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Puritans settling in New England are noted for their strict gender roles and patriarchy
As the strictly Calvinist Puritans began settling the Massachusetts Bay colony, they were known for their traditional values and staunchly conservative views held within their theocratic society. This extreme conservatism also extended to the field of women's rights where Puritan women were noted for being forced to play only a limited role within the church and to act solely as mothers and caretakers within the community thus enforcing sexism in colonial New England. -
Puritans excommunicate Anne Hutchinson for her progressive theology
Anne Hutchinson was a prominent woman in the Massachusetts Bay colony given her drive and religious devotion, but she quickly fell out of favor with the church leaders when she began advocating for a greater role for women in the church and more progressive church doctrines. This progressivism and unwillingness to fall in line with traditional church doctrine led to her excommunication by the Puritans and forced her to flee to the more tolerant Rhode Island colony. -
Quakers begin settling the US and are noted for their gender equality
As Quaker William Penn was granted the right to settle and govern the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681, thousands of British Quakers migrated to the American colonies and were noted by other Christian groups for their shockingly progressive views regarding the rights and roles of women. Women spoke on near equal terms with men at Quaker meeting and could even give religious sermons. This level of freedom granted to women in Quaker society meant that many early suffragists were Quakers themselves. -
Salem Witch Trials specifically target Puritan women
In perhaps the most famous example of Puritan sexism and religious fanaticism, rumors about witchcraft emerging in Salem, Massachusetts led to the targeting and execution of a group of primarily women with little evidence to be found. Although historians disagree on the motives of this unfounded witchhunt, many agree that sexism and gender roles made it easier to prosecute women since they were granted fewer rights and options in court and society than men. -
Abigail Adams is born
Abigail Adams was born into a well-off and well-connected New England family, and although she received no formal education, her family ensured that she could read and was well educated in the classic literature of the period which set her apart from most women of the time. She used this knowledge to counsel her husband John Adams and was noted for her opposition to slavery and support for women's rights as when she called on her husband to remember the ladies at the Constitutional Convention. -
Daughters of Liberty emerge and lead the nonimportation movement
As the non-importation movement emerged in the American colonies to oppose British tariffs, the Daughters of Liberty emerged to protest said acts and tariffs by becoming the leaders of this movement. They spun textiles out in the open to protest how the British wanted to monopolize the American textile market and partook in cottage-style manufacturing to oppose the way the British wanted to control American markets and manufacturing with their restrictive laws and tariffs. -
Judith Sargent Murray writes "On the Equality of the Sexes"
Although British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft published her own famous work, the "Vindication of the Rights of Women", calling for equal education and opportunities for women, this emerging American feminist published a similar text two years beforehand, and it questioned the traditionally superior roles played by men in western religion and society and promoted the education of women. This document would largely be forgotten due to Wollstonecraft's larger fame but was incredibly innovative. -
US Constitution ratified but women are guaranteed few rights
Although the US Constitution begins with the words "We the People" and its writer Thomas Jefferson argued "all men are created equal", the citizenship and rights of American women were vaguely defined and largely excluded from the founding document. No women were allowed at the Constitution convention, and for over a century, courts interpreted the documents usage of the word "persons"to mean only male citizens of the US. Suffragist and women's libbers would later challenge this with the ERA. -
Ideal of "Republican Motherhood" emerges
Created by a convergence of emerging Victorian and American republican ideals, American culture began promoting an ideal role for women in US society which advocated for the education of women and their role in promoting patriotic and democratic values while also enforcing and glorifying their unique status as mothers and caretakers. Advocates of this ideology argued that American women should be educated in humanities and Christian morals so that they could pass on "American ideals" to children -
Susan B. Anthony is born
Susan B. Anthony was born into a Massachusetts family of Quaker activists, and after working as a teacher for several years, she became highly involved in the temperance movement and this involvement and a growing friendship with Elizabeth Cady Stanton would lead her to join the women's rights movement in the 1850s. She traveled around the United States while advocating for women's suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and temperance and was even once arrested for attempting to vote. -
Women begin replacing men as school teachers
While the 19th century generally saw little expansion in the rights of women in the economy and employment, some gains were made as women emerged as the primary demographic making up the rising professions of nursing and teaching which were seen as simple extensions of women's maternal roles in American society due to how both careers were associated with either managing children or caretaking. As Massachusetts was the first state to implement public education, countless women became teachers. -
