From even before the country’s founding, American women were aware of their second-class status. The accepted gender norms of the day and demanding familial responsibilities confined women of the early years of the United States to the domestic sphere.  The concept of “republican motherhood” solidified women’s expectations, thought to holistically benefit society. Women were expected to raise their children, particularly sons, to be active citizens, though they had no direct influence over the laws that were passed or enacted. Fundamentally, women had no legal rights.  The call for woman suffrage and women’s rights grew in tandem with the antislavery movement, as women began to recognize that intersectional reform was much needed.