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Although the leadership of reform movements of the 1840s and 1850s (temperance, abolitionism, social purity, and so on) was largely male, many of the members of reform organisations were women. Explain the significance of the preponderance of women in reform organisations. What was the relationship between gender and reform? Amidst a background of religious revival and polarisation of the sexes, women in America began to embrace reform organisations. The institutions of church and school fostered …

…the right to vote. The factors all came together: an upsurge in religion, political and social instability all provided an environment for women to claim social and political equality, taking advantage of instabilities to empower themselves and then pursue the issues of equality. The political and social circumstances reflect those of the 1640s in England where women came to the fore in preaching and started to entertain a conception of themselves, independent of male support.