Waltham-Lowell System emerges
As the first Industrial Revolution began to emerge in the US during the early 19th century, New England became America's manufacturing hub, and to maximize profits, emerging manufacturing companies began employing women for the first time in history because they were able to pay them much less than their male counterparts for their tedious work. In Massachusetts, the Waltham-Lowell system embodied this as it acted as a manufacturing compound for young women to live and work on for hours on end. -
"Separate spheres" for the sexes are outlined; suffragists decry this as domestic slavery
Although women has almost always performed the traditional role of mother and homemaker in western society while men were focused on financial and public life, the Victorian era saw an emergence of the glorification of this separation in the roles between men and women, and it called for women to be revered in their unique roles as homemakers. However, feminists argued that these ideals limited women from the same opportunities men had and were equivalent to domestic slavery, -
Female Moral Reform Society Emerges
Organized by middle class women in New York and led by Lydia Finney, this society focused on ending prostitution and protecting young women from "moral corruption"; however, it also rejected he double standard and called for chastity amongst men as well and was clearly founded on traditional Christian values. It grew into a national organization for women and was seen as an extension of Republican Motherhood into the public sphere as women expanded their role to being the moral core of society. -
Mississippi is the first state to pass married women's property laws
Mississippi was the first state to legalize the right of married women to inherit property after their husband either died or left them in some other tragic manner, and many states would follow suit in the decades to come. Activists for women's rights like Susan B. Anthony would push for greater property rights for women throughout the 19th and would be bolstered by the passage of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause although the this topic was less of a focus than suffrage. -
Seneca Falls Convention for women's rights
This major event was the first time American women (and some men!) gathered to discuss women's issues and agree upon the necessity of women's suffrage. The convention's leaders like suffragists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted their own "Declaration of Sentiments" modeled after the "Declaration of Independence" and declared the necessity of full political equality for men and women in the US. The ideas would inspire the entire women's movement for centuries. -
Sojourner Truth gives famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech
Although she was born a slave into a Dutch family in New York as Isabella Baumfree, Truth was able to escape from slavery and took up the name of "Sojourner Truth" given what she saw as her divinely anointed pursuit of justice. Truth gave this famous speech at a women's rights convention in Ohio, and although she gained some opposition from white activists, she advocated for women's equality and civil rights in her speech in new and, at the time, "radical" ways. -
Thousands of women work as nurses and government clerks during the Civil War
Led by Red Cross founder and leading nurse Clara Barton, thousands of women on both sides of the war but particularly on the side of the North given its larger population and technological advantages enrolled as nurses to aid wounded soldiers on the battlefront. These women played a much greater role in the war than they had in past wars in America as they were needed on nearly every major battlefront to treat wounded men with newfound medical treatments for gangrene and infections. -
Wyoming is the first US territory to grant women equal suffrage
As the west had been settled by a disproportionate number of independent women who were able to control their destinies on the frontier to a greater degree than they could out east, states like Wyoming and Utah were among the first states to grant women suffrage. Suffrage groups began focusing their lobbying on the state level and won significant victories before the 19th Amendment, but theses victories were limited and concentrated in more recently settled regions. -
15th Amendment's passage splits with women's suffrage movement
Many suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton had hoped to secured equal suffrage for African-Americans and women at the same time, but the hopes of such women were dashed when the 15th amendment only gave black men the right to vote. Suffragists split into Lucy Stone's American Woman Suffrage Association which remained loyal to the GOP and Susan B. Anthony and Stanton's National Woman Suffrage Association which was more active on women's issues and less partisan. -
Woman's Christian Temperance Union founded
Founded by the charismatic Frances Willard, this women's organization used Christian values and "feminine morality" to combat the consumption and sale of alcohol in the United States. They argued that alcohol consumption led to societal decay and domestic violence, and they also fought for women's suffrage and worker's rights as early voices for the coming progressive movement. This women's group inspired many of the aims of said movement and eventually led to the passage of the 18th amendment. -
Minor v. Happersett keeps women from voting
Following the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 and subsequent outrage from suffragists who believed that the vote should extend to women as well, Virginia Minor took her case for women's suffrage to the Supreme Court and argued that the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause guaranteed female citizens equal voting rights as well. However, the all-male Supreme Court was not so enlightened and ruled against Minor meaning women would be denied suffrage on the national level until 1920. -
