Women's Rights in the United States

America is the land of the free with certain inalienable rights for all, but not everyone was granted such liberties as promised. The struggle for women's rights in America was long and hard-fought. The oppressive conditions that existed in institutions and the attitudes against which brave women fought are reflected in this primary source portfolio. Your students will identify with the nearly one hundred-year struggle for women’s’ rights. Hands-on-history documents include letters from Abigail Adams and Susan B. Anthony. This portfolio includes a Study Guide with reproducible student activities. 5 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * Discontent with Woman’s Lot * The First Feminist Movement * The Split in Feminist Forces * Women Win the Vote * The New Feminist Movement 9 Primary Source Documents: * Page from Maryland Council Proceedings, January 1647 * Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 1776 * Seneca County Courier, August 1848 * Page from the first issue of The Revolution, January 1868 * Five cartoons on women’s rights: 1859, 1869, 1874, 1919 * Letter from Susan B. Anthony, February 1900 * Sheet music for “I’m a Suffragette,” 1912 * Photographs from The New York Times Picture Section, May 11, 1919, showing suffrage parade on Fifth Avenue, New York City * Leaflet, “Why the Equal Rights for Women Amendment"