During the colonial period in North America, women had varied experiences, which were instigated by differences in colonial styles. The population of North America during the period mostly comprised British settlers who originated from England and Wales. The remaining portion of the population was constituted by people from African and Asian origins. Some groups of individuals settled in New England, while other families moved to the Southern Colonies. In the mid 1660s, most immigrants came to the Colonial North America as indentured servants and slaves. There were more food supplies in the regions than most parts of the globe, including Europe. However, the life in the Colonial North America had its own challenges, pushing people to adjust to fit in. Women were the most hit by the challenges. The challenges posed by colonial settlements and restrictions in colonial North America in the 17th century forced women, especially African-Americans, to adapt to new gender roles to fit in the colonial situation.
The experiences that women underwent in colonial North America varied from one colony to the other. However, there were occurrences that were common in almost all the colonies. Women, especially of African-American heritage, engaged in economic activities, which consisted of mostly slavery oriented farming. These women worked alongside men in farms where sugarcane was grown. The women were not only readily available, but also came at a cheaper cost than their male counterparts. They mostly ended working in farms since they could not fit in skilled jobs such as blacksmithing and carpentry, which were left to male slaves (Irwin & Brooks, 2004). The trend continued uninterrupted until female slaves outnumbered their male counterp...
... middle of paper ...
...ced to engage in economic activities as slaves. They were expected to work alongside men and even sometimes take up tiresome tasks, which were initially meant for their male counterparts. The women worked without pay yet they were also expected to carry out domestic roles just like normal housewives like being good, obedient, and loyal to their husbands, besides doing their best to bring up responsible children.
Works Cited
Irwin, M., & Brooks, J. (2004). Women and gender in the America West. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Middleton, R., & Lombard, A. (2011). Colonial America: A history to 1763. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.
Ray, B. (2010). A further account of the trials of the New-England witches sent in a letter from thence, to a gentleman in London. Retrieved on 27 Jan. 2013, from http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/letters/lawsons_london_letter.html
John M. Murrin’s essay Coming to Terms with the Salem Witch Trials helps detail the events of these trials and explains why they might have occurred. The witch trials happened during a “particularly turbulent time in the history of colonial Massachusetts and the early modern atlantic world” (Murrin, 339). Salem came to be in 1629 and less than seventy years later found itself in a mess of witch craft.
Rosenthal. Bernard. Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692. Cambridge Mass: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
In modern times, the most infamous witch trials are the one that occurred in Salem. These specific witch trials are known for the unjust killings of several accused women and men. The Salem witch trials of 1692, is a big portion of what people refer to, when they want to analyze how Puritan life was during the colonial period. According to ‘Salem Witch Trials’, “The witch trials are often taken as a lens to view the whole Puritan period in New England and to serve as an example of religious prejudice…” (Ray p.32). However, as more fragments of textual evidence occur, historians are making new evaluations of how the witch trials were exaggerated by recent literature. Some historians like Richard Godbeer, analyze how witch trials were conducted during the colonial times, but in a different setting, Stamford, Connecticut. In this book,
The early modern era in Western Europe was a dangerous place for women with the rise of so called “witches” populating towns and country sides. With the peak of these witch trials happening between 1560 and 1640 in England (the making of the west 499). This caused the people of Europe to live in fear of the devil and his counterparts on earth. Over 80 percent of victims of these witch trials were women and thousands upon thousands of trials taking place all across Europe and the North American Colonies at the time as well (motw 500). Seeing that women are mostly accused of witches, it raises the questions as to why that is. Upon examining 2 specific cases in this essay, those being of Walpurga Hausmannin from Dillingen, Germany and Francatte Camont from Lorraine, France; one can see that both these cases are very similar in many aspects despite the fact that both these women were trialed in different countries in Western Europe. In this essay, the reader will explore the motivations, visions and the targets of these witch trials with specific evidence and focus on the trials of both Walpurga and Francatte. The reader will also be able see connections between both trials throughout as well.
