Excerpt from Freedom's Ferment
Jon Reese
One of the reform movements that arose during the "freedom's ferment" of the early nineteenth century was a drive for greater rights for women, especially in the political area. Women were heavily involved in many of the reform movements of this time, but they discovered that while they did much of the drudge work, with few exceptions (such as Dorothea Dix) they could not take leadership roles or lobby openly for their goals. Politically, women were to be neither seen nor heard. The drudgery of daily housework and its deadening impact on the mind also struck some women as unfair.
What can you infer about Dorothea Dix?
A)
She was a public leader of a reform movement.
B)
She was an opponent of the Suffrage Movement.
C)
She did not participate in the Seneca Falls Convention.
D)
She refused to take a public role in lobbying for reforms.
