Women’s Rights
Driving Question: How did women’s roles and societal perceptions shift during the long nineteenth century?
Women weren’t just living through the changes of the industrial era—they were pushing change forward. Around the world, communities of women challenged injustice in their personal lives and in the public sphere.
Learning Objectives:
- Examine the networks of women’s rights activists and compare how their work transformed societies around the world.
- Use the historical thinking skill of comparison to evaluate the similarities and differences between women’s experiences as they fought for suffrage.
- Utilize the historical thinking practice of claim testing to comprehend the transformation of gender and class relations in the long nineteenth century.
Vocab Terms:
Reading this primary source will help you understand how ideas around gender and women’s roles in society were evolving during the long nineteenth century.
Did you know: British suffragettes trained in jiu-jitsu. In the early twentieth century, members of the Women’s Social and Political Union trained in martial arts to protect against police brutality and violence, guard themselves against counter protesters, and shield their leaders from arrest. Edith Garrud, a 4'11" suffragette and martial artist provided training in the martial art that became known as Suffrajitsu.
Explore how the fight for women’s voting rights took shape in different countries. You’ll compare movements to see how context shaped goals and outcomes.
-
Guiding Questions
Be sure to read the Lesson Guide as you prep this activity. It includes all the directions you need, along with a link to the Feedback Form. Finally, be sure to print out and cut the claim cards found in the Lesson Guide. You’ll need one set per group of four students.
Note: The directions are intended for a teacher-led collaborative activity, but if you’re pressed for time, students can easily complete this activity independently or with a partner.
Explore how gender roles shifted during the nineteenth century. You’ll examine how class affected women’s experiences and test claims using evidence.
-
Guiding Questions
Want some useful art for your classroom that also features a unicorn and UFO? Get these claim-testing posters for your walls.
In this unit, you’ve examined how industrialization and reform reshaped societies and identities. Now, reflect on how these changes influence your understanding of the modern world.
Khanmigo Writing Coach is an AI-powered tool designed specifically for teachers and students in K–12 and secondary classrooms. This tool can help you teach many OER Project: World History writing activities. It can be used to provide individual feedback and revisions on early student work. If you’re interested, check out this Khanmigo Writing Coach Guide.
In this writing activity, you’ll use evidence from sources to support an argument that responds to the question: How did industrialization impact society during the long nineteenth century?
What can washing clothes in Victorian England show us about life back then? A lot! Let’s put a load in and see what comes out in the wash!
-
Guiding Questions
