<u>Women believed it was their civic duty to improve society.</u> They were active early in the antislavery and temperance movements. Limits on what they could do frustrated women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Society accepted women’s reform actions as long as women did not take men’s normal roles. Women could have meetings, publish essays, and speak in front of other women. They could not, however, rise to leadership positions within reform organizations or speak to groups containing men.
