Other editions of book Laborers for Liberty: American Women 1865-1890

In the years following the Civil War, women in the United States took up many new roles and their impact on the nation became ever more visible. As new territories were settled and the country began to heal its wounds, great industrial expansion brought changes in women's occupations, education, and activities. The sharecroppers who labored in the fields of the South, migrants who put down roots in the Great Plains, immigrants who sought opportunities in the ever-swelling cities, the first generation of young women to attend universities--all were part of the changing American landscape. Although women were expected to serve their families, communities, and the country by being good wives and mothers, their activities actually extended far beyond the home. After the Civil War, women organized to work toward civic, social, and religious improvement. They devoted themselves to a wide range of issues and causes--ending alcoholism, preventing violence against women, helping young farm women adjust to city life,increasing women's educational opportunities, and--above all--obtaining the vote for women. These were crucial stepping-stones in women's quest for social and political power. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, and Jane Addams are but a few of the women whose struggles for women's rights are chronicled in Laborers for Liberty. But the stories of women whose names are not familiar are also recorded. Each waged her own battle for liberty in the home, on the farm, and in the factory, as American women began to take greater control over their lives and to lay the groundwork for 20th-century feminism.

In the years following the Civil War, American women discovered new opportunities and obstacles in their quest for social and political equality. As the nation's boundaries and industrial might expanded, more women worked on the land as well as in factories. Women found new educational opportunities, but at the same time faced old barriers to their entry into male-dominated professions such as medicine and law. They also embarked on a remarkable endeavor, organizing hundreds of women's clubs to pursue common interests and promote social causes. Clubwomen sought to enhance their own education, end the consumption of alcohol and prevent violence against women, increase women's educational opportunities, initiate reforms within their own communities, and obtain the right to vote. Laborers for Liberty brings alive the stories and contributions of women from all class and ethnic backgrounds as they faced the challenges and opportunities of a nation preparing for the 20th century.