HIST 101 Survey of American History I M05 Discussion 7

The Monroe Doctrine December 2, 1823 (Links to an external site.) How would the United States have enforced the Monroe Doctrine if its declaration had been immediately challenged by any of the European powers at which it was aimed? Which of the powers of Europe would have been most likely to have asserted its claim to possession of colonies in the Western Hemisphere and how would they have been able to prosecute such an assertion? Give details and be specific in your theorizing.

How a Log Cabin Was Built (Contemporary Description) 1822 (Links to an external site.) For those of you with building experience, how could the building of the house described in this article have been improved? What is not described in this article that would have been absolutely necessary? Were there any luxuries that these folks had but did not require? Would it have made living easier or harder if these people had built and lived in the sort of dwellings used by the Native Americans of their region?

Dangerous Cures and the Popular Health Movement Based on the description of the health, eating, and drinking habits of Americans, should the government had played a more active role in regulating the conditions of cities and towns or would this have been excessive governmental interference in the lives of citizens? Apply the same reasoning to the medical profession. Should the government have taken a stronger, more active role in regulating the professions that had the care of the health of citizens and could also potentially harm that health through ignorance and malpractice? Do you think the Popular Health Movement was effective? Use specific examples from the reading to support your position.

The American Woman of the Early Nineteenth Century Compare and contrast the beliefs about the lives of women in the early nineteenth century with the lives of women today. How accurate were the perceptions of women at this time? How did the perceptions and expectations of society hinder or help women of this time period? Were these perceptions and expectations generated by men for women, or did women themselves produce and support these perceptions? How are the perceptions about women today alike and how are they different from those of the early 19th century? Have the changes that have come about all been positive? What are some of the negative changes, if any, that face women of today that the woman of the nineteenth century did not have to worry about? Always be specific and use examples to support your statements.

The American Woman of the Early Nineteenth Century

The American woman of the early nineteenth century and today have many great differences, but there are some aspects that have remained the same. Compared to the woman today, the nineteenth century woman was viewed as much less of a person and more as property of the husband. It was assumed that they were unable to think for themselves and that they were not capable of intelegent thought. Although there are stereotypes of women ...

today, they are not nearly as extreme and demeaning. Women in the nineteenth century also didn't have all of their rights, and they had even less when they were married, whereas today women do have all of their rights. Women are also treated equal in the aspect of legality today, but women of the nineteenth century received less harsh punishments than men did for crimes because of the "fragile" view society had of them. Another big difference is that women today keep their property when they get married, but in the nineteenth century it became their husbands. One thing that has had opposite change is abortion. In the nineteenth century, it was much less controversial and it was considered acceptable before there were signs of fetal movement.

Today, it is very controversial and it is banned in some places. The perception of women during this time could be viewed in two ways. In one way, they are inaccurate because women as a whole are not unintelligent and fragile, and it is unfair to apply that perception to a whole gender. On the other hand, women were far less educated than men were at the time, but this does not mean they didn't have the capacity to be as successful and as smart as men if provided the opportunity. These perceptions greatly hindered women and prevented them from being an independent person and truly finding themselves outside of a man. It also limited their opportunities for successes and consequently independence. These expectations were generated by men in a time that gave great power to the male voice, because like this article describes, women were not given much say and their word was not valued. Comparing the expectations and perceptions of women today to those of the nineteenth century, there are still some people with the mindset that women are inferior to men and have these old similar ideas. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who believe that women are capable of anything that a man is. Today, women are allowed to be independent and pursue their own goals, and are not necessarily expected to be dependent upon a man. A majority of the changes that have come about have been positive since the nineteenth century. Women now have the right to vote, they don't give up some of their rights when they get married, and are generally treated much better as a whole than women of the nineteenth century. There are still struggles that women face that men don't today and we definitely still live in a male dominated society, but I'd say we have continually been moving in a positive direction in this area.