Women and Slaves: Limited Freedoms in America, 1492–1867

Introduction

Today, citizens in the United States enjoy universal suffrage and equality under the law pursuant to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, but things have not always been so equitable for marginalized populations such as women and African Americans. Indeed, despite claims to the contrary, many observers would argue that women and African Americans remain disenfranchised from mainstream political life even today. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical and systematic discussion of the profound lack of freedoms and limited opportunities available to women and enslaved Africans during the period from 1492 through 1867, and to trace how those opportunities slowly expanded over the years. A summary of the research and key findings is presented in the conclusion.

Women's Rights in Colonial and Early America

Both women and African Americans suffered many struggles and were slow to achieve their eventual goals of equal rights. While the achievement of equal status for women and enslaved African Americans did not occur prior to the Civil War, the efforts were tireless and formed a significant part of America's development. Even during America's early years, the struggle for women's rights was already well underway. While many of the first male settlers to America were in search of wealth, others brought their wives and families, intending to start new lives in this land of seemingly limitless opportunity.

Although some historians argue that the Women's Rights Movement began with the First Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls in 1848, Mallett (2007) emphasizes that "I believe the [Women's Rights] movement began long before that. In fact, I believe it began the moment Mary Chilton set foot on Plymouth Rock" (para. 2). According to Seelye (1998), Mary Chilton was among the first Europeans to set foot on Plymouth Rock: "There is a tradition, as to the first person who first leaped upon this rock, when the families came to shore: it is said to have been a young woman, Mary Chilton" (p. 384).

Notwithstanding the early presence of European women in America and the overarching goals of the first settlers to create a truly egalitarian society, women would remain on the fringes of society in terms of their basic rights and their ability to earn a living outside the family home, own property, enter into legal contracts (including making their own wills), divorce their husbands, vote, or even exert control over the destinies of their children (Loewen, 1995). As one historian notes, "Ideas about democracy and equality lived and grew in the English colonies from the very beginning, although these ideas seldom applied to women, African Americans, and Native Americans" (A new world, 2018, para. 3).

The fundamental lack of rights for women during the early years of the United States compelled Abigail Adams to write to her husband John Adams on March 31, 1776, urging him and the other Founding Fathers to remedy the situation. She wrote: "[I]n the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could."

Abigail Adams made it clear in this correspondence that the same constraints that had prompted the American Revolution — including taxation without representation — were equally applicable to women's rights. As she concluded: "If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." Of course, American women did remain bound by the laws of the land. It was not until August 18, 1920, that the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote and hold public office. Prior to this landmark event, society's expectations for American women included their role as guardians of virtue and spiritual heads of the home; they were expected to be pious, pure, submissive, and domestic, and to pass these virtues on to their children.

The Push for Women's Suffrage

The path to women's suffrage in the early 20th century gained momentum during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century, "when evangelical Christians launched temperance, abolitionist, and other reform movements, culminating in the Civil War" (Bailey, 2008, p. 32). During the Second Great Awakening, growing numbers of American women attended seminaries and academic programs to become educators, while others engaged in activism by exercising their right to petition the government with grievances. Public speeches and rallies promoting women's rights also became more commonplace. These efforts provided American women with expanded opportunities, though still not on an equal footing with white men, even after the passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1868.

Conclusion

The expansion of individual freedoms and equality for women and African Americans in America was a slow and painful struggle, marred by longstanding patriarchal views about women's roles and the so-called "natural state" of Black people as slaves. The British and European conception of women's place in society was, by default, transplanted into the colonies. As the country matured and grew in autonomy and strength, slavery became a valuable tool for economic growth and stability. Women continued to be valued for their contributions to domestic life but were largely disregarded when it came to political, financial, and property ownership rights.

As generations passed, however, views about women and African Americans gradually shifted toward what is now recognized as fair and equitable rights for all. Much resistance to change was maintained, but the movements for women's rights and the abolition of slavery ultimately proved irresistible. While the achievement of equal status for women and enslaved African Americans did not occur prior to the Civil War, the efforts were tireless and formed a significant part of America's development.

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