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 * Amelia Bloomer **
 * Women’s Rights and Dress Reform **


 * Goals and Criticisms: Though best known for ideas in women dress form, Bloomer also was involved in the temperance movement and was a strong advocate for women’s rights. Her husband, Dexter Bloomer, supported her ideas and encouraged her to write for a New York Newspaper owned by him. Amelia believed that women would have the most success with reform through writing. She was consistently involved with the paper known as //The Lily// until she moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa where publishing was not yet available. **


 * Attempted Methods: Amelia’s most famous idea (considering it was named after her), was the idea of bloomers. This outfit consisted of looser shirts accompanied by a short skirt, with baggy pants underneath. This, she believed, supported the idea that; “ The costume of women should be suited to her wants and necessities. It should conduce at once to her health, comfort, and usefulness; and, while it should not fail also to conduce to her personal adornment, it should make that end of secondary importance.” Amelia was also the editor of The Lily, which was the first women’s newspaper (1849-1853). The Lily helped publicly announce not only Bloomer’s ideas, but also ideas of other women’s rights activists. **


 * Results and Success: Amelia is largely credited with helping women getting the right to vote in Council Bluffs, Iowa (1873). The Lily has been thought to be a model for future women suffrage movements, and though the zeal of it and the women who supported it eventually died out, it had significant impact in the fact that it was a publicised written work advocating women’s rights, written by women. Elizabeth Stanton showed Bloomer the idea of loose trousers, but Amelia introduced the rest of America to it. She wrote about it in The Lily and created many advertisements for it. The idea was largely criticized, and Bloomer eventually stopped wearing it, though she wore them for much longer than her colleagues. Amelia was the president of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association (1871-1873). **


 * References and Relationships: Amelia Bloomer is responsible for introducing Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She also worked with Harriet Ross Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth on the calendar of Saints at the Episcopal Church. Bloomer was greatly inspired by Elizabeth Stanton, and this is evident by looking at the history of bloomers. Both Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton voiced some of their ideas in //The Lily//. It is important to realize that Amelia Bloomer’s success was heavily related to the support and cooperation of Elizabeth Stanton, as well as other members of the Seneca Falls Convention. **


 * Federal Government: The federal government could greatly benefit by aiding Amelia Bloomer's ideas. If women's rights were more widely supported and implemented, women could become an important part of the American economy, especially in cities. If legislation could help pass rights or laws that establish women's rights similar to men's, America's society will grow substantially. President Jackson, as he is known for having supporters in the West, could definitely see the benefit of allowing women in the west more empowerment. There are multiple cases in which women go "mad" from loneliness, and if given more equal rights they could instead contribute to Western expansion. Lastly, women's suffrage is vital to America's health. Women are becoming more politically educated and their involvement in politics will only allow America to continue on it's path to democracy. They typically run the household and are therefore the stable support of most families. They deserve to be treated as such. **


 * Bibliography **


 * "Amelia Bloomer Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. . **


 * "Amelia Bloomer." National Parks Service. National Parks Service- US Department of the Interior, 13 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. . **


 * Bloomer, Amelia. "Golden Rules for Wives." //The Lily//. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.**


 * "Chapter Four: Amelia Bloomer." Women's Rights NHP: Special History Study (Chapter 4). N.p., 10 Dec. 2005. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. . **


 * Kerley, Jessica P. "Amelia Bloomer." Amelia Bloomer. N.p., 11 May 2001. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. . **