Hull House founded
As the Gilded Age saw an increase in urban corruption and income inequality throughout the United States, several women took action against these growing social and economic problems particularly regarding the ways they hindered mothers and families. Jane Addams was one such woman, and she founded this settlement home in Chicago to provide meals, job counseling, medical services, daycare for children, and shelter for urban women and mothers who were down on their luck and in need of aid. -
NAWSA founded
Although it was rather fragmented during the Civil War and Reconstruction, suffragists reunited in 1890 and were led by Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt in forming this new organization to lobby for women's rights and particularly women's suffrage. It was particularly successful in gaining equal suffrage in western states early on, but it faced a dry spell in gaining suffrage rights from 1896 to 1910 and would then begin lobbying nationally. -
World's Congress of Representative Women is held at the Chicago World's Fair
Although the Seneca Falls Convention was the first major gathering in support of women's rights in the US, this Congress which was organized as part of the Chicago World's Fair was the first international convention to discuss women's issues in world history. It garnered the support of Jane Addams and Susan B. Anthony and was notable for its inclusion of women from various races and dozens of countries and galvanized their support for gender equality. -
Women's Trade Union League founded
Although it was originally bankrolled by primarily upper-class women, this league helped train working-class female organizers to protect female workers in the new industries they were involved in like secretarial work and textiles. While there was some tension between the working class workers and their upper-class supporters, this union helped galvanize working-class women to support greater rights and equality for their gender as proven by their support of the 1917 NY Suffrage Referendum. -
Alice Paul leads a march for suffrage in Washington DC
When she was still a member of the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, Alice Paul organized the first march on Washington for women's suffrage and paraded thousands of women down Pennsylvania Avenue on the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. By this point, most suffragists were growing impatient with the tedious state-by-state strategy they had pursued with limited success, so this marked their first major shift to lobby for a national amendment. -
National Woman's Party founded
After leading her March for suffrage on Washington, Alice Paul organized her own feminist organization which was inspired by the more radical and militant approach to gaining the vote being taken by British suffragettes. She organized her followers to picket the White House in 1917, and when they protested, they were often arrested for obstructing traffic, but in act of all out rebellion, they went on hunger-strikes while in prison to draw even more attention to their cause. -
Margaret Sanger opens a birth control clinic which would evolve into Planned Parenthood
After becoming involved in settlement movement in New York and expressing deep concern regarding the dififculties faced by women in bearing numerous children, Sanger began publishing a column regarding birth control was but eventually arrested for its "obscenity". However, Sanger would take this activism a step further by opening the first birth control clinic in the US in the New York, and although she faced legal persecution, that clinic would evolve into modern Planned Parenthood. -
19th Amendment passes
After decades of petitioning, hunger-strikes, marches on Washington, and feminist manifestos, American women finally gained equality with American men at the ballot box and the field of political activism and equality was opened up to American women in an unprecedented way. The work done by American women during World War I and the push towards suffrage in other western nations also helped lead to the passage of this major legislation which marked a major success for women and progressives. -
Betty Friedan is born
Born into a traditional Jewish family in Illinois, Friedan grew to become involved in leftist movements as she pursued a degree in psychology but eventually ended up a housewife. Friedan famously wrote on the restrictions placed on American women in writing "The Feminine Mystique" and eventually formed NOW to combat such struggles by leading the women's liberation movement in the 60s. However, her relative opposition to the inclusion of lesbians and women of color limited her role in the 70s. -
Sheppard-Towner Act passes
Established through newfound political activism amongst women who now had the power to vote, this act was established as the first federally funded healthcare program which provided federal funds for medical clinics, prenatal education programs, and visiting nurses. This act helped to significantly reduce infant mortality in the US and promoted greater maternal health, and it was supported by the revolutionary Women's Joint Congressional Committee. -
Equal Rights Amendment first introduced to Congress
After the successful passage of the 19th Amendment, many feminists like Alice Paul wished to expand upon this victory by lobbying for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment which declared "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." However, this was seen as far too progressive by the men in Congress and would not get past a congressional committee until the 1970s when it was revived. -
Clara Bow moves to Hollywood and flappers emerge challenging traditional gender roles
