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Status of Women in Colonial Society

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Submitted By falli
Words 1243
Pages 5
Mariama Bessane
Professor Perine James
American History 1151- Essay #1
Jan 7th,2016
Status of Women in Colonial Society Women were always considered inferior to men since day one. That belief had been existing until the eighteen century. During that period, English Colonists brought to America their ideologies with them. Women did not have the same rights as men did during that time. Women were tied in a leash, kept in the dark, and controlled by society. Life wasn’t easy for them. They were not allowed to express their opinions, and if they did, they would be called wicked or evil and be negatively judged by society. During the colonial era, women played an important, if restricted role in work and religious life. During the eighteen century, women were portrayed as weak, unintelligent, and inferior to men. As one minister stated “the woman is weak creature not endowed with like strength and constancy of mind.” (America 70) Women were seen as the “feebler vessels,” not as strong physically or spiritually as men and less emotionally stable. Women of the colonial era were expected to be devoted, passive, powerless, meek, graceful, sympathetic, and above all pure. As a matter of fact, the term “Cult of Womanhood” was an ancient ideology in the eighteen century defining women as pillars of virtue, who represent the value of pity, submissiveness, and domesticity. The role of the women was to be obedient, submissive, devoted to their husbands, and taking care of the children. That way of thinking was very common during that time. Because of those beliefs, the term “Angels in the House” the popular Victorian image of the ideal wife was well known and well applied by women. All of their rights were denied by men and society. They could not vote, preach, and go to public schools or colleges. They could not take part in legal activities on their own behalf, and the opportunities they had outside of the home were very little. Governor John Winthrop stressed that “a true wife” would find contentment only “in subjection to her husband’s authority” (America 70.) That way of thinking had been around for a very long time, and it just demonstrates how men brainwashed women to be nothing else, but a housewife, and a mother to their children. In the eighteen century, labor was separated along gender lines. Women’s work usually involved activities in the household as society expected them to perform. Women who worked the land, woke up very early in the morning, prepared breakfast for the children, tended the garden, cooked lunch and dinner, and cleaned the kitchen. Before going to bed, they had to make sure that they fulfilled all of their obligations as a wife and as a mother. The workload didn’t get any easier for the women. Their duties also included washing and folding clothes, making candles and soaps, chopped woods, and mopped floors. Women worked hard, but never received salaries because society believed that it was their responsibility as a woman to do those types of work without getting paid. Women worked very hard during colonial times. They did not have a resting day. They had to work from sun up to sun down every single day. Men and women were expected to accomplish different, but complementary work role, even though women did as much physically difficult work as men, and frequently the same type of labor. For instance, working the farms is a male job, but women were also needed to work the lands because there were numerous lands that needed to be cultivated and men alone could not do it all by themselves. They needed an extra hand to help them work those farmlands. Working in farmlands was not an easy task to do, but tobacco became the king of the lands and every hand was useful in order to cultivate it. Women were needed to work the lands no matter how fatiguing it was, and the only way they were able to make the journey through the colonies was to be in a contract as indentured servants. “The name derived from the indenture, or contract, by which a person promised to work for a fixed number of years in return for transportation to America” (America 75.) Working the land in the sizzling sun caused many servants to die from disease. Those who survived and completed their indentured contract could marry and even have lands with their husbands. Despite the restrictions put on women, the insufficiency of work created opportunities. Women in the city were able to have different lives from those living in farms. In the city, women could socialize with other women. Outside their home, and family, they were allowed to associate themselves with other women, and have their own “women time” without being bothered by husbands or children. For example, in the city, women could work outside their home as “tavern hostesses, and shopkeepers and sometimes also worked as nurses, painters, printers, upholsterers, silversmiths, and tanners.”(America 71) Generally speaking, women in the city had a better life than those who lived on the farms. Women were not only active in working lands and taking care of the household, but they also played an important, if restricted role in religious life during the colonial era. In puritan, New England, the religion followed congressional matters which simply means that the church’s hierarchy was not as highly advanced as in the Catholic faith. Puritans quoted passages from the bible claiming that “God required virtuous women to submit to male authority and remain silent on congressional matters”. (America 71) On the other hand, the Quakers did not have any problems whatsoever letting the women attend church, holding church offices, and even preach in public. During Colonial times, black women’s roles in religious life were very different from those of their white fellow. Africans brought to America their own religious beliefs and practices. Giving to the fact that in western tribes, women were not subordinated to men, so they were able to serve as priest and cult leaders. Additionally, some enslaved Africans had been exposed to Christianity or Islam in Africa, through slave sellers and missionaries. Most of the Africans, nevertheless, tried to maintain their traditional African religion once they set foot in the colonies. Later on, women’s status in the colonial environment took a slight improvement. Colonial laws allowed wives to have a bigger control over property that was left after a husband’s death, or property that they had contributed to a marriage. Furthermore, Puritans had laws protecting women from physical abuse and allowing them the right to get divorced whenever they wanted to. Even though in colonial times the ideology of women being submissive to their husbands, and being housewives did not change, the fact that they had some laws protecting them was quite satisfying. In conclusion, despite all the limitations that were put on women during the colonial times, they played a crucial role in the development and survival of the American colonies. In many ways, it was the strenuous hard work of women that America was built upon. As a woman, I feel really lucky to be born in this generation, even though women are still enduring inequality and mistreatment, it’s nothing like what women, and especially black women went through in the past.

Work Cited

George B. Tindal, and David E. Shi. America: A narrative History. Jon Durbin: United States of America, Brief 9th ed. Print

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