Answer:
Before the Civil War, women's work was primarily centered around the home and family. Women were expected to perform domestic duties such as cooking, cleaning, and caring for children. However, women also worked on farms, helping with household chores, plowing, planting, and harvesting. During the industrialization of America in the 1820s and 1830s, women who had worked on the farms of New England became excess labor. Women began to be employed in business and industry, but the majority of better paying positions continued to go to men. The most common occupations considered respectable for women at the time included factory work, frequently in the garment or textile industries, teaching, nursing, domestic service, work in department stores, or clerical work in offices. African Americans were also generally limited in their work opportunities, with most working as sharecroppers, agricultural wage laborers, or small landowners.