Women's Fight For Education
Before the Revolutionary War education was undergoing many changes. One of these changes was that many people, like the Puritans, felt that education was the key to help a person be successful in life. The idea was that if you were successful in life, then you would be spiritually successful also. The only problem with the Puritan's ideas was that it left out women. For a woman, in order to be successful, she had to raise her family in the way of the Church, and obey her husband. If she were to do this, she would achieve spiritual success. But the philosophy was mainly focused on the breadwinners of the family. A woman's role in society was not as noticeable to achieve merit. Their primary role was to stay at home and take care of the children. Also, they would help their husband in many of his daily activities. Women were being excluded from education, society, and power. The turning point for women though, was the Revolutionary War. Many women were left at home to take care of all of the responsibilities around the house or farm. With this new set of responsibilities, women began to think a little bit. They began to wonder why they hadn't been able to obtain any sort of social power.
After the War was over some very interesting social groups popped up. One of these groups was called the Loyal Citizens. The Loyal Citizens group was a woman's group that was formed in order to uphold the "Republican Motherhood". The basic idea here was that women should shape their sons in the image of the Republic. Also, the mothers should shape their daughters to become good Republican Mothers. This and other groups would be a powerful influence on the unification of women. For one of the first times we see women joining together in a common voice. Women are starting to understand that they aren't going to get anywhere unless they are unified. Margaret Haley was an activist for women's power and a vehement supporter of teacher's unions. She noticed that women had no power and were still confined by the bounds that were placed upon them by men. Examples of this were that women would have to report to male administrators and were constantly scrutinized by men. She wanted to level the playing field by empowering women. She was also responsible for the American Federation of Teachers, which would later be known as the AFLCIO. With women being educated, the only thing left for them to do was to gain power and to someday give society the gentle touch of a woman. Women had learned the role of the Republican Mothers. There was no better way to teach a child than to have a woman who already understood their role as a mother. This role would be to shape the children they would teach into sons and daughters of America. Women were the perfect teachers. They had been teaching their own children for years how to be moral and responsible citizens. Through their struggle women eventually won their suffrage and would have a larger voice in the country. But even today there are still ripples from the pond that reach us. Women still struggle daily with trying to achieve total equality. Hopefully, they will win their fight! Meanwhile many schools were developing with the intention to educate women. The economy was booming which created many job openings for men. This left a void to be filled in the schools. For the private schools this meant that they weren't going to be able to stay open unless they were able to fill the open spots. So in order to fill the need, man
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Approximate Word count = 1534
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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