Between the American Revolution in the 1770s and the outbreak of the Civil War, many factors fostered the emergence of “republican motherhood” and the “cult of domesticity” while changing the ideals of American womanhood. Women like Molly Pitcher and Sojourner Truth were greatly influential when concerning woman’s rights and roles in society. In the 1770s, during the American Revolution, most women held the role of motherhood. Document 1 and 2 best explain republican motherhood. Women as such as Abigail Adams—the wife of John Adams—took over the care of businesses and farms while their husbands were away fighting in the war. Abigail set the stage for women’s rights when she sent her husband a letter saying, “remember the ladies” while he was at war. In addition, most women stood together representing republican motherhood. They believed that children should be raised as Patriot and should be raised to maintain the representation of republicanism. Molly Pitcher also played a large role in the 1770s. Although she was a part of folklore, Pitcher fought in the war in place of her husband after seeing him die. After the war, women were only able to gain divorce rights in that they were able to gain custody of their children.…show more content… The “cult of domesticity” was a woman’s role as a housewife and their private sphere of work, education, and voice of opinions. The Seneca Falls Convention was held in New York in the year 1848 and was the first convention representing women’s equality in legal rights. The Convention was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leading figure of the movement for women’s rights and Lucretia Mott, a women’s rights activist. The convention led Elizabeth Cady Stanton to write the Declaration of Sentiments with the assistance of Lucretia Mott. The Declaration of Sentiments was a women’s rights petition that was created upon the Declaration of
should also be well educated in order to have the ability to prepare their children for their responsibilities. The late seventeenth-century essays of Benjamin Rush, one of the leaders of Revolutionary movement, and Judith Sargent Murray, an early