1800s: A growing women's movement is working for equal rights, including the right to vote. Activist and social reformer Sarah Grimke publishes her Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Conditions of Woman. Margaret Fuller establishes discussion groups for women in Boston. Activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton praise Fuller for supporting women's right to full participation in society.

Today: As a result of the tireless efforts of early advocates for women's rights, women today have the right to vote, own property independently, own and operate businesses, hold public office, and advance in the work place. While there are still areas of disparity (such as national pay averages), women have strong legal foundations for asserting their rights.

1800s: Transcendentalism, which borrows some elements of Eastern philosophies and religions, takes hold in Massachusetts and influences many American intellectuals and writers.

Today: Yoga is...