The Grimke Sisters Through The Civil War - The Early Years | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists - Episode 1

Sarah and Angelina Grimke worked tirelessly for both abolition, and women’s suffrage. The Grimke sisters were the first to say, in print, that women deserved to live alongside men with an equal political footing. They were the first to connect abolitionism with feminism.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke are the first South Carolina-related women to publicly and passionately embrace the cause for women’s suffrage. Their story begins in Charleston, South Carolina, where their bond was strong, even from an early age. Their father, John Faucheraud Grimke served as a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Witnessing the cruel treatment of slaves greatly disturbed Sarah and Angelina Grimke during their childhoods.

In the summer months, the Grimkes would travel to the estate in Belmont, to escape the Charleston heat. Their mother, Mary Smith Grimke was reputed to be the epitome of a cruel slave mistress. After spending time in Philadelphia, the Grimke sisters’ religious experiences would drive them towards fighting for abolition.

Standards

• 5-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of American economic challenges in the 1920s and 1930s and world conflict in the 1940s.
  • Along with the rest of the world, the United States experienced a boom-and-bust period during the 1920s and 1930s. In the United States, this situation led to significant government intervention to stimulate the economy. Other countries did not follow...
    • 5-4.1 Summarize daily life in the post–World War I period of the 1920s, including improvements in the standard of living, transportation, and entertainment; the impact of the Nineteenth Amendment, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and ...
• 8-5 The student will understand the impact of Reconstruction, industrialization, and Progressivism on society and politics in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
  • During the periods of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement, South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its traditional society. To understand South Carolina’s experience as represen...
    • 8-5.8 Compare the Progressive movement in South Carolina with the national Progressive movement, including the impact on temperance; women’s suffrage; labor laws; and educational, agricultural, health, and governmental reform.
• USHC-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the industrial development and the consequences of that development on society and politics during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.
  • Political democracy depends upon the active participation of individuals working through political and economic-interest groups to protect their welfare. To understand how groups in the past have protected their rights, the student will utilize the kn...
    • USHC-4.6 Compare the accomplishments and limitations of the women’s suffrage movement and the Progressive Movement in affecting social and political reforms in America, including the roles of the media and of reformers such as Carrie Chapman Catt...