After the passage of the 19th Amendment, the 1920s saw a major shift in gender roles for American women as emerging Hollywood stars and cultural icons like Clara Bow began being depicted wearing short dress and smoking and drinking. These activities were previously deemed as either too risque or masculine, but the cultural shift occurring in the 20s meant that more and more young women were embracing these less strict styles and standards. -
Eleanor Roosevelt uses her position as First Lady to expand women's rights
Since her husband was hindered from some public actions and appearances since he had polio, his wife Eleanor had to expand upon the role and duties of the First Lady to compensate for this and became a well known public figure. Ms. Roosevelt was notable for her support for more progressive birth control legislation in the US and work in expanding rights for women in the workforce, and in 1941, she wrote an informative video regarding the need for women to become more active in wartime. -
Gloria Steinem is born
Born to a traveling Ohio family, Steinem would eventually attend Smith College and study to become a journalist, and when she became one, she grew disappointed in how she was never assigned serious topics and could rarely report on her interests like politics. However, after writing an expose on Playboy in the 60s, Steinem grew involved in the feminist movement and had a more progressive outlook than Friedan as she came to lead the movement in the 70s and found the feminist "Ms." magazine. -
Works Progress Administration employs thousands of women while the CCC employs none
Although most New Deal programs revolved around employing men who made up almost the entire "bread winning" population of the US at this time due to traditional gender roles, the WPA did employ a significant number of American women who desperately needed to provide for their families. Many of these women were still barred from mainstream WPA contstruction projects and instead dealt with manufacturing textiles and helping with health services. The CCC kept them out entire for this reason. -
WAVES, WASPS, and WAAC founded during WWII
WAVES, WASPS, and WAAC emerged as some of the earliest organizations granting women a role in helped the American Navy, Air Force, and Army respectively. While women were still kept from fighting on the front lines at this time, they fulfilled new and important roles by helping test weapons and planes and managing numerous supply mission as well as gaining basic military training. However, married women and/or those with children were still kept from joining. -
Female industrial employment reaches its peak during World War II
While a huge portion of the young adult male population in the US was gone due to the draft, their absence accompanied by high wartime industrial production requirements led to a manufacturing boom in the US, and to fill this new and vacated jobs, the US government began issuing propaganda like images of "Rosie the Riveter" to encourage American women to join the industrial workforce. And that they did as millions of women filled new workplace roles in factories until the war ended. -
The 50s mark a shift back to traditional gender roles for women
After millions of women had found employment in American factories during World War II, the return of American soldiers to the home front and ensuing Baby Boom meant that these women had to revert to their traditional role as homemakers. Men wanted their blue-collar jobs back, and gender stereotypes at this time meant that most of them got them since employers did not want to continue questioning gender roles in work and society as had been done out of necessity during World War II. -
JFK creates the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women
Although he opposed the passage of the ERA since he feared it would strip special protections for women, JFK still wished to promote gender equality and appease those who were concerned with issues regarding gender equality, so he appointed former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to lead this commission investigating discrimination against women and coming up with ways to combat said inequality. Its reports were critical of societal discrimination but did little to oppose traditional gender roles. -
"The Feminine Mystique" is published
Betty Friedan, an unsatisfied college graduate and housewife who felt that she was educated for a lifestyle she was kept fro pursuing due to traditional gender roles, published this book which details the sexism women faced in everyday American life and how gender roles stifled the economic, personal, and political potential held by most American women. The book became a best-seller among women and launched Friedan to lead the emerging women's movement in the 60s. -
Equal Pay Act passed
After appointing Eleanor Roosevelt to lead his commission in gender equality, JFK made another push for women's rights by getting this law passed through Congress which protected the rights of women and minorities to equal pay for equal work. However, the law had many loopholes and women continued to be shut out of higher level professional job positions which means that the gender wage gap has persisted even until today. -
Griswold v. Connecticut legalizes contraception for all women
Although contraception restrictions had been previously rolled back in some states regarding access to contraception by unmarried women, it was not until 1965 that all women could now have access to new forms of contraception like "the pill" which was invented in 1960. This bolstered the emerging feminist movement as it gave women more control over their reproduction and economic futures since they could now be more selective regarding when they wished to have children. -
National Organization for Women is founded
As "The Feminine Mystique" had reignited the women's movement during the 60s, Betty Friedan decided to capitalize on her literary success by forming the National Organization for Women which still exists today and has pushed for great political, social, and economic equality as well as reproductive rights for women since 1966. Some feminists groups have actually considered NOW too moderate at certain points in its history since it refused to welcome lesbians for much of the 60 & 70s. -
