Year 8 Source Investigation
‘Between 1800 and 1900 the lives of women in Britain and attitudes towards women changed dramatically.’
Source ‘A,’ shows women’s situation concerning law and political rights. As this is the beginning of the 1800s, it is accurate to say, that the laws would be correct, regarding of the time. Out of the six laws, included was, ‘women could not vote.’ This shows men believed that women were not capable of making their own decisions. Because of this, it is safe to say, that usually the leader voted in would be opposed to women’s rights. Unless action was taking into place immediately, it is likely that there would be any change in the situation. Another of the laws was that, ‘women could not work in politics.’ This meant that men thought that women were not suited to leading the country. Their view many differ from the habitual view of a man; usually making sure that women would have a certain amount of rights. An additional law was that, ‘women could not take a degree.’ This suggests that men believed that women were not as intelligent as they were. This also means that it is unlikely for the woman to have a good job, for they could not get anywhere in work, as they had no educational degree. This shows how superior the men were to women. ‘Wives could not own property,’ is also a rule concerning women’s law and political rights. This law means that, if divorced, they would not have a house to live in. Because of the circumstances of the divorce, the parents of the woman may not want them to live with them anymore. A woman may often have had to live on the streets, due to the consequences of not owning their own property. The fifth law in the rights was that, ‘women were not legal guardians of their children.’ Again, this relates to divorce, if divorced, they would have no chance whatsoever of having custody over the child. If the husband of the wife died, unfortunately for the woman, they would suffer the consequences of someone coming into the house, in order to be sole guardian of their child. The last of the laws, was that, ‘wives could not keep their own earnings.’ This meant that what a woman earned could not be kept. If divorced, the woman would have no money to speak off, alongside no property or custody of children. From the source, you can safely say that women were not treated correctly during the early 1800’s. We cannot speak to rashly at this point or time, as we still need to compare with later 1800’s to the 1900’s. Source B is a timeline of changes that have occurred from 1839-1888. This timeline should give us a more accurate view on whether of not, there were changes for women between 1800 and1900. In 1839, we see that the, ‘Custody of Infants Acts- gave more rights to divorced woman to their children.’ This law creates a chance for a woman to see their child when once divorced. Although 39 years into 1839, this law provides more choices for a more open-minded view on women’s laws. In 1847, a factory act was passed stating that women were to work more than 10 hours a day. The circumstances in a textiles factory meant that dust from the fabrics could often clot up lungs. By having less hours working in a factory, means less chance of ever contacting the illness. When this law was passed it was 1847, suggesting that there were little changes between the early 1800s and then towards 1900s. 10 years later was the divorce act, ‘husbands could divorce their wives on the grounds of adultery (although women could not divorce for the same reason until 1923).’ This suggests the prejudice between the two genders, for although men could divorce their wives for adultery, woman could not divorce men. This shows the control over women in 1857, whilst woman sat demurely at home, men were allowed to do pretty much everything, including spending money with their wives earnings. In 1870, women were allowed to keep £200 of their own earnings. This shows a dramatic change since source A’s, ‘wives could not keep their own earnings,’ in the early 1800s. Things from then on started to improve. Women were allowed to vote in elections in school boards. This difference shows that more women were campaigning for better rights, whilst some men must also be approving of them, to let the laws be passed. In 1871, ‘women were first admitted to Cambridge University.’ This shows that women were starting to get an education. By attending university, more people must be attending school, because of this; women were starting to get into university and gain better jobs. In 1873, women were allowed to see their children if they got divorced. This meant, that woman was becoming more active within the, ‘custody of infants act.’ In 1877, Sophie Jex Blake, was the first woman doctor allowed to practice. This suggests that men had become more attracted to women working in a ‘men’s.’ job. They could see that women were just as capable and clever at working as a doctor, and allowed them to work beside them. In 1884, women were no longer considered the possession of their husbands; meaning that women could actually have a life, once divorced from their husbands. They could also make more choices and decisions, and overall, become more independent. The Third Reform Act in 1884 shows that five million men were able to vote in elections, unfortunately women were not included. Although, many changes had occurred since 1850, it seemed that there were still people undecided whether or not women should vote in important elections. Four years later, however, women were allowed to vote in local council elections. You can see a big difference between 1800s and 1900s. In source, ‘A’ women’s status was very low, as woman had little rights whatsoever. At the end of the 1800s, women were allowed to vote, go to university and become doctors. The differences only started, however, 50 years into the 18th Century, suggesting that only 50 years into the 18th Century, dramatic changes started to occur.
