History Navigator

Shops/taverns/inns were forced to stay open on Christmas day, it was illegal to attend a specific Christmas service, singing carols was forbidden and Christmas food/decorations were seized if they were found. People who were caught taking the day off were sent back to work and those found participating in such activities were fined. In New England, many people were attempting to celebrate under the radar, which is why fines were imposed for these activities. New England Living Today, ” How the Puritans Banned Christmas,

This new fashion trend pushed the boundaries of the feminine norms of society (despite being short lived) and it is easy to see why it became popular with suffragists. ; they do all kinds of weaving, dyeing, knitting, spinning, and sewing of all kinds of articles in use; they work at the shoe trade, and not a hat made but they have a hand at it; some you will find, keep Post offices, teach school, and preach the gospel; others employ their time in doctoring, nursing, and attending on the sick; some you will find in Bake-houses, making bread and various other things made in such places; and in butcher’s shops I have seen them cut up carcasses equal to men, and for Barbers they can’t be beat. Others go out washing clothes, and brewing beer all day long, and which are very different operations to anything you see done here; besides a great many of them have to attend to their own house affairs as well; so that woman’s work is said to be never done; and now tell me. if you don’t work hard, who does?” The first layer a bloomer, then a chemise, followed by the tight corset, a camisole to cover the corset, a petticoat, a large and awkward hoop skirt, the over petticoat and then, lastly, the blouse/bodice and skirt.

Harriot Stanton Blatch brought new ideas back home after observing the suffrage movement in Great Britain. After she joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she began to organize marches and constructed the image that she wanted the media to pick up of the movement. Alice Paul , using her expertise with the media, was able to create one of the most important events for women’s suffrage. Their banners asked, “Mr. President, How Long Must Woman Wait for Liberty?” and “Mr. President, What Will You Do For Woman Suffrage?”.

Originally, the equal rights for black Americans and the women’s rights movement were allies and even formed the American Equal Rights Association (which Anthony and Mott were leading figures of). This not only caused a split between the women’s and black suffrage movement, but also in the women’s suffrage movement itself. In 1878, Republican Senator Aaron Sargent introduced another proposal for women’s suffrage, which would be dubbed the Susan B. Anthony Amendment (today known as the 19th amendment), and suffragists were allowed to testify before the Senate (most notably Elizabeth Cady Stanton). On Account of Color or Sex: A Historical Examination of the Split between Black Rights and Women’s Rights in the American Equal Rights Association, 1866-1869.