Throughout American history, women have been considered the inferior sex and endured discrimination imposed upon them by men. Between 1780 and 1835, the United States experienced significant societal and economic changes that resulted in a shift in the roles of women, leading to the "cult of true womanhood." Although the new "cult" limited women to the virtues of piety, purity, submission and domesticity, it also led to an increase in women's influence on the evolution of society. In "Bonds of Womanhood," Nancy Cott focuses on the period from 1780 to 1835 to effectively illustrate how the changes that led to the "cult of true womanhood" restricted women together through the creation of a "sphere of women” distinct, while restricting women to the ideologies that have become important with “true womanhood.” Although I agree with Nancy Cott's argument, it would have been more effective if she had included politics as one of the main aspects of her argument. “The Bonds of Womanhood” focuses on historical transformations that occurred before the Victorian period, as they brought about vast changes in the roles of women in the United States. The transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy led to the mass production of goods, including textiles; With the invention of power looms in 1814, young women were often hired outside of their homes to make textiles, increasing their independence. However, industrialization was accompanied by many societal changes that affected women. Since working conditions in factories were atrocious, the home became a means of escape that required wives to create a pleasant home environment for their husbands. This ideology contributed to marginalization...... middle of article ...... the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's book Vindication of the Rights of Women: With strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, which is in part based on political inequality, and thus demonstrates how the "awareness" of unequal political rights in the American Constitution was the driving force of feminism. Therefore, by emphasizing the influence of politics on women's lives in the post-revolutionary era, Cott could have further supported her argument by providing a more in-depth explanation of the origin of feminism from “group consciousness”. that Nancy Cott's sources provide interesting insight into the effects of the "woman's sphere" on the lives of middle-class white women in New England, her hypothesis that this "design created constraints or opportunities for all women” creates a substantial generalization.