APUSH Women's Timeline

  • Jan 1, 1450

    Matriarchy

    In matriarchal societies,women hold the power and that power is passed down through the daughters. These societies were more common during the early ages of America with Native Americans.
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    Anne Hutchinson

    Anne Hutchinson caused a divide in the Puritan community which started her own sect, but her sect eventually fell out of popularity. Later on, she founded Rhode Island.
  • Compassionate Marriages

    In the early 18th century, compassionate marriages were based on love and the idea of equality, although true equality did not occur because societies were mainly patriarchal.
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    Mother Anne

    Mother Ann was the leader of the Shakers. Unfortunately, her sect eventually died out and had no lasting effects.
  • Daughters of Liberty

    The Daughters of Liberty were patriotic women that were sympathetic to the separation of America from Britain, although their influence was not as great as the Sons of Liberty. Furthermore, the women assisted in making decisions in the Continental Congress.
  • Republican Motherhood

    Republican Motherhood was the ideal that mothers should raise their children to be mannerly and have republican, christian values. This elevated the status of women as it gave them a more important role in the house.
  • Second Great Awakening

    During The Second Great Awakening, women, such a Susan B. Anthony, built up the courage to push for women's rights.
  • Separate Spheres

    The idea of Separate Spheres was that the workplace should be separate from the home a womens' roles should be separate from men.
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    Dorothea Dix

    Dorothea Dix was a prison reform leader during the Second Great Awakening. She sought to have mentally disabled people taken out of prisons and placed in mental asylums. Her work still affects society today.
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    Elizabeth Cady Stanton

    A leader of the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton read the Declaration of Sentiments at the convention and called for support for the women's suffrage movement.
  • Lucy Stone

    A suffragist and anti-slavery advocate, Lucy Stone became the first American woman to earn a college degree.
  • Waltham-Lowell System

    The Waltham-Lowell System,which was most often present in textile mills, had women stay in dorms, earn money, and pursue an occupation that was not of domestic service.
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    Susan B. Anthony

    A pioneer of women's rights, Susan B. Anthony was a leader of the Seneca Falls Convention.
  • The Grimke Sisters

    The Grimke Sisters were notable abolitionists and suffragists who published works on slavery from their South Carolina home.
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    Frances Willard

    Frances Willard was a major prohibitionist and suffragist who was prominent in the passing of the 18th and 19th amendments. She also was the president of the WCTU.
  • Seneca Falls Convention

    The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. The main goal was to bolster women's suffrage, so Elizabeth Cady Stanton read a Declaration of Sentiments to increase support.
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    Margaret Sanger

    Margaret Sanger created birth control and educated many on sex, ultimately creating Planned Parenthood. Her actions lead to the wide use of birth control and changed the sex culture within teens.
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    Ellen Gates Starr

    Ellen Gates Starr was a prominent social reformer. With Jane Adams, she created the Hull House, the first settlement home and started the settlement house movement.
  • Florence Kelley

    A major progressive reformer during this time, Kelley was involved in prison, labor, education, and women's reform movements. She saw the United States' societal issues as connected to one another.
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    Ida Barnett-Wells

    Ida B. Wells was a muckraker who sought to bring to light the issue of lynchings in the south under Jim Crow Laws. Her actions helped spark interest in the racist actions of southerners by northerners.
  • Eductional Changes for Women

    After the Civil War, Women's attendance within colleges rose. This culminated to 1 in 4 graduates being women, showing a changing of times for women.
  • Women's Christian Temperance Movement

    The WCTU was a female led organization, stimulated by the social gospel movement, that pushed for prohibition.
  • Minor v. Happersett

    In this court case, the Supreme Court upheld the rule that women did not have the right to vote. This was ultimately overruled by the 19th amendment.
  • National American Women's suffrage Association

    The outcome of the joining of the National and American Woman's Suffrage Associations, NAWSA, was established by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and was a large factor in passing the 19th amendment.
  • National Association of Colored Women

    The NACW was a primarily black women's organization. They pushed for suffrage and against lynchings and Jim Crow Laws. They also, but not mainly, sought education reform.
  • Maternalism

    An idea emerging in the late 19th century through the 20th century, maternalism, proposed that women had a special ability to be moral teachers and Christians. This gave them special rights but not full equality and was rejected by the feminist movement.
  • Women's Trade League union

    Created by working class and upper class women, the Women's Trade League Union promoted the creations of labor unions. As well, they campaigned against the conditions within sweat shops presented in muckraker news. This was pushed for even further after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
  • National Association Opposed to Women's Suffrage

    Believing that giving women suffrage would be expensive in order to create the ballots, the NAOWS was formed. It included men as well as women.
  • Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

    Started by Jane Addams, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom was one of the largest peace groups in history. Their main goal was to stop American economic imperialism.
  • National War Labor Board

    A federal agency that established an 8 hour work day for war workers (and time-and-a-half for overtime pay), endorsed equal pay for women, and supported worker's rights to organize.
  • Flapper Culture

    The flapper was the ideal female style n the 1920's. Their controversial style of dressing showed their new found freedom with he right to vote. The style of dress was seen to be a change of morals.
  • 19th Amendment

    This amendment gave women the right to vote.
  • Sheppard-Towner Federal Maternity Act

    The Sheppard-Towner Federal Maternity and Infancy Act showed that women's right to vote had an effect on political decisions. Scared that women would vote male politicians out of office, they passed the act to grant money to educational and childcare programs.
  • Rosie the Riveter

    During World War Two while men were out fighting overseas, woman began to work in the manufacturing industry to support the war effort. The image of Rosie the Riveter was meant to boost the idea of women working in manufacturing and was propagandized by the government to represent the strength of women.
  • Feminism

    Feminism originated in 1848 with the Seneca Falls convention. Feminism has changed from period to period to accommodate different means and goals.
  • The Declaration of Sentiments

    The Declaration of Sentiments was read at the Seneca Falls Convention. The goal of the document was to create support and a basis for the suffrage movement.
  • Women's Liberation

    The idea of Women's Liberation came with the second wave of feminism in the 1960's. The goals of these feminists were to gain equality in issues like pay, employment and marital relationships.
  • The Feminine Mystique

    Written in 1963, The Feminine Mystique was an account of the subordination of women to men in the home. The story had a significant effect that resulted in many women joining the women's rights movement.
  • Equal Pay Act of 1963

    The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibited companies from paying a different wage based on gender. This is still a big part of the feminist movement today.
  • National Organization for Women (NOW)

    Women's civil rights organization formed to eliminate gender discrimination in public institutions and the workplace but by 1970, it also embraced many of the issues raised by more radical feminists.
  • National Women's Political Caucus

    The National women's Political Caucus was created by congresswomen Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm in conjunction with Betty Friedan. Their goal is to train women in the political system.
  • Equal Rights Amendment

    The Equal Rights Amendment was an amendment similar to the 19th but was sent to states for ratification. Its goals were to protect women's rights in all facets of society but ultimately it was a failure.
  • Title IX

    Title IX prohibited discrimination within educational programs funded by the government.
  • Roe v. Wade

    In Roe V. Wade, the supreme court determined that it was unconstitutional for states to outlaw abortions. This was argued that it obstructed a woman's right to privacy.