American women before 1919 faced many limitations despite some improvements over time. They had few legal rights, as married women's property and earnings belonged to their husbands. They could not vote at the federal level. However, some women like Abigail Adams influenced politics through their husbands, and movements in the mid-1800s fought for women's rights, education, and suffrage, gaining some successes by the early 1900s.

1. A very brief history of
American women before 1919
Lisa M Lane

3. Woman standing over two children painting in an art class at Hull House
Chicago Daily News, 1924 (Library of Congress)

4. Woman with fan, c. 1858 (Library of Congress)

5. Abigail Adams (Library of Congress)

6. Mary H. Lee c. 1850 (Library of Congress)

7. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and daughter, 1856
(Library of Congress)

8. Deseret Hospital Board
(Emmeline Wells is front right)

9. Help Us Win the Vote, 1914
(Library of Congress)

10. John Brewster, The Morgan Family (c 1790)

11. Suffrage parade, 1913 (Library of Congress)

12. The End