HIST 383 Chapter Notes - Chapter reading: Mary Wollstonecraft, Friendly Society
Document Summary
On june 22, 1814, the men and women of taunton in somerset took the day off and celebrated the outbreak of peace. Unaware that it would require yet another massive battle finally to destroy napoleon and his armies, they gave themselves over to what the journalists called a lavish display of public exaltation. Marching alongside taunton"s trade groups were members of six female friendly societies. The debate over women"s proper place in society had become increasingly intense as the 18th century progressed, not just in. Great britain but throughout western europe and north america. Only in the bleakest way possible was a woman"s freedom of political action in great britain formally acknowledged. If she committed high treason she could be put on trial and burnt. Many adult women worked for money wages in agriculture, in cottage industries, in domestic service, in shops, in the mines and any other jobs they could get.
