Women and African American Roles After the American Revolution

The American Revolution changed the political and social aspects of the United States. After the war ended many things changed in the states. From the political stand point women still had power but gained a few rights after the war and since the states where now free from British rule they could now create their own form of central government and elected a leader. On the social and economical side the belief of egalitarianism was widely being accepted, and mercantilism ended so the colonies were no longer forced from imported and export goods to England.

The American Revolution caused a change in America that was far greater than just the forming of an independent nation. In the years after the revolution, a government had to be set in place. The new nation was greatly influenced by models of previous governments, including Great Britain and ancient Greece and Rome. Despite the great change in political structure, aspects of social culture were influenced by the revolution as well, especially in the areas of slavery and the status of women.

Even though women did not have a lot of social rights, they had two very important roles. They were to run the house and reproduce children. Even Euripides, a well known Greek playwright, stated , “Women run households and protect within their homes, and without a woman no home is clean or prosperous” (Neils 78). This shows that women were the ones who controlled the home. The wives would maintain the house and perform chores such as weaving, baking and cooking, cleaning, and fetching water. The women’s daily roles were simplified if they house had slaves. If there were slaves, they would do all of the chores and the wife would supervise

Women were expected to do so much but at the same time so little. They had no power to do what they desire because men had all the power to control them. Society had an expectation of how women were supposed to act. For instance, Mary’s father cared for his sons education he wanted them to know how to read, write, and to do sums, as for his daughters he only cared that they knew how to read and sew. That is the basic that women were allowed to learn it was not important for them to know more since all they were going to work for is taking care of children. Here is an example, “…Gender roles within those families the reinforcement of gender ideals such as “helpmeet” and “notable housewife” by religious and civil authorities, and the simple

Many radical changes occurred with the American Revolution such as making the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements of the nineteenth century possible. It “changed the personal and social relationships of people, including the position of women, but also destroyed aristocracy as it had been understood in the Western world for at least two millennia.” (Wood 8).The people had to work together with each other, even the women and children, for the war. They all wanted the freedom from Britain, and unified for a victory. After, they felt freer and more equal and that

The women were expected to carry out the duties of the house without complaint and to remain diligent to her husband, as well as God. During this time, motherhood transformed from just being a child bearing figure to

The American Revolution, which happened during the last half of the eighteenth century, reshaped many aspects of life in America. The desire of the Founding Fathers to make America a republic played a very significant part in changing the role of women after the Revolution. The role of women as wives became more important as an emphasis on virtue was established; women were encouraged to find virtuous husbands and utilize their seductive nature to keep men virtuous. The roles of women as mothers also became more important in the republic, as patriarchy loosened and mothers were depended on to educate their children in the republican way. And finally, the role of women in politics was theoretically reduced due to the increasing demands of

The American Revolution was an important sequence of events over a period of time that has affected early American society up to today’s modern society. It all started with the Revolutionary War, which led to the Declaration of Independence from Britain, and in turn created a reason for America to write the Constitution and develop their own government. Ideas of equality became a major point of the Revolution, and although it wasn’t very quick to happen, ideas eventually spread throughout the colonies, giving the equality that poor to middle classes, African American slaves, and women deserved.

An estimated 100,000 African Americans escaped, died or were killed during the American Revolution(Mount). Roughly 95% of African Americans in the United States were slaves, and because of their status, the use of them during the revolution was inevitable(Mount). This led many Americans, especially those from the North, to believe that the South's economy would collapse without slavery due to the use of slaves on the front lines. However, only a small percentage of the slave population enlisted in either army.

Households were strictly patriarchal in which the man of the house made all the important decisions. Women's jobs at the time were mostly relegated to domestic service and occasional work at harvest time. The jobs were always of low pay, low status, and required little training. In addition to this females were not legally permitted to inherit land or property. This was the bleak life of a woman, with little hope or power, and always the subordinate of men.

Women were considered to be the “weaker vessels ,” not as strong physically or mentally as men and less emotionally stable. Legally they could neither vote, hold public office, nor participate in legal matters on their own behalf, and opportunities for them outside the home were frequently limited .

The American Revolution occurred due to the conflict between those living in the 13 colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown because of the high taxes they were ordered to pay to their homeland. By definition, a revolution means to forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system. With the new colonies winning the war against Great Britain, yes, they did overthrow the ruling of the Queen and if not, the United States would still be considered colonies of England. But if one looks through the lens of social, political, and economic change occurring for all people, this was not a true revolution. The middle class did not grow. Slavery was still legal. There was no restructuring in terms of economics and the new America was run on a system of capitalism. Change only truly occurred in terms of politics, with the introduction of a democracy and the constitution. With these changes, only the white male elite were only able to benefit from these changes, gaining more power, ability to participate in politics and financial success. African Americans, white women, and poor men saw no changed in way of life after winning the war. What the war did was began a quest of reform and revolt from these groups who suffered from injustice.

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

The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a time of great change in America. American men were fighting for their right to be free from an oppressive ruler 3000 miles away. They wanted to have their say about what went on in their own country. America won the Revolution and its freedom, but while this was going on something else was happening. Internally changes were coming about too during all this fighting. The Revolution was the catalyst for women to make progress towards freedom. Women were making economic and political gains to further women's rights.

After marriage, the husband was considered lord and master of the family. But not all the women were meek and submissive. By the 1700's, the woman’s status had rapidly improved in colonial America. A wife and child made as much as a man did. Although women did not have equality with men, their status greatly improved from their status in Europe. A woman’s station in life was determined by the position of their husbands or fathers. The women of the poorest families, compiled to work in the fields, stood at the bottom of the social ladder. One of the surest signs of the accomplishments a family had made, was the exemption of their women from the fields. Before 1740, girls were trained in household crafts and the practical arts of family management. But afterwards they began to study subjects that required reading and studying such subjects as grammer and arithmetic. The women of the upper classes occupied themselves mainly with planning the work of the home and with supervising the domestic servants. Along with these tasks the women also baked, nursed, and sewed. But there were many social restrictions placed on the women of that time. One such restriction was that a wife, in absence of her husband, was not allowed to lodge men even if they were close relatives. For