In the sixteenth century, witchcraft accusations were more prevalent and somewhat common than they are in modern society. One of the most popular witch hunts of American History of the sixteenth century, that has received popularity amongst modern culture and scholars, was the Salem witch hunts otherwise known as the Salem witch trials of 1692. But, Salem was not the only town in New England that had witch trials in 1692. Richard Godbeer’s book, “Escaping Salem, The Other Witch Hunt of 1692,” is one of the very few books that talks about the other witch trials that took place in New England. By comparing Stamford to Salem, Godbeer argues that Stamford’s witch trials were more typical of legal witch accusations in Colonial America; Salem’s trials were an anomaly. What made Stamford typical was the local Magistrates insistence on following the letter of the law which made proving witchcraft very difficult.
Carlson, Laurie M. A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2000. Print.
Unlike the southern colonies, the New England had a large women population. The women also experienced more freedom than those in the southern colonies or among the African -American slaves. These women constantly worked inside the house, caring for children and performing household chores. Marriages were done at an early age and reproduction was common. The death of a spouse led to remarriage. Children in colonial family were numerous. The amount of women and birthrate in a colony contributed to the growth of the population.
The colonial woman has often been imagined as a demure person, dressed in long skirt,apron and bonnet, toiling away at the spinning wheel, while tending to the stew at the hearth. In reality, the women of the early settlements of the United States were much more influential, strong and vital to the existence of the colonies. Her role,however, has shifted as the needs of the times dictated.
Hinds, Maurene J. Witchcraft on Trial: From the Salem Witch Hunts to the Crucible. Library ed. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2009. Print.
Carlson, Laurie M. A Fever in Salem A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials. Chicago: I.R. Dee, 1999. Print.
The Colonial Period was partially a "golden age" for women, for, although it did possess some qualities of a golden age, it also had aspects that held it back from fully being a time of prosperity for women. As the Colonial period progress changes in population, lifestyles, and opportunities had effects that opened new doors for women as well as held them back from reaching their full potential.
Non-slave-owning women clung to the belief that owning slaves would relieve them of domestic chores and transform them into the figure of the Southern plantation mistress. Although wholly exaggerated, the women who did own slaves projected themselves to the rest of the South through the image of the mythical Southern mistress in order to uphold their role in society”
In the North, women, especially colonial wives, had basically no legal rights. They could not vote, sell or buy property, or run their own business. Women in the North also had extensive work responsibilities when it came to housework. Northern society considered slaves less than human beings, and, consequently, did not give slaves any rights that would protect them from cruel treatment. The Southern colonies’ were no different. “Women in Southern society - and Northern society as well - shared a common trait: second-class citizenship”(74). In the South, women could not vote or preach and had very little education. They were instead taught to perfect the skills that could be used around the house such as sewing or gardening. In the South, slaves were branded as savages and inferior and did not possess any rights. Southern slaves possessed even less legal rights than Northern Slaves. Although the colonies had similar social structures, they had different
Slaves during the mid-1800s were considered chattel and did not have rights to anything that opposed their masters’ wishes. “Although the slaves’ rights could never be completely denied, it had to be minimized for the institution of slavery to function” (McLaurin, 118). Female slaves, however, usually played a different role for the family they were serving than male slaves. Housework and helping with the children were often duties that slaveholders designated to their female slaves. Condoned by society, many male slaveholders used their female property as concubines, although the act was usually kept covert. These issues, aided by their lack of power, made the lives of female slaves
In Laboring Women by Jennifer Morgan, the author talks about the transformations African Women suffer as they become slaves in America. The author explains how their race, gender and even their reproduction of African women became very important in the sex/gender system. She explains the differences of European, African and Creole and how their role was fit and fix in the sex/gender system in regards of production, body and kinship. Morgan explains the correlation of race and reproduction as well as how this affected the Atlantic World. She also explains the differences between whites and blacks and how they experience reproduction differently. Morgan also elaborates on how sex is a sexual disclosure. This gave us the conclusion on how the ideologies of race and reproduction are central to the organization of slavery.