Before reading on, make sure to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Review

Last time on Dragon Ball Z..... I showed how men also benefited from marriage. That in fact, men had most of the power, but not without burden. The only law that remains from my five listed Marriage 1.0 era Laws of Genders in Part 3 is number four: Women had sole custody of children born out of wedlock. But before we get into Marriage 1.0's evolution, you're going to need a big history lesson. In this post, I will reveal the historical pivot point that shifted women's priorities, how they were taken advantage of by the elite, and the great event that destroyed Marriage 1.0. I recommend you read this on a computer screen (Long Post).

Intro

There were some instances of women's rights in ancient times, but it never acquired much traction. Then in the 1100's, English Common Law took over and invented the concept of coverture, the surrendering of all current and future property to the husband upon marriage, merging them under one identity represented by the husband (Source). Once again, husbands had power. As we know, history goes through cycles, and again, women's increase in freedoms resurfaces. You'll see blips of women's \"separate economy\" (ability to choose profession) and relaxed divorced laws in Russia and Europe in the 1700's (Source). However, this time, the natural cycle intersects with a monumental era, the Industrial Revolution. It was the trigger, pulled in the name of profit, that starts a chain reaction of legal reform and societal change that has only gained momentum ever since.

Pivot Point

In the 18th century, it wasn't uncommon to have no more than two shirts in your possession. The creation of fabric was a long and strenuous process (Source). An entrepreneur in Preston, UK, named Richard Arkwright witnessed this process for himself when he visited a cotton business. The issues he recognized inspired him to invent. Using the money he earned from his previous moderately successful waterproof-wig business, Arkwright financed the creation of a faster, more efficient spinning machine. The first model went operational in 1768. It could spin 128 threads at a time as opposed to the previous model of the spinning wheel, which could only spin one at a time. This machine eliminated the use of the hands, and could create stronger threads than someone could ever do in the past (Source).

In 1769, Richard is now thinking bigger. He wants to expand, but needs an investment. A banker decides to partner with him in exchange for exclusive access to the threaded product from Arkwright's machines. After agreeing to join forces, Richard and his partners build a factory powered by a water wheel. Although not the first one, it was unique in that it's product could be produced without heavy physical labor (<--Important)*(Source)*(Source).

The Factory

All this machinery needs operators. Now, Arkwright's looking for employees to process his cotton and the work he was seeking to be done wasn't physically intensive (hint, hint). Guess which part of the population could be paid less? Guess who Richard preferred to hire? That's right, women and children (as young as 6 years old). Employees worked 13 hours a day from 6am-7pm. Women were paid a salary of ~$5,312/yr, or $1.31/hr in today's dollars )(Source). Factories were popping up all over the world, exploiting the cheap labor at their disposal. For the first time in history, women could find work outside of the home outside times of war when men were temporarily recruited from the labor force in great numbers. This is very important; I'll get back to it.

Labor Reform

After witnessing and experiencing the horrific conditions of cotton mill factories for many years, the government of the UK took action. In 1802, the Health and Morals of Apprentices Act was born. It was first of many labor laws to come designed to enhance the working conditions of the employees, which were mostly women and children. This law banned night work, reduced the allowable work hours to 12hr/day, and forced employers to provide education, decent clothing, and accommodation to apprentices (children)(Source). The US, just recently settled after Christopher Columbus' \"discovery\", was a little behind Europe in industrialization. It took awhile to follow Europe's footsteps, but eventually, child labor was forbidden almost everywhere (Source). Now that children are gone, guess who's left to fill in the open slots? That's right, women.

Tying It All Together

Let's sum up what was covered so far. History in the 1700's began to repeat itself in regards to increasing women's freedoms. Next, starting in the 1760's, Europe, with the construction of factories, had many job positions available that didn't require extreme physical exertion -- men's efforts were best moved elsewhere (opportunity cost). This means women could be employed in mass numbers in times other than war. Before equal pay, wives and children could be paid a lot less, incentivizing an exclusively women and children labor force. Children were eventually retracted from work by decree, making women a major portion of the employees. What do these things add up to? Answer: Girls now with money, shrink the power gap between husband and wife, giving the ability to influence more decisions -- specifically the law.

Chain Reaction

How do you continue to encourage women's participation in the work force under horrible conditions when you have given them bargaining power in the economy? Answer: You allow them to purchase goods with the money they've earned.

Influenced by an Arkansas town's Married Women's Property Act of 1839, Mississippi created the \"Married Women's Property Act\" that unlike Arkansas, applied to the whole state *(Source)*(Source). For the first time in the world since the establishment of English Common Law, a woman could own property outside the condition that the husband was incapacitated, albeit limited in ability. She couldn't manage or sell property without the consent of the husband. In these two cases, they were not motivated by employment, but an attempt at father's preventing the property given to their daughters being taken by the husbands (Source). Though it's motives were exceptional, it started a chain reaction of feminine uproar across America. Many states soon followed, and an explosion of legal reform in wives' favor came to be (Source). Russia started the charge in 1753, when they granted women separate economy (Source). Around 50 years later, Europe started making several subtle changes until in 1870, the United Kingdom created the Married Woman's Property Act (Source). A chain reaction , similar to that of the U.S., occurred (Source).

The Inevitable Doom

Women, now with money and property out of reach from their husbands, want a say. Feminist groups were created, and in 1893, New Zealand women became the first women in the world to vote in a national election (Source).

In America, the National Women's Association (NWSA), and the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) made many public speeches to civilians, but without much gain. Then, they switched tactics. The Congressional Union (CU) was created and aimed their efforts directly at the government. Uncle Sam put up heavy resistance by arresting protestors over technicalities (Source).

In 1914, female prisoners began to take advantage of the victim-hood card by fasting. The police had to force feed the girls so they wouldn't die; this got public sympathy. You know what else happened in 1914-1918? You guessed it, World War I, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated. With all alliances or pacts made across the world, many countries were forced to participate. \"If I get attacked you must assist me, and vice-versa.\" America was one of those countries, and off to war they went. To be more specific, MEN went. Much of feminist opposition was sent off to war and it's maintenance efforts. Consequently, on August 18, 1920, after many feminist rallies and campaigns across the country, Tennessee's House of Representatives succumbed to political pressure and \"narrowly\" approved of the 19th Amendment. Twelve days later, at the last minute, Tennessee changed their minds and tried to reverse their decision, but it was too late. The U.S. Secretary of State had already upheld the decision and ratified the 19th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, the demise of Marriage 1.0 (Source)...

Conclusion

The fact that women's rights increased so dramatically in the early 1800's is by no means a coincidence. Like a binary explosive, the intersection of the natural cycles of empires and the Industrial Revolution reacted violently. Women were never granted equality out of the kindness of men's hearts. It was because titans of industry had to give them a sense of autonomy in order for women to persist working for their slave wages and increase profit margins and politicians wanted to keep their status. Marriage 1.0 is gone, but what will it evolve into? How does society change as a result of women's ability to influence politics? What direction do laws take? Most importantly, what the fuck does this long-ass history lesson have to do with getting married? Don't worry I'll get to that. In the next post, I'll go over how we allowed women to defy nature, and its consequences.

Part 5

Want more? Read \"Why Get Married? (Post 5: The Sexual Revolution and Marriage 2.0)\"

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edit 2: decided to take a new direction for upcoming posts. Gave it a new title.

edit: words