Women and World War II: Road to Liberty

Nathalie Alvarez

Professor Houser

HIS 340: Historical Research & Writing

15 April 2017
 The establishment of the Womans Suffrage Movement in 1848 brought awareness of one

of the often overlooked social group: women. Throughout American history, women began to

engage in literature and politics to find a solution to the oppression of male supremacy. Different

abolitionist, authors, political leaders, and ordinary citizens worked hard into pushing women

equality during the Second Great War. While men were overseas battling the Axel powers with

the Allies, women were persuaded, informed, and encouraged to become involved in the public

sphere of society. World War II created a significant change in womens shift in gender roles, this

not only caused the establishment of womens liberalism, but also cause the success of the Allied

Powers because without the women efforts, the Americans alone would have not been successful.

The push to engage into war not only promoted the Womans Suffrage Movement, but also

changed what defined an American between the 1940s and 19450s.

 The well-known document known as the Declaration of Sentiments by Native Womans

Suffrage Association was the first women's convention held in Seneca Falls, New York where

women rejected the male dominance in American politics. With the help of abolitionists such as

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, the movement began to excel because of their

protests in search for independence from patriarch influenced women throughout future

generations to reconstruct their lives as equals under the eyes of the law. The declarations made

on this historical document noted the religious rejections proposed by Stanton such as, marriage

and the unalienable right to enfranchise (Canton, 1848) thus enacted a resolution by Canton to

the oppression man has proposed over women that a woman is a mans equal-was intended so to

be by the Creator, and the highest good of the race demands that she should be recognized with

as such, by doing this, Elizabeth opened the doors to liberalism for all the women under-

educated, under-paid, overworked, go often unnoticed, and neglected.

The Declaration of Sentiments spoke about the religious and political arguments

that have been practiced and preached by numerous civilizations over time. One of the most

common theme of religious laws was women engagement in religion and politics. Women were

frowned upon if she were to break out of her social norm; therefore women struggled, oppressed,

with no

The different women who participated between the 40s and 50s are referred to as the

Rosie generation (Coleman, 1998) because of their presence on the home front, in the

workforce, the head of the household, the provider and supplier, and most importantly the

bread-winner for the house. Through the different projects women actively enrolled in Rosie

the Riveter:
One work of literature famously published by Penny Coleman is