The World of Little Women: America's Little Women

The women who lived during the time of Little Women have affected the 21^st century in many ways.  From the women who stayed home to care for their children, as Marmee did, to the women who went out to get a job like Jo, the women of the 19^th century have had a significant impact on the modern world in many areas, such as education, work in the home, and work out of the home.

During the time of Little Women, women usually did much of their work in the home. Most women would care for their children, cook for their families, and clean their house.  They would also sew, wash, iron, and mend their families’ clothes.  Women who had a garden or animals would also tend the garden, milk the cows, and take care of the chickens.  Girls who were not in school would often work alongside their mothers and help with the chores as Beth did in Little Women.  Wealthy women, like Sally Moffat from Little Women, would often have servants to do the housework and cooks to make the meals.  The chores that the women did may not seem too hard in contemporary society, but without the modern appliances that make cooking and washing clothes easy, these tasks could take most of the day.  Just as in Little Women, the women of the 1860s worked hard throughout the day to make their house into a home.

Education for women during the time of Little Women helped more women to have successful careers.  Education in the early 1800s was mostly for boys, and, though there were a few schools for girls, they were all very expensive.  Later in the 19^th century, during the time of Little Women, most girls could go to school.  In 1837, the first women's only college was opened by Mary Lyon in New England, and, in 1855, the University of Iowa became the first coed college.  The better schooling for women during the later 1800s helped many women to get jobs and be successful in their careers.

In the 1800s, women began to play an important role outside the home as well as inside.  During the early 1800s, the role of most women was to stay in the home, care for children, and do house work.   As the number of well educated women grew, so did the number of working women.  At first, most women working outside of their homes were employed as teachers, housekeepers, or servants.  Some women served as governesses, like Meg did in Little Women.  When factories started hiring women, many women left the farm and moved to the city for a job.  Soon, women were working as nurses, doctors, lawyers, secretaries, shop keepers, journalists, and much more.  During the Civil War, many women, like Louisa May Alcott (the author of Little Women), served as nurses for wounded soldiers.  In these ways, women of the 1800s began to make an impact outside the home as they had been doing inside the home for generations.

Many women from the 1800s have impacted the way people in America live today.  The women who started to work outside the home in the late 1800s influenced many women to work not only in the home but also outside the home.  The work of women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped women to gain the right to vote.  A women named Amelia Jenks Bloomer led a dress reform campaign.  Her introduction of Bloomers encouraged women's clothing to be more practical and comfortable.  The women who campaigned for better education for women helped women to become more successful in their carriers.  But the women who did work outside the home were not the only women who made a difference in America today.  The women who stayed home raising their children also have made an impact on everyone today, by teaching their children how to live, act, and follow God with all their hearts.  These women of the 1800s have surely impacted the lives of Americans each day.

The women of the 19^th century made a large impact on education, the home, and work.  They changed the way that women lived their lives then and how they live them now.  Just as the women in Little Women made a difference in the lives of those around them, the strength, determination, and character of the women of the 1800s has greatly influenced the world today. 

                                   
 

Bibliography

Macdonald, Fiona. Women in 19th-century America. New York, New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1999. Print.

Silber, Nina. Daughters of the Union: Northern Women Fight the Civil War. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2005. Print.

Strange, Matthew. Guardians of the Home: Women's Lives in the 1800s. Broomall, Pennsylvania: Mason Crest Publishers Inc., 2011. Print.

 

A Poem: Snowflakes

They dance and twirl throughout the air,

as if they haven’t had a care.
They swirl and flurry all around,
and flutter softly to the ground.
They’re crystal clear and pure and white;
they glitter in the winter light.
Soon they all will melt away,
but then they’ll come another day.
They’ll swirl and flurry all around,
and flutter softly to the ground.

