolution was their involvement in the war. This respective involvement is responsible for creating the expression "Republican Motherhood." However, in spite of the initial enthusiasm concerning women's status in the U.S., it gradually became obvious that women would only get a few limited rights, as the concept of patriarchy continued to dominate over American territory. Seeing how the Reconstruction period following the American Civil War has had little to no effect on the way that African-Americans were treated in the southern states, women were just as underprivileged consequent to the American Revolution. Even with that, conditions changed significantly in both cases, as in spite of the fact that black people and women did not actually experience significant progress, they were able to feel how society viewed them differently.

Americans were well-aware of the fact that it was imperative for women to be provided with rights, as this would eventually assist the republic in experiencing progress. The American community basically considered conditions in the new country and realized that a society would function to its full potential only if its members were to have similar rights. "According to the new women's role articulated by republican theorists, women as mothers played the crucial role in promoting virtue and hence defending the republic from the greatest danger it faced, corruption" (Cogliano 212). It was important for mothers, wives, and daughters to induce a feeling of freedom into their community by promoting liberal values. However, their power was limited by the fact that men's thinking had not changed much, considering that they were reluctant to break away from their traditional support in regard to patriarchy.

Although when coming across the concept of an early nineteenth century woman most people tend to relate to independent women who adopted new tactics in achieving success, women were still in charge of households at the time and had to deal with over-inflated prices, authoritarian husbands, and a society that was not yet prepared to accept them as being equal. The American Civil War somewhat assisted them in starting the foundation of later feminist movements. Even with that, it was long before men would actually come to recognize women as being worthy of benefiting from the same rights as them.