Rights of a woman in British Colonial America. History Essay

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Rights of a woman in British Colonial America
The growth and fight for the rights of women started way back during the colonial periods in America. The fight for freedom from the colonialists triggered the unending urge for rights among several groups in society. One other group that stood out to express and fight for their rights were the women who for long had been subjected to menial duties that rendered them inferior to men. This saw a movement of feminists who pushed for recognition and opportunities for women in both the social, political and economic spheres. One aspect that was mostly focused on by earlier feminists was the empowerment of women through education. Women rights activists always advocated for advancement of their colleagues through education which could make them equally superior to men. One of the feminists of those times was Mary Wollstonecraft who wrote her article way back in 1972 on Vindication of the Rights of a Woman. Just like other feminists of her time, she always felt women should be given more power and treated equally to men. This paper seeks to analyze the views of Wollstonecraft and critically review their validity in relation to proposition of three other authors of those times, Dunlap’s American Daily Advertiser, American Mercury and Claypoole's Daily Advertiser.
In her letter to the late bishop of Autun, M. Talleyrand-Périgor, Wollstonecraft (1972) emotionally condemns the act of secluding women from societal activities. She says "But, if women are to be excluded, without having a voice, from a participation of the natural rights of mankind, prove first, to ward off the charge of injustice and inconsistency" (Wollstonecraft 5). She believed that it was essentially useless to have a new constitution in place if still, it does not address injustices against women. According to the author, it was only fair that the British American society changed its view of women as just but slaves whose only work was to keep homes as wives. She highly advocated for women rights to fully participate in various societal activities.
Additionally, Wollstonecraft debated that the oppression of women with regard to their rights to participate in various societal activities had even affected their state of mind. According to her, outright exclusion had resulted in poor reasoning among women and that "Women, in particular, are rendered weak and wretched by a variety of concurring causes, originating from one hasty conclusion. The conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state" (Wollstonecraft 7). The writer was very critical in the manner she addressed the oppression of women. She could not believe that women could willingly or in their right state of mind be subjected to any form of oppression. She further compared women to flowers that were used as beauty objects to please the eyes of men and once they lost their glory or "flowery" aspects they faded away so quickly and disregarded in society. She strongly believed that women and men should grow in the same ratio and have them both subjected to equal opportunities to prove their strength. In order to achieve equal strength to men, she believed women should be edu...