Title: The Changing Roles of Women: A Document-Based Question
Historical Background: Ever since the colonial days women have had many roles in society.
While traditional roles have remained, women have added many other roles to their everyday life.
For years women were viewed as secondhand citizens. The following documents show the
changing roles of women over the years.
Correlation to NYS 7/8 Social Studies Core Curriculum:
Unit Five: Life in the New Nation
III. Preindustrial Age: 1790s-1860s
Unit Seven: An Industrial Society
III. The Progressive Movement, 1900-1920: Efforts to Reform the New Society
Unit Ten: The United States Assumes Worldwide Responsibilities
I. World War II
Unit Eleven: The Changing Nature of the American People from World War II to the
Present
I. Postwar Society Characterized by Prosperity and Optimism
Suggested Timeframe: Depending on time of year, this task could be started in class and
finished as homework. It also could be done completely in class over two or three days.
Materials/Resources:
• “Roles of Women – Documents 1 – 10” (attached)
Student Objectives: Students will be able to:
• Interpret historical records and express their understanding effectively through a wellwritten essay.
• Draw conclusions about changing roles of women based on primary sources.
Teaching Strategies, Procedures and Methodology
1. This lesson would be best taught as a culmination of a study of the role of women
throughout American history. Students should have background information about the
roles of women throughout American history.
2. Give each student the packet of documents and have them answer the scaffold questions
that go with each document.
3. Have students write a DBQ essay based on their knowledge and information contained
within the documents.
Evaluation:
The DBQ essay can be scored using the New York State Revised Generic Scoring Rubric. A full
explanation of the use of this rubric can be found on the website of the New York State Education
Department at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/rubrics.html .
About the Author: Dan Morency is the building team curriculum leader of Social Studies for
Myers Middle School, in the Albany City School District. He currently teaches seventh grade.
DOCUMENT BASED QUESTION
This question is based on the accompanying documents. It is designed to test your
ability to work with historical documents. Some of the documents have been edited
for the purposes of the question. As you analyze the documents, take into account
the source of each document and any point of view that may be presented in the
document.
Historical Context:
Ever since the colonial days, women have had many roles in society. While
traditional roles have remained, women have added many other roles to their
everyday lives. These additional roles have come through necessity, protest and the
push for equality.
Task:
Using the information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, answer
the questions that follow each document in Part A. Your answers to the questions will
help you write the Part B essay in which you will be asked to:
•
Describe how the roles of women have changed over the years.
•
Discuss how women were able to have their roles change over the years.
Document 1
Women working in a colonial kitchen (Library of Congress)
1. What traditional role are the women completing? __________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Name one item the women preparing: ___________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Document 2
1. In what region of the country was this portrait completed? __________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What was the daily role for the seated women? ___________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. What was the daily role(s) for the African American women? ________________
_________________________________________________________________
Document 3
Colonial Woman in Georgia farming
1. Besides housework, what other work would a woman perform on a farm? ______
__________________________________________________________________
2.
How was the women’s, pictured above, life different than the women’s life in
Document 2? ______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Document 4
1. Who is pictured at the cannon? ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What was her original role at the battle? _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Document 5
A woman working a loom at the Lowell Mills
1. What fabric is the woman weaving? ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What role is the woman performing? ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Document 6
Women’s Suffrage Parade in 1913
1. What are the women protesting for? ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Document 7
In her autobiography, Harriet Hanson Robinson, the wife of a newspaper editor,
provided an account of her earlier life as female factory worker (from the age of ten in
1834 to 1848) in the textile Mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. Her account explains some of
the family dynamics involved, and lets us see the women as active participants in their
own lives - for instance in their strike of 1836.
As late as 1840 there were only seven vocations outside the home into which the women
of New England had entered. At this time woman had no property rights. A widow could
be left without her share of her husband's (or the family) property, an " incumbrance" to
his estate. A father could make his will without reference to his daughter's share of the
inheritance. He usually left her a home on the farm as long as she remained single. A
woman was not sup posed to be capable of spending her own, or of using other people's
money. In Massachusetts, before 1840, a woman could not, legally, be treasurer of her
own sewing society, unless some man were responsible for her. The law took no
cognizance of woman as a moneyspender. She was a ward, an appendage, a relict. Thus it
happened that if a woman did not choose to marry, or, when left a widow, to remarry, she
had no choice but to enter one of the few employments open to her, or to become a
burden on the charity of some relative.
1. According to the reading, what was a woman not capable of? ________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. What was one of the employments open to women? ______________________
__________________________________________________________________
Document 8
It would be ridiculous to talk of male and female atmospheres, male
and female springs or rains, male and female sunshine . . . . how
much more ridiculous is it in relation to mind, to soul, to thought,
where there is as undeniably no such thing as sex, to talk of male and
female education and of male and female schools. [written with Susan
B. Anthony]
1. What is ridiculous to the author? _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Document 9
A World War II propaganda poster
1. Who is shown in the above picture? ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Why is the person above flexing her muscles? ____________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. What was this poster encouraging women to do? __________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Document 10
A political yard sign for 2008 Presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate
vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin .
1. What roles would Sarah Palin perform if elected vice-president? ______________
__________________________________________________________________
Part B
Essay
Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several
paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use evidence from at least five documents to support your
essay. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details. Include
additional outside information.
Historical Context:
Ever since the colonial days, women have had many roles in society. While
traditional roles have remained, women have added many other roles to their
everyday lives. These additional roles have come through necessity, protest and the
push for equality.
Task:
Using the information from the documents and your knowledge of social studies, write an
essay in which you:
•
Describe how the roles of women have changed over the years.
•
Discuss how women were able to have their roles change over the
years.
Guidelines:
In your essay, be sure to:
• Develop all aspects of the task
• Incorporate information from at least five documents
• Incorporate relevant outside information
• Support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details
• Use a logical and clear plan of organization, including an introduction and a conclusion
that are beyond a restatement of the theme