Women's Strike for Equality galvanizes the Women's Liberation Movement
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, feminists across America organize a massive strike based primarily on Chicago against sexism and had three primary demands: the right to safe and legal abortion, childcare subsides and benefits, and equal rights in education and the workplace. This strike was led by Betty Friedan and NOW, but also saw the emergence of a younger generation of more liberal feminists led by Gloria Steinem. -
"Ms." magazine founded as the the first feminist magazine
Leading feminist writer Gloria Steinem and a group of other women founded the first feminist magazine in US history which provided the women's liberation movement a voice in print. Although it was originally predicted that it would not succeed for long, it exceeded the expectations of many including Steinem herself and became incepredibly popular amongst women in the 70s and continues to be printed today. It led to the creation of the activist "Ms. Foundation for Women" as well. -
ERA passes through Congress and goes on to win ratification in a number of states
With the support of feminist Congresswomen Bella Abzug and Patsy Mink as well as feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, Congress finally passed the ERA for ratification by the states. The Amendment guaranteed completely constitutional equality for men and women and gained significant traction in many states during the early and mid 70s by gaining their ratification, but it eventually faced significant conservative opposition and was stopped in 1982. -
Title IX passes
At the height of the women's liberation movement, Congress would pass this law banning all forms of educational discrimination against women and girls attending public schools and universities. This opened up the door to women becoming more involved in sports at their schools, and it allowed more women to enter more diverse and higher-level fields as they were granted rights to equal education with their male colleagues. -
Roe v. Wade
In one of the most important Supreme Court rulings in modern political history, 7 out of 9 justice ruled in favor of a Texas woman arguing that bans on having an abortion violated her privacy rights found in the 4th, 9th, and 14th Amendments. This ruling legalized abortions in the first trimester of a woman's pregnancy but left the door open to regulations thereafter and would become one of the most controversial rulings in modern politics with support from liberals and conservative opposition. -
Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first females Justice appointed to the Supreme Court
President Ronald Reagan nominated this federal judge from Arizona to become the first woman to be a Supreme Court justice. Justice O'Connor was noted for being a moderate swing vote on the bench and held generally liberal views on social issues like abortion and women's rights. She would later be joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993, a liberal justice appointed by Bill Clinton, who would become the second female Supreme Court Justice. -
The ERA is defeated by Phyllis Schlafly's conservative "STOP ERA" coalition
Although the early and mid 70s saw the tide turning towards feminist fighting for the ratification of the ERA, a number of conservative and religious men and women organized against it due to fears that it would protect rights for LGBT people, abortion rights, and require women to be drafted like men. Phyllis Schlafly led this conservative coalition to victory against the amendment as it slowed in momentum with the rising tide of conservatism in the late 70s and early 80s. -
Webster v. Reproductive Services
In the first major Supreme Court case on reproductive rights since Roe v. Wade, the court upheld the power of state governments to enact laws restricting the usage of public funds for abortions and their medical providers. This paralleled the earlier Hyde Amendment which banned federal funding for abortions and reopened the political conversation on the controversial issue of abortion and reproductive rights to be included in the culture wars. -
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Following the precedents set by Webster v. Reproductive Health Services and also Roe v. Wade, this case saw the Supreme Court uphold a state law requiring a twenty-four hour waiting period prior to an abortion. The ruling was seen as a rather mixed result for Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health providers since it angered some liberals by allowing some restrictions on having an abortion at the state level but also upset some conservatives who thought the ruling hadn't gone far enough -
Nancy Pelosi becomes the first woman to be House Speaker
After the Democrats won an electoral landslide as public opinion regarding Republican president George W. Bush and the Iraq War dropped in 2006, Representative Nancy Pelosi would come to hold to hold the highest political office held by an American woman up until modern day when she became the first Madam Speaker. Pelosi's speakership was notable for the passage of AIDS relief, the Affordable Care Act, Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and 2008 Financial Crisis Bailout bill. -
Hillary Clinton becomes the first female presidential nominee for a major party
Although several women had run in presidential primaries and Geraldine Ferraro was named the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in 1984, the 2016 election would mark the first time a woman would become a major party's nominee for the presidential election. Although former First Lady, Secretary of State, and US Senator Hillary Clinton would fail to win the election, her nomination by the Democratic Party and victory in the popular vote and primary prove historic for women.
