Early Feminism
In the 1640s, Margaret Cavendish became one of the first women
to criticize women's treatment in England, and she laid the foundation for later feminists. Since then feminism has been divided into two phases called waves. The first wave focused more on political rights. One of the first movements that occured for women's rights was during the French Revolution, when the women in Paris showed in favor of issues of importance to them. In England in 1972, Mary Wollstonecraft published an argument for women's political rights. Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication of The Rights of Women" showed the economic and psychological damage done to women by being excluded from the public life and their forced dependence on men. Feminists continued to work on a big variety of issues. Early feminists began to realize the right to vote and participate in political affairs was
the most obvious issue for women. They felt that once they achieved political equality, they expected other benefits to come to them. Early women's rights advocates were mostly upper and middle class women with liberal views. They joined other reformers in issues such as temperance and the abolition of slave trade. Early British feminists really supported the principles of a political reform movement (Chartism). Soon after, women began to assume more leadership roles in movements, which prepared themselves and society for more women leaders. Their methods of act were usually public speeches, and lobbying efforts, writing and distributing pamphlets. For example, in Greece, Sappho Leontias pushed for education reforms because she believed education would improve women's lives. In France, the Revolutions of 1848 provided a new forum for women thinkers to express their ideas. During the shift, feminists like political activist and writer Jeanne Deroin allied with socialists by tying the right to vote to the right to work. In Germany, novelist Lousie Otto-Peters helped establish the feminist movement in the country by writing about the political emancipation for women. She was also active during the revolutions. She also edited a radical newspaper and served as the first president for the German women's organization. Otto-Peters preached moderation in women's demands during her later years but still remained an inspirational figure for German feminists.
Feminism in US and Great Britain
In English-speaking countries, the movement for women's rights and concerns was most advanced. In the United States, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. The convention, and its resulting Declaration of Sentiments, marked the beginning of the United States feminist movement. Feminists became an important part of the antislavery movement before and during the American Civil War. They worked for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that extended suffrage to African-American men but women were not granted the right to vote, which caused a lot of disappointment. As a result, Anthony and Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. Socialist feminism was really strong in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Women like Jane Addams were pioneers in the settlement house movement. In 1911, Charlotte Perkins Gilman argued that women needed to be economically independent of men in the man made world. The first wave of American feminism gathered in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that granted U.S. women the right to vote in 1920.
In English-speaking countries, the movement for women's rights and concerns was most advanced. In the United States, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. The convention, and its resulting Declaration of Sentiments, marked the beginning of the United States feminist movement. Feminists became an important part of the antislavery movement before and during the American Civil War. They worked for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that extended suffrage to African-American men but women were not granted the right to vote, which caused a lot of disappointment. As a result, Anthony and Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in 1869. Socialist feminism was really strong in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Women like Jane Addams were pioneers in the settlement house movement. In 1911, Charlotte Perkins Gilman argued that women needed to be economically independent of men in the man made world. The first wave of American feminism gathered in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, that granted U.S. women the right to vote in 1920.