Therefore, even though the geography of the Pacific Northwest played a large part in creating a social division in the early 20th century, it was the lack of economic, political, and social rights for women that had the most profound affect on the populace. .
Economically the urban and rural areas held the same disadvantage for women because women were not considered citizens and therefore could not own land. According to the Oregon Donation Land Act of 1850 a bachelor who could claim 320 acre of land could double his claim up to 640 acres if he had a wife. The irony of the Oregon Donation Land Act was that the land was to stay in the woman's name, but she could only claim the land if she was married; a woman could not claim 320 acres on her own. Although the Oregon Donation Land Act appears to favor a married woman it did not. There was no age limit imposed on the Land Act and this led to many young girls being married before they gained maturity. "A child of four years was married to a mature man, the husband leaving for the mines immediately after the ceremony" (Ward 93). Because of the lack of marriageable aged women, young girls were sacrificed for greed, "as a result, many matrimonial abuses developed" (Ward 93). .
A married woman was subject to the legal abuse of her husband but if a woman did not have a husband or was without a father, her chances for economic success were slim at best. For a woman without a man, work as an unskilled laborer in factories in the east was available but conditions were horrendous. Cannery work was available in Seattle, but the biggest city in Oregon, Portland, did not have a large industrial center and office jobs were reserved for the educated males. Furthermore, in an effort to "protect" the physical limitations of women and their ability to bear healthy children, Oregon in 1907 enacted the 10 hour work day for women and children. It wasn't until 1917 that the law encompassed men and not due to their ability to bear healthy children.
