1914 - 1945 Flashcards
(26 cards)
What was the political and social status of women in 1914?
- Women lacked federal voting rights (except in 11 western states)
- were expected to marry and raise families
- only 20% were employed, mostly in domestic or textile work.
How did WW1 affect women’s role in the workforce?
- About 1 million women joined the workforce, especially in manufacturing and munitions.
- Their wartime contributions strengthened the case for women’s suffrage.
How did WW1 affect women’s political position?
- Their economic contribution led to increased support for the vote
- President Wilson endorsing the 19th Amendment in 1918, partly due to women’s wartime service.
What did the 19th Amendment achieve and when?
- Passed in 1920
- granted women the federal right to vote.
- However, many Black, Native, and immigrant women remained disenfranchised by discriminatory state laws.
How did women’s political involvement change after 1920?
- Female voter turnout was lower than expected.
- Organisations like the League of Women Voters tried to mobilise women
- Cultural norms and lack of political experience limited engagement.
- Only 2 women served in the Senate by 1932
What % of eligible women voted in the 1920 election?
- Only 36% of eligible women voted
- reflecting political inexperience, cultural expectations, and lack of engagement.
What barriers remained for African American women after 1920?
- Jim Crow laws like literacy tests and poll taxes in the South prevented many Black women from voting, despite their formal enfranchisement.
What was the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and why did it fail?
- Proposed in 1923 to guarantee legal equality regardless of sex.
- It failed due to opposition from labour groups and conservatives who argued it would harm protective laws.
What was the impact of the flapper image in the 1920s?
- It symbolised a new, liberated urban woman
- short hair, jazz clubs, smoking.
- But it was mostly a white, middle-class phenomenon
- didn’t reflect structural change.
What was women’s economic status during the 1920s?
- By 1930, women made up 24% of the workforce.
- Most worked in low-paid clerical, teaching, or service jobs.
- They earned around 50–60% of male wages.
How did the Supreme Court affect women’s rights in the 1920s?
- In Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)
- the Court struck down minimum wage laws for women
- undermining workplace protections.
What was the Sheppard-Towner Act and its significance?
- Passed in 1921
- it was the first federal welfare measure for maternal and infant health.
- It helped reduce mortality
- repealed in 1929 after medical lobby opposition.
What was the Women’s Bureau and when was it created?
- Founded in 1920 to advocate for better working conditions and labour laws for women.
- It supported protective legislation but mainly served white working women.
How did the Great Depression affect women’s employment?
- Many believed women were “stealing jobs” from men.
- By 1932, 26 states had laws banning married women from public sector work.
What social limitations did women face in this era?
- Gender norms based in tradition and religion discouraged working wives and reinforced women’s domestic role.
- Racism further excluded women of colour.
What progress did African American women make in this period?
- Progress was limited.
- More Black women entered nursing and teaching
- but they faced segregation, poor pay, and limited federal support.
Who was Mary McLeod Bethune and why was she important?
- A Black educator and leader
- she founded the National Council of Negro Women in 1935 and advised FDR.
- She promoted Black women’s education and civil rights.
How did the New Deal impact women economically?
- Few programs prioritized women.
- WPA provided 400,000 jobs to women but that was only 7% of WPA jobs
- The CCC excluded them.
- Some gains occurred under the Social Security Act (1935)
What role did Eleanor Roosevelt play in women’s rights?
- She advocated for equal pay, federal jobs for women, and appointed female advisors.
- She pressured New Deal agencies to hire more women.
What was Frances Perkins’ significance in the 1930s?
- Appointed in 1933 as Secretary of Labour — the first female Cabinet member.
- She was instrumental in Social Security and labour reforms.
How did WW2 affect women’s employment?
- Over 6 million women entered the workforce
- by 1945, women made up 35% of the civilian labour force.
- They worked in industry, transport, and war production.
- “Rosie the Riveter” symbolised competence in war industries.
What were the limitations of wartime gains for women?
- many women forced out post war
- by 1946, 2 million had left or been laid off.
- Cultural pressure to return to domesticity persisted
- Most wartime gains were temporary, and structural barriers remained post-war.
What was the long-term impact of women’s role in WW2?
- Though largely temporary, WW2 showed that women could perform industrial work.
- It expanded social expectations
- laid foundations for post-war activism.
How did race and class affect women’s rights between 1914–1945?
- Black women were often excluded from unions and New Deal programs.
- Many were confined to agricultural/domestic work.
- Reforms disproportionately benefited white, middle-class women.
