abolitionist movement, which blossomed in the 1830s and 1840s. Women could only be involved in politics to a certain extent before they were considered "unwomanly" by men and even other women. Working on civil rights for enslaved people caused women to realize they themselves were enslaved by the patriarchy and wanted rights for themselves, giving rise to the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, and the women's rights movement in the United States. They worked for suffrage, property rights, legal status and child custody in family disputes. The movement likely owes a debt to the emphasis on republican motherhood of fifty years before. The origins of republican motherhood The first presence of republican motherhood was seen in Classical Rome during the years 600 BC to 500 CE. In Classical Rome, women played a much larger role in society than women in other societies around the world did during that period in time. In the eyes of Classical Romans, the familia, or family, was the core of their civilization, and this yielded relatively healthy marriages between Roman men and women. In her book Gender in History: Global Perspectives, Merry Wiesner-Hanks details the "model marriage" through the eyes of Classical Romans as "one in which husbands and wives were loyal to one another and shared interests, activities, and property.". Due to the vital role that women and mothers had in their children's education, they were granted the right to receive and have access to education. This was a rare privilege in Classical civilizations, as women were barred from obtaining education in most cultures around the globe at this time. The example in Rome has been used in more recent times all across the world in the fight for women's suffrage, and was a main argument that mothers and women made in the United States during the years leading up to 1920, when the 19th Amendment finally awarded women the right to vote. See also Republicanism in the United States Bibliography References History of women's rights in the United States Republicanism in the United States