The history of the emancipation of American women started in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized a convention to discuss women’s rights in the city of New York. The objectives of the convention were modeled after the US Constitution and were called “Declaration of Sentiments”.
The resolution argued that women should be given the right to vote, and not all women agreed to this demand, but because over 100 women signed the resolution, it was approved. For the next ten years, women met annually for the Women’s rights convention to discuss issues that women had to face.
Emancipation of American Women
The American Civil War ended these annual conventions, and for the next several years, women’s rights activists campaigned to abolish slavery and other freedom issues. However, at the 1866 American Anti-Slavery Society meeting in Boston, Lucy Stone who favored banning slavery brought up the idea of women and blacks working together for achieving equality and voting rights for everyone. Women have made tremendous progress on most fronts.
Not only are women equivalent to men in college attendance, but younger women have greater probability in acquiring a college or master’s degree. Women have also increased in the labor force and are nearly the equivalent of men in holding jobs.
Working Women
Working women’s incomes now make up a greater share of the family income. However, these strides in education and jobs have yet to catch up on wage equality because women get paid around 75% of what men earn in similar jobs. Because of the discrepancy in wages, and because single women have the responsibility for raising their children, women are usually poorer than men and these economic differences are even greater for women of color.
Usually, women have longer lives than men, but they face more health problems which include arthritis, asthma, depression, obesity, and several other problems
The percentage of women without health insurance has also increased. Men are targeted more frequently than women in violent crimes including murder. However, the government is helping women to face contemporary challenges like helping women financially to attend college because of the increase in the number of women students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and math including the promotion of equal pay for women.
The government is also providing health insurance to millions of women and is making greater efforts to end violence against women at home and at the workplace. In essence, the government is working to better the lives of women all over America.