Home Between the years 1830 and 1860, the American people were still very much motivated by their religion. It controlled many of their views on how to live their daily lives, including the roles of man and woman. It carried on into social customs where "all men are created equal" was how it was justified that women were not meant to hold the same rights as men. The information the articles provided mainly reflected the general social view of society at the time. Because it was a wide spread belief that women shouldn't be able to own property or have the same equality as men in a marriage, it was accepted as common knowledge by most. It is said that " all men feel, see, and intuitively apply remedies for social evils long before they comp rend their natures and causes." Meaning without much thought, laws and such were created banning women from certain tasks such as voting because of the social bias at the time; because it was common belief that women were not equal, it seemed appropriate to make laws showing they weren't. Although throughout American society it was common belief that women were not equal to men, there were a few articles from the 1850's that reflected some thought into the question of equality. For instance, one author stated this about the common man, " they must be informed that such absurd misapplications of acknowledged truths as result in all the theories of socialism are absurd in themselves are violations of justice between man and man are offensive to the laws of God." Meaning that the religious angle that so many used as their proof that women were indeed unequal wasn't necessarily true. That religion didn't need to be interpreted that way, because it did not directly say anywhere that women were unequal. During this time period Women having a place in the ever growing marketplace of America was not really thought of as an issue. Women were not meant to become a part of it, or so society thought. Their place was in the home, taking care of the children, and being a good, religious woman. Articles described women as being "weak and helpless" and unfit for work in the marketplace. Religion was of great importance during this time period and it was felt that women were religiously pure and decent and perhaps the work place would taint this view of women. One article stated that, " Natural equity Christian and morality alike dictate that men should bear for them." Many really believed that religion did state that men were to take on the burdens of life, and women were not to be troubled with such harshness. Because of this, women being involved in the workplace was seen as foolishness. Women who did see the flaws in the unequal system that existed in the 1830s to 1860s were not looked upon in a good light. An article in a Women's journal from the time period focusing on the negative treatment of Chinese women had this to say about women who tried to progress: " and as all history shows that where woman has obtained this wished for position she has been most degraded, least happy, and least useful to herself, her children, her nation, and the world." Those are some harsh words that would perhaps convince a woman not to try to pursue equal rights. Other articles often said something along the same line such as: " Those who ask for more, ask for too much." Perhaps this lead women to believe bad things would ensue if they tried to fight their place in society. Men also tried to prove women wrong by saying " all men are not in the public eye or have professions." Men did not try to cause a stir to obtain the social position they have currently, so women shouldn't either. However there were a few publishing's of the time that featured such phrases as " Make place for me, I am woman" which seems to be very reflective of women in the 1960s to today. Perhaps the very beginnings of the feminist movements sprung from the 1860s and this first noticeable attempt to stunt women's free flow of movement throughout society.