JOHN P. HOLLAND: Corbin, _The Romance of Submarine Engineering_; Bishop, _The Story of the Submarine_; Williams, _Romance of Modern Inventions_, 143-165. HEROINES OF NATIONAL PROGRESS ELIZABETH CADY STANTON AND SUSAN B. ANTHONY, TWO PIONEERS IN THE CAUSE OF WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE [Sidenote: =Women play an important part in early progress=] =215. The Women of Our Nation.= Women have had a large part in the progress of our nation. In colonial days women often had to defend their homes against Indians. They endured the hardships of the first settlements as bravely as did the men. They had larger rights and greater freedom than in England at that time, because their help was so plainly necessary in this new country. By 1850 nearly one-fourth of the nation's manufacturing was done by women, but otherwise until that time women's lives were spent almost entirely in their homes. Though no colleges were open to women until 1833, many mothers knew enough of books to prepare their sons for college at home. [Sidenote: =Women's service in war=] During the Revolution women formed a society called "Daughters of Liberty," to spin and sew for their soldiers. They gave their treasured pewter spoons and dishes to be melted up for bullets. As women have always done, they cared for the sick and wounded after battles. In the great Civil War, women were needed still more to nurse the wounded, for even then there was no Red Cross or large body of women who were nurses by profession to call upon. Women took the place of the men called to war in many ways, and especially in teaching schools. On both sides women worked in the fields, and sometimes acted as spies, or served, disguised, in the ranks. Southern women also entered the factories in large numbers. They had to meet even greater hardship than women in the North, and were often face to face with starvation. On the frontier women had always worked in the fields when necessary, and often helped to build the houses they lived in. The fearless pioneering spirit and fine, sturdy character of these women won them the highest respect. This was one reason why western states were the first to grant women the right to vote. [Sidenote: =Women's equality with men=] Long before the Civil War great leaders in the cause of woman's advancement had appeared. These leaders saw that in many ways women had proved their equality with men. This encouraged them to appeal for wider opportunities for women, who then had almost no legal rights. The leaders now demanded the privileges enjoyed only by men. We should all know the stories of these women of wise and fearless vision. [Illustration: ELIZABETH CADY STANTON _From a photograph_] [Sidenote: =Born, 1815=]