Colonial Women In Colonial America

In First Generations Women in Colonial America, Carol Berkin demonstrates the social, political, and economic circumstances that shaped and influenced the lives of women during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the colonies. In exploring these women’s lives and circumstances it becomes clear that geography, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, and other factors less fixed such as war each influenced a woman’s experience differently and to varying degrees. In doing this, Berkin first showcases the life of a specific woman and then transposes that life onto the general historical framework and provides a context in which this woman would have lived. The lives of these women exemplified is also explored and demonstrated through the use of comparison to highlight their different experiences. Moreover, this analysis also seeks to identify the varied sources of these women’s power, albeit for many this power was limited. The analysis is broken up primarily by geography, then by race, and lastly by time and war. While these factors provide the overarching context of analysis, more specific factors are also introduced.

The men were involved in clearing the land, plowing, digging ditches, fencing, building, and hunting. (Smith 30) This depicted women in the colonial period as weak and inferior compared to the men. The men handled duties that required strength and especially in outside occupations where this was most important. Women in colonial America were excluded from outside occupations because they were seen as weak and incapable to handle responsibilities beyond housework or the household.

Again stated, the book demonstrates the roles that different women faced during the Home Front War. In Chapter 1, Berkin describes the role of “colonial women” (page 5). She explains that these women were to be companions for their husbands. For example, John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts believed that his wife’s job was to attend “her household affairs

First Generations: Women in Colonial America delivers a broad analysis over American women in the colonial period. It is evident that married women in colonial America were not considered equal to their husbands or to society in general. The rights of American women have come a long way in regards to civil rights. The control a woman in early Colonial America had over her own life was linked to race, religion, and class. Berkin organizes the first chapters according to race and region. Other chapters are organized by African American women, New England, and the middle colonies, Native American Women, and white women in the Chesapeake. Within each chapter, Berkin gives details about one woman from the region. European, Indian, and African women of seventeenth and eighteenth-century America were protectors of their native land, pioneers on the frontier, like-minded immigrants, and courageous slaves. They were also, as most scholars tend to leave out, just as important as men in shaping American culture and history.

A woman had a busy domestic life. A woman played the role of wife, mother, teacher and manager. She had to please her husband, bear and raise children, educate her children, and manage all daily household activities. In the home, the woman was the jack of all trades. Part of the role of the female was to take raw goods, and turn them into useful items, such as food, candles, and clothing. Women had to clean, butcher and prepare all game brought home to the family. A woman was a household factory. Many items in the home were created by women. All clothing was made by spinning, weaving and stitching. All cloth was washed by hand without the aid of any machines. Candles were made at home by weaving a wick and pouring hot wax into a mold. A woman had to be educated enough to teach her sons and daughters the skills of life. Women spent the majority of their time performing daily tasks, but still were able to have leisure activities such as painting, embroidery, and charity work. Women had very few legal rights. In the majority of colonies, women had no legal control over their lives. It was the consensus among society that

Women had great social pressure on them to marry. Young girls were often married by the age of 13 or 14 . It was socially unacceptable if women were not married by the age of 25 . Marriage was mostly for economic benefits, not romantic situations. A wedding, rather than a religious ceremony, was a civil contract that set the responsibilities and duties of husband and wife . Once married, they legally became one with their husbands. Married women had no control of their earnings, inheritance, property, and also could not appear in court as a witness nor vote . Their husbands, therefore, were responsible for all aspects of their wife including discipline .

The book First Generations: Women in Colonial America written by Carol Berkin shares the power of control of a women’s role in the early part of American society was linked to her race and where she lived. In the book Berkin does a great job of giving examples of the life of the colonists. For example, we know that women white women had more freedom than slaves African Americans especially when it came to marriage. If a African American would want to get married to a white man it would be considered a “criminal offensive” ( Berkin 109).

In her journal article, “The Evolution of White Women’s Experience in Early America,” Mary Beth Norton submits there is a common misconception that the initial empowerment of 17th and 18th century Colonial America women was completely and solely influenced by the unique economic factors and disrupted social framework of New World life--arguing instead that this revolution of empowerment was the result of a more complex set of factors.. Thus, as Colonial American society was one in which all members of the family had to work together in order to survive, it has been

Native American women had to follow their husbands, fathers, and brothers to wherever they wanted to go in order to stay close to the bison. Therefore, with all the moving around, they had teepees that could be put up for living and taken down for travelling. Women were in charge of both packing up and putting up these moveable homes. Once they had claimed their new home, women started working the fields. These fields were their responsibility. Their children were also theirs to care for while the men were out on long hunting journeys. On top of all that, Native American women made things to trade, such as jewelry, tools, and pottery.

     With Native Americans being the first inhabitants of North America, many people often question what traditions they have created on their own, before the ideas of the pale settlers. When taking a look into their interesting beliefs, it is obvious to see an intricate basis or animals and spirits that guide the lifestyles of Indians all over the country. Even their society had a special way of doing things, including gender roles of both men and women. There are many customs that have seemed odd to the average American throughout the centuries, but Indians found these a normal way of life. Even the lifestyles of Native Americans were unique, from hunting animals to tanning buffalo hides. Gender was a major

Life for women in Colonial America was tougher to endure than life back in England. With daily home chores, that generally lasted all day, to keeping the children under control, women were often burdened by the amount of work they had. Luckily, settling down and finding a husband was inevitable. Although, many women who first came to America as indentured servants would have to wait for marriage until the end of their service.

Today, women are believed to be equal to men however this was not always the case. During colonial times, women did not have the same roles as women do today; men and women had fixed roles in society. Roles between men and women do not exchange due to strict gender roles. Additionally, married women were not exactly considered as companions instead, as the husband’s property. Although gender roles were a significant issue among women in early America, another issue was the background of these women. Factors such as race, religion, geography/region, and social class were substantial to the extent of control a woman had over her own life. These factors significantly shaped the lives of these women. For instance, white women had differences

Woman had many restrictions in colonial America compared to the freedoms women enjoy in the 21st century. The religious beliefs of Anne Bradstreet, Mary Rowlandson, Sarah Kemble Knight, and Phillis Wheatley put restrictions upon them. Woman were expected to marry young, have plenty of children, teach scripture, and manage the household. For some reason, these tasks that are similar to owning a business, teaching at an academy, or holding office were considered to be the wrong occupation for a woman. These four woman found freedom in reading and writing; a skill that was rare for women, especially, an African American slave like Phillis Wheatley, of that time period.

Men carried their roles in society by protecting and providing for their families, forgetting all other aspects of society. As a result, this made women carry on the other roles that were dropped by the men. As the breadwinners, men were looked upon to make all the decisions regarding the public sphere of society. So when the idea of migrating westward erupted in the East, the men couldn’t be questioned by any of the women and ultimately resulted in the family traveling to the west. Women were ranked number two when it came to men’s authority and would have to confine with the westward journey whether they wanted or not. However, the reason why many married women endured the harsh conditions traveling to the west was because the dismembering

Whether they were from the British, Spanish, or the French Colonies they all had roles to play. The native women were vital to the establishments of the French and Spanish settlements. Chapter 1 and 2 went into great detail about how diverse the Natives already were and the roles they played in their own tribes. This is important to note, because the Native women played a very important role in bridging the gap between the Natives and the European settlers. Even before the Europeans discovered North America the Native women were very well diversified amongst themselves. They all had some sort of economic influence upon his arrival and observation Christopher Columbus stated that " the women seemed to work more than the men" (Page 11). Even than these women were bridging gaps and taking care of home at all an any costs. The native women had more freedom in sexual terms as well which was noted by the French (page13).