Wives, Workers, and Warriors: American Women’s History from the Revolution to the Present

In the words of the vanguard Eleanor Roosevelt, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” This course will use primary and secondary sources and literature to traverse the world and seminal works of U.S. women from the time of the American Revolution through the twentieth century. Students will begin with an introduction to republican mothers like Abigail Adams and nineteenth-century trailblazers in the Abolitionist and Women’s Movement whose efforts would reach actualization with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Students will explore the efforts of women’s protest organizations and delve into the expanded efforts of women to find greater educational, occupational, economic, and political opportunities in the Progressive Era and inter-war periods. Second-wave feminism will be investigated through a study of leaders including Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem; additionally, the backlash that the women’s movement inspired will be evaluated. Throughout the entirety of the course, students will consider the intersectionality of gender, race, and ethnicity as they evaluate the ways in which power can be procured through determined, intentional, and strategic efforts to change American society.