How were liberty and equality for women to be defined during 1850's ?
The liberal politician Carl Welcker, an electedmember of the Frankfurt Parliament, expressedthe following views:‘Nature has created men and women to carryout different functions … Man, the stronger, thebolder and freer of the two, has been designatedas protector of the family, its provider, meant forpublic tasks in the domain of law, production,defence. Woman, the weaker, dependent andtimid, requires the protection of man. Her sphereis the home, the care of the children, thenurturing of the family … Do we require anyfurther proof that given such differences, equalitybetween the sexes would only endangerharmony and destroy the dignity of the family?’Louise Otto-Peters (1819-95) was a politicalactivist who founded a women’s journal andsubsequently a feminist political association. Thefirst issue of her newspaper (21 April 1849) carriedthe following editorial:‘Let us ask how many men, possessed bythoughts of living and dying for the sake of Liberty,would be prepared to fight for the freed...