In the ages of colonization, from around the 1600’s to the 1800’s, women were considered to be a lower class than men. Whether socially, economically, or politically. While many women spoke out against the sexism and overpowering religious control that was ravaging societies, three women from this colonial time could be considered the most important or most influential symbol for women’s rights and religious freedom. They were Anne Bradstreet, Phyllis Wheatley, and Anne Hutchinson. Anne Bradstreet was a well-known poet who wrote about the life of a woman in seventeenth-century New England, mostly communicated through her poems. Phyllis Wheatley was an African-American author who wrote about slavery, often in poetry. She was also the first
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Traveling with her wealthy father and husband in 1630, they sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony for the sole purpose of growing wealthier. As a woman living in colonial times, she felt many hardships. Enduring eight pregnancies and grieving over deaths of fond children, Anne Bradstreet still had time to write poetry. Most of what she wrote was around the life of a woman in the seventeenth century in the Mass Bay colony. Her first collection was entitled “The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”. What Anne wrote was subtly laced with her disapproval of how women were treated, and about the oppression on women during this time. Anne’s writing did not affect her life as a mother or wife. While living the life of a woman in this time, she still found time to write this poetry by cutting down her requirements for sleep and eating. However, Anne Bradstreet only communicated her ideas on these matters through her writings, and never stood up to impose change in Mass Bay. Since she never took charge and attempted to create change in her community, she shouldn’t be the symbol of women’s rights in this colonial …show more content…
Phyllis was the first African-American to ever publish a book. Her works showed many Europeans that Blacks had the intelligence to create poetry, contrary to what most of the educated in Europe thought. She arrived in the harbor of Boston in 1761, as a slave. Though she was working as a servant, Phyllis was intelligent, learning English within two years and publishing her first piece of poetry, “On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield”, at the young age of nineteen. Europeans found this odd, as most European individuals had thought Blacks did not have the intelligence to write poetry or be proficient in mathematics. Returning to England in 1773, Phyllis published her first book. Most of Phyllis’ work discusses slavery, and how she did not approve of the concept. Her publications were embraced by abolitionists, both Europeans and Americans. Others, who were more opposed to the current state of slavery, looked down upon her work, criticizing her, as well as possibly claiming that black slaves could not write poetry. While Wheatley acknowledged some were more sensitive to her work than others, she stood by it. However, similarly to Anne Bradstreet, Wheatley took a passive approach to expressing her ideas and kept her thoughts only to her publications. She is not the best symbol for women’s rights because of this. She also did not direct as much of her attention to women’s rights, instead
Traveling with her wealthy father and husband in 1630, they sailed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony for the sole purpose of growing wealthier. As a woman living in colonial times, she felt many hardships. Enduring eight pregnancies and grieving over deaths of fond children, Anne Bradstreet still had time to write poetry. Most of what she wrote was around the life of a woman in the seventeenth century in the Mass Bay colony. Her first collection was entitled “The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America”. What Anne wrote was subtly laced with her disapproval of how women were treated, and about the oppression on women during this time. Anne’s writing did not affect her life as a mother or wife. While living the life of a woman in this time, she still found time to write this poetry by cutting down her requirements for sleep and eating. However, Anne Bradstreet only communicated her ideas on these matters through her writings, and never stood up to impose change in Mass Bay. Since she never took charge and attempted to create change in her community, she shouldn’t be the symbol of women’s rights in this colonial …show more content…
Phyllis was the first African-American to ever publish a book. Her works showed many Europeans that Blacks had the intelligence to create poetry, contrary to what most of the educated in Europe thought. She arrived in the harbor of Boston in 1761, as a slave. Though she was working as a servant, Phyllis was intelligent, learning English within two years and publishing her first piece of poetry, “On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield”, at the young age of nineteen. Europeans found this odd, as most European individuals had thought Blacks did not have the intelligence to write poetry or be proficient in mathematics. Returning to England in 1773, Phyllis published her first book. Most of Phyllis’ work discusses slavery, and how she did not approve of the concept. Her publications were embraced by abolitionists, both Europeans and Americans. Others, who were more opposed to the current state of slavery, looked down upon her work, criticizing her, as well as possibly claiming that black slaves could not write poetry. While Wheatley acknowledged some were more sensitive to her work than others, she stood by it. However, similarly to Anne Bradstreet, Wheatley took a passive approach to expressing her ideas and kept her thoughts only to her publications. She is not the best symbol for women’s rights because of this. She also did not direct as much of her attention to women’s rights, instead