The nineteenth century was an era of growth, education, and technological advancements. Revolutionary changes occurred; by the end of the 1800s the world was vastly different. Women’s lives and roles evolved as groups debated different ideas regarding slavery and freedom, work and family, education and opportunity. Class, race, and gender were still the predominant hallmarks that guided behavior. The beginning of the century saw American women fulfilling their perceived destiny as “creatures of reproduction.” Depending on one’s economic rank, many women also worked outside the domestic sphere. Women living in the upper and middle classes had the luxury of servants who alleviated much of the labor associated with maintaining a home and family, duties such as cleaning, cooking, mending, childcare, and the like. Women in working- and lower- class families assumed more tasks than those simply considered the domain of every female. They engaged in the gendered roles of wives and mothers as well as paid employment to help sustain the family.