For much of American history, women were second-class citizens in the sense they could not vote or run for office and had few property rights. However, women were often able to overcome social restrictions and forcefully affect the world around them, sometimes nationally. This took a real force of character, determination, and sometimes bravery.

Women were discouraged from becoming involved in politics, and the majority of American men thought women belonged in the home. As the 1800s progressed, American women became more and more significant in changing their country for the better. This meant that women gravitated toward causes society thought were appropriate for women, which were those merging family issues and Christianity, both of which allowed women to organize and form local and national organizations. Women active in these causes were not subject to censure.

The most important cause allowing women to overcome Victorian expectations of being ladylike was temperance, which eventually resulted in the Prohibition era. Prohibition had several elements, but it was focused on pushing for making the manufacture, sale, and possession of alcohol illegal and convincing individuals to swear off alcohol.