Center for the Teaching of American History

Social and Political Change in the 19th Century

The U.S. and the World in the 20th Century

Document Based Question

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Historical Context: Women in America have faced a history of discrimination. Women have fought for equality in voting, job opportunities, and social status. From the founding of our country, to the 19th Amendment, and Title IX women have achieved milestones in civil rights.

Task: Using the documents, discuss three areas where the struggle for equality had progressed slowly.

Document 1:

Excerpt from NOW statement of purpose [1966]

NOW is dedicated to the proposition that women, first and foremost, are human beings, who, like all other people in our society, must have the chance to develop their fullest human potential. We believe that women can achieve such equality only by accepting to the full [sic] the challenges and responsibilities they share with all other people in our society, as part of the decision-making mainstream of American political, economic and social life.
http://www.now.org/history/purpos66.html

Question
1. What must women develop and what do they face in the struggle for equality?

Document 2:

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Postion Paper: Women in the Movement

Assumptions of male superiority are as widespread and deep rooted and every much as crippling to the woman as the assumptions of white supremacy are to the Negro. Consider why it is in SNCC that women who are competent, qualified, and experienced, are automatically assigned to the "female" kinds of jobs such as typing, desk work, telephone work, filing, library work, cooking, and the assistant kind of administrative work but rarely the "executive" kind.
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Primary/Manifestos/SNCC_women.html
Question
2. How do the jobs of women lead to an assumption of inferiority?

Document 3:

CWLU - Herstory: Chicago Women's Liberation Union

GOALS OF WOMEN’S CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING
1. Understanding one’s self in relation to one’s society
2. Specifically, understanding what it is to be a woman in a patriarchal society that oppresses women.
http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/crguidelines.html

Question
3. What relationship do women have in society according to this document?

Document 4:

Bread and Roses (a song) 1910

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"

As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/breadrose.html

Questions
4a. What does "give us bread and give us roses" mean?

4b. This song suggests that the "rising of women" will help everyone. Explain.

Documents 1-4

Documents 5-8