The discussion for Unit 3 reviews textbook material, and explores social changes in the 1820’s through the 1850’s, and explores the religious, legal and economic position of women through primary source documents. The discussion presumes both an understanding of the facts in the text and a comprehension and interpretation of the primary source documents. In some cases students will be asked to integrate historical facts with interpretation of the primary sources.

Plan on visiting the Unit 3 Discussion Board several times to post responses, read responses, and reply to responses.

To participate in the discussion, students should have read the textbook Chapters 8, 9, and 13. This discussion is worth 50 points.

Reading Texts in Older English

These reading sources were written in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Today’s society often relies on images, but during this period they took a lot of pleasure in words. Works written in this period are lengthy and ornate. The sentence structure is usually complex with long sentences including many clauses. The language used is elaborate with multiple adjectives and descriptions.

Because many of the words used may be unfamiliar, use a dictionary and read these sources slowly to extract the meaning. Treat every clause like a sentence. Always look for the declarative statement that the author is trying to convey amidst his ornamentation. After becoming more accustomed to reading these texts, students can begin to relish the beauty of the language. Since written language was the only mode of distance communication, even people with very little formal education wrote very well.

In addition, there is nothing like reading what real people said about the experiences described second hand in your textbook.

Primary Source readings

READ:

Documents relating to Women for Discussion 3 (find reading selections at the bottom of this page)

Post initial answers to three of these questions in the Discussion Board for “Unit 3 Discussion.” Also, post at least two responses to other student’s comments and reply to the follow-up question that your instructor poses to one of your initial posts. The initials should be two to three paragraphs and the replies one full paragraph. See the syllabus for additional details.

“Initial answers” should specifically address the question(s) asked with reference to factual information or the primary sources. “Responses” should move the discussion forward with an alternate interpretation or add support with additional information. Responses should include references to textbook facts or primary sources.

Questions addressing factual issues only are highlighted in bold print. Answer no more than ONE of the questions in bold print for credit. Questions dealing with primary source material are not highlighted in bold print. Answer two primary source questions, each dealing with a different source document. No credit will be given for a second answer to a question in bold print, or to a second answer dealing exclusively with the same primary source document already addressed. Do not respond to another student on a question that you have already answered.

Open the question or answer to respond to it, click “Reply”, write an answer, and then click “Submit” to post a response. Please be sure to address all parts of the question in the answer. Responses to other student’s answers should add something significant to that student’s answer or indicate disagreement with some aspect of it.

The following questions are also posted in the discussion board for “Unit 3 Discussion,” adhere to the discussion deadline as required by the Syllabus.

Answer one bold print question below (questions 1-5) and two non-bolded questions on the documents. NOTE: since there are seven sources within the link and many require an evaluation of two documents, the two document questions answered should encompass a minimum of three different sources.

1. In your opinion what were the long range causes of the subjection of women? Were economic, biological, or religious factors more significant? Justify your opinion.
2. What were the traditional gender roles of this period? How did it reflect social and economic changes in the period? What did it mean for the lives of men, women and children?
3. Using the information in the textbook, do you believe that traditional gender roles devalued the household duties of women? Why or why not? What economic and social facts from the period demonstrated that this principle did not accurately describe the lives of many women? Which women could not meet this ideal?
4. How did movements such as public education, the Great Awakening, temperance, and abolition lead to a public life for some women? What motivated some women to use the public sphere as reformers?
5. Give specific examples of women who publicly participated in reform movements. How did they get involved? What were their most important issues? How well was their work accepted by society as a whole?

6. What are the purposes of the documents Woman as She Should Be and Pastoral Letter? How do the excerpts from Woman as She Should Be and Pastoral Letter explain, support, and justify traditional gender roles? Are the arguments compelling if you accept the premises?
7. From an early 1800s perspective, how do you evaluate the powerful importance placed upon a well run household and harmonious family in Woman as She Should Be? In other words, is family life really as significant as Winslow Hubbard says it is? Explain.
8. What would Hubbard and Pastors of the General Association of Massachusetts have thought of the Lowell factory girls? Why would they have condemned them or supported them? How would they have responded to the speech of Sojouner Truth?
9. Using information from the reading by Harriet Robinson, do you believe that factory work at the Lowell Mills was an expansion of women’s rights or an exploitation of women? What effects did it have on the women who were employed?
10. How does Angelina Grimké explain her evolution from anti-slavery activist to women’s rights advocate? What arguments does she use to defend the equality of women? Are her arguments persuasive? Explain.
11. Why did the movement for women’s rights emerge from the abolition movement? What specific factors in the abolition movement moved women to consider their own position? Besides the Grimké sisters, discuss some other women who moved from anti-slavery to women’s rights.
12. What religious arguments from scripture does Sarah Grimké use to support the “original” equality of women? How does she explain their current inequality? How do you think that Winslow Hubbard would have refuted her arguments?
13. Which “legal disabilities of women” as listed in Sarah Grimké’s Letter XII: Legal Disabilities of Women and the Seneca Falls Declaration, or Harriet Hunt on the Right to Votedo you consider the most serious? Explain your choices. In your opinion, did the lack of legal rights for women during this period make women’s position resemble the lot of slaves? Why or why not?
14. How did women such as the Grimké sisters or Harriet Hunt challenge social norms or accepted social behavior as demonstrated in Woman as She Should Be and Pastoral Letter? If you were a woman of the 1830’s or 1840’s would you have been inclined to challenge your role or accept it? Why? Base your answer on the textbook and documents
15. How did Sojourner Truth further violate the social norms of the day? How might Sojourner Truth respond to Woman as She Should Be and Pastoral Letter? How relevant to her life was the idea of gender roles?” In your opinion, in terms of the attitudes of the day, was she a woman?
16. For what purposes were the Legal Disabilities of Women, the Seneca Falls Declaration, and Harriet Hunt on the Right to Vote written? How do the purposes of each influence the content and structure of each? Why was the Seneca Falls Declaration written in the form of the Declaration of Independence, for example?
17. Which “injuries and usurpations” are more significant, those cited against George III in the Declaration of Independence or those in the Seneca Falls Declaration? Explain your answer. Why wasn’t there a women’s revolution as there had been an American Revolution? Or was there?