1. Domesticity
1800 marked a period when the lives of the common American women were regulated by a social system referred to as the culture of domesticity. Domesticity limited a women’s sphere of operation to her home and household activities. Matthews states that within that limited space, women developed networks and modes of expression that enabled them to raise fundamental moral concerns that faced the country (31). Nonetheless, those subtle and restrained avenues of influence remain ineffective against many social issues that were on the rise like alcoholism.
Gradually, some women took the radical step of using public protest to immobilize the moral authority of domesticity. Incongruously, the very family they endeavored to defend frustrated their reform efforts. In the new south, women were prohibited from most of the public roles and their duties were confined to domestic chores and raising children. The revolutionary crisis brought about political sense to all women and their communal participation extended to powerful public protests that established camaraderie with the revolutionists. Women engaged in home manufacture; they started weaving clothes and boycotting British made merchandise.
In the mid-1800s, America witnessed the rise the ideology of feminine behaviour, as well as, ideal womanliness that later came to be referred to as the cult of domesticity. These are the notable features of this code that brought about newly acquired leisure and wealth. In reference to Cummings, true womanhood was designed utterly for the responsibilities of a wife and mothers and were looked upon for purity, piety, submissiveness and domesticity in all whatever they strove to do (n.p). Domesticity restricted women’s options for education, for work, for supporting reforms, and for voicing opinions.
Gale Research indicates that the argument was that women were biologically inferior and incapable of effectively participating in the realms of public service, commerce, and politics (np). Gale Research further indicates that in return for the provisions of a husband, the woman was obliged to raise morally upright children, make a family full of happiness, and engage in housekeeping chores. The entire society benefitted from the woman’s performance on the aforementioned domestic responsibilities.
According to Censer, New Southern women had the potential opening to free themselves of household duties with the purchase of slaves (84). Notably, such purchases improved their status both in their homes and in the society, leading them to support the institution of servitude. Possession of slaves elevated the status of the white women because they helped the wives assume the role of an ideal homemaker. After the Civil War, the quest for women rights was sown in the Declaration of Independence that claimed all men were created equal (that is both men and women had same rights). Such was the language that was reflected in the Seneca Falls Declaration. Cummings indicates that in the era of reform and renewal, women converged and started to push for parity (np). At that time, they needed to push for equality and ignore what was then considered acceptable in the society.
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As seen from the above picture, some women became actively involved in the quest for women rights. They had to fight for them because there was no end in sight. The picture helps visualize the challenges of women during that period. Conclusively, the belief that both men and women ought to have dissimilar lives and identities have stressed the general belief that people should be placed equally irrespective of the gender. The society has always paid heed to the prevailing moral climate and supported the idea of feminine domesticity. Arguably, the extension of the principles of equivalence from the time of the American Revolution has repetitively challenged the justice of women dependence. Debatably, there have been other values and believes that exhibit the polygonal connections between sex inequity and the dogma of women’s place in the society. Women roles had some advantages that masked the enormous disadvantage. More so, the perceived elusiveness of women’s positions has exaggerated the influence of ideology and aided in sustaining women inferiority by frequently defining socially authentic household errands for women.
2. New South
According to Matthews, proponents of the New South cultivated cotton and tobacco (31). There were several factors that led to the resurgence of tobacco cultivation after the civil war. The New South was held by the fabric of slavery, and defined by the position of the southern woman in the society. The south in its entirety was politically, spiritually, economically, and culturally built around the institution of slavery. Slavery laid the foundation of the southern hierarchy; gender and race further determined the status of a person in the society. White males held the top position while the black females were at the bottom of the society ranking.
Stokes and Stephen indicate that the invention of the cotton gin reopened the dying slave trade (43). The decline of tobacco production left many slaveholders with more slaves than they could profitably use. In keeping with Stokes and Stephen, slaveholders held the highest position in the new south and the possibility of future slave purchase tightened the non-slaveholding units in a paternal hierarchy (43). Cummings also notes that slave ownership elevated the position of both genders and bestowed the white women with considerable power within the slaveholding system (n.p). Arguably, the sense of control and superiority among white women fuelled acceptance for the establishment of slavery that was encouraged based on authoritarianism.
Anderson notes that Mississippi was the centre of the cotton production in the mid-1800 (8). There was an enormous economic force created by cotton production and its demand by the markets in Europe and New York. Mississippi was well known for cotton and slaves and the two activities were intertwined in the New South economy. Remarkably, cotton was labor intensive venture that required a huge number of labourers. The extensive workforce came from slaves until the end of the Civil War and after emancipation; African Americans were largely identified with cotton production.
Between 1830 and 1840, the phrase that described the growth of the New South was “Cotton is King.” In keeping with Stokes and Stephen, perhaps many people in the contemporary America think this phrase described slave use in the plantation economy in the Deep South (43). During 1800s, cotton was the world’s most luxurious commodity after tobacco and sugar. Cotton production turned most of the African American’s into commodities themselves. Comprehending how extra-ordinarily profitable cotton was and how it was intertwined with the Northern Banking industry and the New England textile factories one can tell that it was something of a marvel that slavery was finally annihilated in the new south.
Works Cited
Anderson, Aaron D. Builders of New South merchants, capital, and the remaking of Natchez, 1865-1914. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2013. Print.
Censer, Jane T. North Carolina Planters and Their Children, 1800-1860. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1990. Print.
Cummings, Erica. "Cult of Domesticity: Definition & Significance - Video & Lesson Transcript." Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Gale Research Inc. "Women in the Revolutionary Era: Domesticity and Public Protest â FREE Women in the Revolutionary Era: Domesticity and Public Protest Information | Encyclopedia.com: Find Women in the Revolutionary Era: Domesticity and Public Protest Research." Encyclopedia.com | Free Online Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
Matthews, Glenna. ""Just a Housewife"": The Rise and Fall of Domesticity in America. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.
Quatr.us. The First Cotton Gin. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Stokes, Melvyn, and Stephen Conway. The market revolution in America: Social, political, and religious expressions, 1800-1880. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2006. Print.
The Post and Courier. Grimke Sisters Need To Be Bigger Part Of Charleston's Rich History. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
