A Detailed Look at the Evolution of Gender Roles in California

This essay examines the evolution of gender roles in California between 1845 and 1900, focusing primarily on the changing roles of women. The period encompassed significant events such as the Mexican-American War and the California Gold Rush, which profoundly impacted societal norms. During the war, women supported troops in various capacities, including cooking, laundering, and even espionage. The Gold Rush saw women taking on diverse jobs, often becoming the primary breadwinners for their families. Landmark legal changes, like the California Constitution of 1849, granted married women property rights. This era marked a shift towards greater empowerment for women in California, socially, financially, and politically, paving the way for future advancements in justice and equality. Desklib offers numerous resources for students including similar essays and solved assignments.

Running head: EVOLUTION OF GENDER ROLES IN CALIFORNIA
EVOLUTION OF GENDER ROLES IN CALIFORNIA
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1EVOLUTION OF GENDER ROLES IN CALIFORNIA
In the course of the history of California, gender roles for both men and women have
evolved. From the very beginning, men have always played the dominant role in the almost
every society and culture including California, United States of America. Women were the
ones who were taking care of the family (Hart, Sherron and Dayton). It was the time, 1845 to
1900 that there was change in the system and there was an evolution in gender roles in
California.
The gender roles of the women in the society along with that of the California has changed
and they are being empowered, socially, financially and politically after the world wars.
Series of events occurred during this period of time that led to the evolution of gender
roles in California. From the year 1846 to 1848, an armed conflict broke out between Mexico
and the United States. It was believed that warfare was men’s activity and women did not
have any voice on this. Women were not expected to be present in wars but during this time,
women had accompanied their husbands in the war as their cooks and laundress. Later
women had put themselves in danger to support the troops. During the besiegement of Fort
Texas, the military were asked to stay underground for protection; on the other hand, women
were sewing sand bags to support the fort. Women also worked as spies to bring information
of the opposition in order to make strategies to win the war. They even served as prostitutes
(Belohlavek). From being naive to confident and risky, woman had an inevitable change.
From 1848 to 1855 was the period of the California Gold Rush. During this time,
many people fled to stay in California when a gold mine was discovered. Men flew to
California in order to become rich. In this male dominant society, women had a huge role to
play. Women were always seen as caretakers who would look after their kids and husbands
but during this time, the roles were evolved. Not everyone was lucky in finding gold thus
many women started working to earn money by sewing, doing laundry, cooking, and many

2EVOLUTION OF GENDER ROLES IN CALIFORNIA
more. Women fled to California to work in gamble halls, saloons, dance halls brothels
(Chisa). Many women started writing about their experiences there, which later got published
becoming an important source of document of the time. Usually it is seen that men are the
main bread earner of their family, during the California Gold Rush the roles reversed and it
was seen that women earned more than men earn and became the bread earner by working
different kinds of jobs.
According to the California Constitution of 1849, the women who are married and
own any property before or after marriage will not have to give to their husband but can
claim it as their individual property (Chatfield). From, 1800 till 1900 women were fighting
for their right to caste vote as well.
In this essay it can be seen that the main evolution of roles were for women due to the
social and political changes in the society that led consecutive changes in these years. Men
did not have many changes as they were entitled to all the privileges and power from the
beginning. The roles of women mainly changed in California paving way for justice and
equality.

3EVOLUTION OF GENDER ROLES IN CALIFORNIA
Works Cited
Chatfield, Sara. "Married Women's Economic Rights Reform in State Legislatures and
Courts, 1839–1920." Studies in American Political Development 32.2 (2018): 236-
256.
De Hart, Jane Sherron, and Cornelia Hughes Dayton. Women's America: Refocusing the
past. Oxford University Press, USA, 2015.
Oros, Chisa. The role of Fort Humboldt during the California gold rush: a focus on local
indigenous women’s struggle, resistance and resilience. Diss. Humboldt State
University, 2016.
Porter, Amy M. "Patriots, Prostitutes, and Spies: Women and the Mexican-American War by
John M. Belohlavek." Journal of Southern History 84.3 (2018): 741-742.