Status of Women in Colonial Society

“Some women fear the fire, some women simply become it.” - R.H. Sin. During Colonial America, women weren’t as valued as in current day. In Colonial times, women worked around the house, didn’t have legals rights, some were wealthy and others were slaves and others lived in the city.

For a long time, Jamestown, VA took in many indentured servants—a worker who is under contract of an employer for up to seven years in exchange for transportation and many necessities (clothing, food, drink, and lodging)—in order to fulfill the duties that the owners couldn’t. Though employers made Jamestown seem like a loving and welcoming place, it was just the opposite. These indentured servants were treated equally to slaves, but many were willing to risk their lives in order to gain their own land. Once they obtained land of their own, they could grow their own tobacco and become extremely wealthy.

During the American colonial period, the presence of patriarchy was undeniable in both the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Chesapeake colony, but little is known about the important roles that women filled. Although there were many shared roles among women in both colonies, their level of importance in the success of their colonies differed. The Massachusetts Bay Colony women were more essential to the success of their colony than the women of the Chesapeake colony, especially with regards to its economy, education, and religion.

Over decades women has always suffered from discrimination and the lax of rights. In the past puritans men were the only one who had benefits; however women play most of the roles. Massachusetts Bay Colony was a place where the masculine sex ruled, female opinion wasn't given importance at all. The Puritans were really strict people and they believed that women weren't capable of contributing any information to the town and church meetings.

In the middle colonies, a large part of the labor force consisted of indentured servants--men and women, but more often men, who would travel to the colonies to work under a contract for approximately four to seven years. However, according to “Indentured Servants in The U.S.”, “an indentured servant’s contract could be extended as punishment for breaking a law” such as running away or becoming pregnant, in a woman’s case. Throughout the time that they worked, the indentured servants were under the complete rule of their masters, but they were provided transportation/passage, food, clothing, and shelter. Indentured servants were a useful source of labor, but the problem was that it was only temporary, and after their contract ended, they had the option of continuing to work

Life in the colonies was different for a female indentured servant and for a native-born female. The law forbade indentured servants to marry until they finished out their contract, which was generally about four to five years of service. Unless she found a man to uplift her contract, she would have to bear a rough beginning (Hawke 63-64). The exposure to malaria left women vulnerable to more deadly diseases, the physical work was harder in the colonies than in England due to the fact that in addition to all of the common household chores, there were also fields to tend, so many did not make it to their freedom. If they did make it to the end of their services however, they received: food, clothing, and tools to give them a start in life. The plan was for women to go into the world looking for a husband, but many married their employers, those who did not, married quickly since men outnumbered women seven to one. (64).

Indentured servants were used in early colonial times as a means of passage to the new world. The cash crops of the early settlers were exhaustingly labor intensive. In fact, U.S. History (2015) indicated that “the growth of tobacco, rice, and indigo and the plantation economy created a tremendous need for labor in Southern English America” (p. 1). The technology did not exist at the time for machinery that clears the ground and works the land as it does today. The work had to be done by hand; from clearing and prepping the fields to harvesting the crops, it was all manual labor for which the new land did not have ample supply of.

As the years progressed from the 1700s into the 1800s, women started to see that they were not treated as equal as men even though they could do anything men could. During the late 1800s was when women first started to fight for more rights and equality. They started forming more and more women groups, and even went on labor strikes to protest the diversity. Although it seemed that as hard as they tried to gain this equality, the harder it was for them to obtain it. They were treated horribly and unequally to men. While African American men received the power to vote in 1870, women still did not have a chance at that right. Even though many people disagree that women were treated fairly, the studies show that they were discriminated against. The treatment of women in the late 1800s was discriminatory because they

Women were an essential part of the formation of creating the early United States of America. We can tell because of all of their contributions in Jamestown and Plymouth. In 1608 is when women first started coming to the New World to assist with anything that the men may need help with. Over the years, women would be a huge support during the Colonial Period and American Revolutions, even afterwards towards the eighteen century. If it was not for women coming to the New World, the men would not have lasted long in this New World and the United States would not be what it has become today or even was created. Yes, men were the first settlers to the New World, although women created an atmosphere that assisted men from the beginning to present

First Generations: Women in Colonial America by Carol Berkin, explains to us how different seventeenth century women’s lives were from what we know today. The seventeenth century women didn’t have many civil liberties. Carol Berkin gives us a view of life experience that these Colonial women and Native American women went through. This helps us perceive why many Colonial women may have chosen to stay with their Native American captors. Seventeenth century colonial women had little civil rights, especially after being married.

No matter what a woman did or thought, she was still seen as the lesser of the sexes.

The structure of Colonial America was a fearful system of judgmental men and women who had to label an individual before they acknowledged their rights or lack thereof. A man is based on physical aspects and were dominant in colonial times, while women were meant to be submissive with no rights along with the slaves and Native Americans. Colonial males controlled the household and could not be questioned whereas married colonial females’ held no rights or words as her husband now spoke for her. This was one of the many sole ideals of the European countries that crossed the waters with the initial pioneers. The labor system were also based on gender as women were seen to remain indoors and adhere to the needs of her husband and family while the fields and physical labor were meant for the men.

Education of women in America has changed immensely. Between colonial times and the present day, women have made great strides in education. In colonial times, education for most women was limited to reading the bible. Since then, women have earned equality in primary and secondary education as well as college. This process has been aided by the enacting laws and through decisions of the courts. This has led to the equal opportunity that women enjoy today.

In the 1800’s a women was suppose to have four things Piety, Purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. These principles shaped the “Cult of True Womanhood” an idea that women were to be seen but not heard. Women had no say when it came to politics, they couldn’t own property, they were not allowed to do many jobs, and they couldn’t even speak in front of men. They had the duty to be a mother and raise their children but even thought they had this responsibility it was the husband who had the complete control and guardianship of the children. Because of these ideas it was very difficult for change to happen. When women started to receive more education they began to ask questions about why they were being denied these rights, which began the

Throughout much of history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In the 1800s and early 1900s, women were not allowed to hold the same jobs or