Cultural Change
Introduction
Political developments leave a clear trace
in the life of a nation, usually marked by legislative mileposts
like the Fourteenth Amendment, which dictates equal protection
for all, and the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the
right to vote. But such developments have a cultural dimension
as well, often evident in the attitudes and assumptions implicit
in political arguments.
Learning Objectives
To examine some of the arguments used
to win the vote for American women; to explore the cultural
dimension of these arguments as reflected in their characterization
of men and women; to weigh the rhetorical impact these arguments
had in their time by writing counter-arguments from several
standpoints; to think critically about the relationship between
political ideas and cultural attitudes.
1
Begin by having students read the Declaration
of Sentiments drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and others
at the first American women's rights convention held in Seneca
Falls, New York in 1848, one of the many documents in the
"Votes
for Women" collection at the American
Memory website. Ask students first why this powerful polemic
is modeled on the Declaration
of Independence (available at the National Archives website).
To what extent is it a rewriting of the Declaration of Independence
that aims to challenge its authority? To what extent does
the Seneca Falls "Declaration of Sentiments" aim to cloak
itself in the authority of its model? Investigate next what
the Seneca Falls "Declaration of Sentiments" seeks to achieve.
Is it a declaration of independence for women? a demand for
equality? a call to revolt against the tyranny of men? Explore
the degree to which each of these motives finds expression
in the argument.
2
Have students cite passages in the Seneca
Falls Declaration
of Sentiments to illustrate how it characterizes both
men and women. Based on this document, how might an anthropologist
describe the relationship between men and women in mid-nineteenth
century American society? To what extent are the tone and
rhetorical posture of the document itself consistent with
the picture it paints? To what extent is this picture consistent
with the representation of women in mid-nineteenth century
American literature?
3
Finally, ask students to consider the intended audience for
the Seneca Falls Declaration
of Sentiments. How would men of the time be likely to
react to it? women? opponents of women's suffrage? Have students
write two newspaper editorials responding to the argument
of the Seneca Falls "Declaration of Sentiments," one rejecting
it and the other applauding it.
4
Encourage students with Internet access
to browse through some of the documents in the "Votes
for Women" collection, noting how the tone and tactics
of suffragist arguments changed over the more than seventy
years it took to win the Nineteenth Amendment. To help students
recognize the trajectory of this gradual process, direct them
to The
Blue Book (1917) in the "Votes
for Women" collection, which was a combination history
and handbook that gathered together important facts about
the woman suffrage movement. Look at the section on pages
144-194 of the The Blue Book, titled "Objections Answered,"
where Alice Stone Blackwell, editor of the movement's key
periodical, "The Woman's Journal," rebuts a variety of the
arguments against giving women the vote. If Internet access
is limited among your students, provide them with copies of
some extracts from this section, such as this passage on page
145:
Women are represented already
by their husbands, fathers and brothers.
This so-called representation bears no proportion to numbers.
Here is a man who has a wife, widowed mother, four or five
unmarried sisters, and half a dozen unmarried daughters. His
vote represents himself and all these women, and it counts
one; while the vote of his bachelor neighbor next door, without
a female relative in the world, counts for just as much. Since
the object of taking a vote is to get at the wish of the majority,
it is clear that the only fair and accurate way is for each
grown person to have one vote, and cast it to represent himself
or herself.
American men are the best in the world, and if it were possible
for any men to represent women, through kindness and good
will to them, American men would do it. But a man is by nature
too different from a woman to be able to represent her. The
two creatures are unlike. Whatever his good will, he cannot
fully put himself in a woman's place, and look at things exactly
from her point of view. To say this is no more a reflection
upon his mental or moral ability than it would be a reflection
upon his musical ability to say that he cannot sing both soprano
and bass. Unless men and women should ever become alike (which
would be regrettable and monotonous), women must either go
unrepresented or represent themselves.
Another proof that women's opinions are not now fully represented
is the lack in many states of humane and protective legislation
and the poor enforcement of such legislation where it exists;
the inadequate appropriations for schools; the permission
of child labor in factories; and in general the imperfect
legal safe-guarding of the moral, educational and humanitarian
interests that women have most at heart. In many of our states,
the property laws are more or less unequal as between men
and women. A hundred years ago, before the equal rights movement
began, they were almost incredibly unequal. Yet our grandfathers
loved their wives and daughters as much as men do to-day.
5
Ask students how this mode of argument
differs from that of the Seneca Falls "Declaration
of Sentiments." Have them compare the tone of the two
arguments and the self-image projected by the two authors,
as well as the kinds of evidence each presents. Then focus
on Blackwell's implicit characterization of men and women.
What is the relationship between men and women in her society?
What is the status of women? How will the right to vote affect
that status? To sharpen the comparison, have students rewrite
Blackwell's argument in the manner of the Seneca Falls "Declaration
of Sentiments."
6
Encourage speculation on some ways the
women's movement and American culture may have changed in
the seventy years since Stanton's call to action that would
account for Blackwell's very different handling of the issue.
Ask students what kinds of historical evidence they might
search for to test the hypotheses drawn from this comparison
of the two documents. To enrich this discussion, have students
read the timeline "One
Hundred Years toward Suffrage: An Overview," by E. Susan
Barber on the American
Memory website.
7
For added perspective on the evolving
role of women in American life, have students compare statements
by two African American women who were early and late leaders
in the suffrage movement: Sojourner Truth (see her address
on page 76 of Proceedings
of the Woman's Rights Convention 1853 in the "Votes for
Women" collection at the American Memory website) and Mary
Church Terrell (see her 1898 speech, "The
Progress of Colored Women," in the African American Perspectives
collection at the American Memory website).
8
To close the lesson, ask students what
conclusions they might draw about the relationship between
political ideas and cultural attitudes. To what extent, for
example, did the Seneca Falls Declaration set off a movement
that grew into a cultural revolution? To what extent were
the ideas expounded at Seneca Falls dependent on a change
in the cultural climate for their success? Have students write
position statements and debate this question in the context
of contemporary American society.
Extending the Lesson
The American Memory website holds extensive
resources for investigating the role of American women in
many contexts. Direct interested students to: "California
As I Saw It" for memoirs by pioneer women; "American
Life Histories" for autobiographical interviews with women
conducted during the Great Depression; and "The
American Variety Stage" for examples of women in the image-conscious
world of entertainment during the turn of the century. Students
can also gain firsthand information by asking their parents
and grandparents how attitudes toward women have changed during
their lifetimes. You might also extend this lesson by looking
at the heroines of two works of American literature that are
nearly contemporary with Stanton's and Blackwell's suffragist
statements: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
(1850) and Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie (1900).
Standards Alignment
View your state’s standards
|