The period 1865–1912 falls within the era in the USA known as Reconstruction Era or the Gilded Age (Kerber et al., 2015). Two major happenings took place within this era. The first was the advent of Industrialization in the nation, which catapulted the United States into the world Super Power, as the world came to realize it by 1918. The second was the transformation of the woman in society (Kerber et al., 2015). The woman stopped playing the part preset for her by traditions and norms and became an integral part of the society. From a political perspective, the woman started fighting for the rights of women including universal suffrage (Kerber et al., 2015). From a literature perspective however, the woman stopped writing as a feminine author and ventured into mainstream authorship.
Among the main writers in this time was Sarah Winnemucca Thocmentony who was later christened Hopkins. She was as American Indian of the Paiute tribe and a member of a respected family within the tribe (Roemer, 2015). The advent of the Paiute War ravaged her community and led to the death of some of her immediate family members including her mother. This transformed Hopkins into a fierce fighter for the rights of her community. As indicated above, Hopkins was not fighting as a woman but as a full member of the Paiute community. In 1883, she authored the book Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims which gave a history of her community and their struggle with the White settlers in America who had taken away their land. This book is unique as it was written by an author who was a woman, as opposed to being written by a feminine author.
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Another reputable writer of the time was Gertrude Simmons Bonnin who was born Zitkala-Ša in 1876 and passed on in 1938 (Roemer, 2015). Bonnin was a teacher and political activist who also doubled as a musician, author, and an editor. Much of her reputation however, comes from her works as an author that generated a lot of readership from the white community in the USA. Her books were mostly about her life within the Sioux community during her youth. In them, she told of the struggles of her community in the face of persecution by the white American community as well as government institutions (Roemer, 2015). As an educated Sioux, she also told of hers struggles between the culture of the majority in the USA and her cultural heritage that created a form of identity crisis for her (Roemer, 2015). Just as her older counterpart Hopkins, Bonnin did not speak as a woman but as a full member of the Sioux community fighting for her people.
By looking at Bonnin and Hopkins, both as American women and as authors, it is clear that the birth of woman and literature started in this era (Roemer, 2015). This encompassed the transformation of a woman from a slave of her sex as preset by traditions and cultural norms. Indeed, albeit proud of their status as women, a fact that came out clearly in their works, these two authors did not limit themselves to feminine affairs, but rose as warriors for their community, a sphere that had erstwhile been reserved for men (Roemer, 2015). The fact that they succeeded in their endeavors also shows that the change in women authors was not a rebellion but a reflection of a society that was changing alongside them.
However, this change was not universal as male politicians were extremely uncomfortable with the transformation of the woman in society. Indeed, albeit women had massive success as authors, this level is success was not apparent in the political arena. The fight for universal suffrage in this era was met with massive opposition by men (Kerber et al., 2015). This was so extreme that some men organized demonstrations and movements seeking to relegate women to societal feminine activities (Kerber et al., 2015). A major representation of the masculine opposition to the rise of the woman in this era was the 1875 Supreme Court ruling against Universal suffrage. However, through perseverance, women finally prevailed in the political arena, just as they have succeeded in the literary field.
References
Kerber, L. K., De Hart, J. S., Dayton, C. H., & Wu, J. T. C. (2015). Women's America: Refocusing the past . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Roemer, K. (2015). That dream shall have a name: Native Americans rewriting America by David L. Moore (review). Studies in American Indian Literatures , 26 (4), 78-82.
