Before the 1800's, the role of a women was to take care of her family, rear the children, clean the home, and submit to their husbands, otherwise known as, "Republican Motherhood". Eventually that mindset led women to radicalize and ignore the conservative gender norms.
The mid 1800's led to a change for women. Groups such as the WCTU, or Women's Christian Temperance Union, began to form by unifyng women together for a just cause. Once the movements started, they did not stop, only becoming more and more radical through the decades.