– By Clara May

The World of Number the Stars: Families of World War II

Though wars are mostly known for their battles, it is also important to understand what life was like on the home front during those times. What was it like for children and their families during World War II? What did different countries do to keep families safe? Did the war affect jobs at all? Was it hard to get food or clothes? What did children do for fun? Did they go to school? What did they do to support the war effort? During World War II, the lives of children and their families living in America and the life of the Johansen family from Number the Stars (along with other families from Nazi occupied countries) had similarities and differences. One characteristic that was similar with all families during World War II is that their lives changed because of the war.  
 

Since much of the war was fought in Europe, Americans felt fairly safe. However, all that changed on Sunday, December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Suddenly, a war that seemed so far away started to get closer to their homes in America. After that, some cities began making the people who lived there put dark paper or dark curtains over their windows so that if bombers came, they would not see the city. They also turned off the street lights and sometimes had air raid drills. Children, like Annemarie Johansen from Number the Stars, who lived in the Nazi-occupied parts of Europe, were also forced to put blackout curtains over their windows. They had a curfew during the night and soldiers on the streets. 

In Denmark and other occupied countries, some people joined the Nazi army, while others stayed with their original jobs. Many Jews in occupied countries lost their jobs because the Nazis closed down their shops. Though the war was mostly fought on non-American soil, Americans were affected by the war also. One change was that the U.S. factories that once made every day appliances began to make weapons and other war-related items. Since most of the men who worked in the factories left to fight in the war, women worked in the factories. In some states, even children worked in factories part-time. The war, as terrible as it was, helped get the United States out of the Great Depression. Because more jobs opened up in the army and in the factories that made war materials, less people were out of work.   

During the war, everyday items were hard to find. If a family lived in a Nazi-occupied country, it would be hard to find a new coat, clothes, shoes, hats, and gloves. If one of those items was found, it would be very expensive. Usually mothers would have to make and re-make dresses, shirts, and other clothing items for their children. In Number the Stars, Kirsti’s mother bought her shoes made of fish scales because there were not any other shoes that she could buy, and Kirsti needed new shoes.  It was also hard to get food items, because most of the food was used to feed the Nazi army. In America, many food items, shoes, and gas were rationed to make sure that the army had enough to eat and enough other provisions that they needed.

In Nazi-occupied countries during the war, life was very different for the children who lived there. Many of the things that children enjoyed so much disappeared when the war began. Many foods, such as ice-cream and frosted cupcakes, were almost impossible to find. Children living in Copenhagen could not visit Tivoli Gardens any more, because the Nazis had closed it and burned part of it when they came. Families did not take vacations either. Since most families had trouble just getting food on the table, they did not spend money on pleasures. Most children would play with whatever things they already had. As for school, most children continued to attend, except for Jewish children who had been prohibited from taking classes there. In America, children also went to school and made do with what toys and things that they had. They had parks and places to play, but not many things to play with, since factories that used to make toys had begun to manufacture weapons.

Sometimes in German-occupied countries, older children, like Lise Johansen and her fiancé Peter, joined resistance fighters and fought against the Nazis. A few children may have even helped as Annemarie did when she helped her Jewish friend Ellen escape to Sweden. Children in America helped the war effort in many ways also. One way was by planting Victory Gardens. When the seeds that they planted grew, they would use the produce as food for their family so the farmers could send more food to the troops overseas. They also collected leather, paper, string, cloth, and metal to be recycled and given to the factories to be made into items for the army. In Chicago, Illinois, children saved $263,148.83 worth of change for the government to buy two airplanes, 125 jeeps, and a motorcycle. Many older boys even joined the army.

The lives of children and their families were changed because of World War II. Many families gave up their old way of life to help the war effort. Many in Europe were forced to give up their old way of life. Even though many families experienced hardship during the war, they still continued to fight for what they believed was right.

– By Clara May

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Sources:

Josephson, Judith Pinkerton. Growing up in World War II. Minneapolis: Learner Publications Company, 2003. Print.

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1989. Print.

Nicholson, Dorinda Makanonlani. Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories.  Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005. Print.

Whitman, Sylvia. Children of the World War II Home Front. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 2001. Print.