Firmly established gender roles helped to maintain strong family structures within the new American Colonies as well as the Native American settlements. Strong family structures were necessary because the family was the basis for government, church and community. Women have always had an important role with their various labors that contribute to their communities. Women of both races have social and economic responsibility, but the Native population has greater social, political, and economic authority and power.
Colonial America English cultural values were influential in shaping the New World. Women’s work was confined to household production such as spinning, weaving, gardening, cooking and cleaning, while men’s duties were concentrated …show more content…
Women’s roles in Colonial America were limited, though not as stringent as they were in England. Because few women were in the initial migration of settlers, women who did arrive in the New World had a choice in whom and when they married. Once married, women were legally absorbed into the identity of the husbands – becoming a feme covert. This meant that husbands had legal control over all women, their children and any property. Young women were not given the opportunity for a formal education and had to learn from their mothers. They learned what it meant to be bad or good through Bible instruction. They learned the basic chores of women; spinning, weaving, sewing, gardening, midwifery, nursing. Girls were often sent out for apprenticeship with other family members or friends to learn a specific talent if their family did not know it. The girls were also taught to have the moral values of women: piety and self-sacrifice. Colonial women played an important part in the economic success of the American colonies by contributing to the community by supplying material goods used at the time. During this period, …show more content…
Their contributions allowed the colony to be a country and an economy in which to forge a new nation. For many country women in America, the revolution was a juncture in the establishment and maintenance of their freedom. Women were left on the home front to cope with many adverse conditions. In an essay titled, Roles Of Women In The Economic Success of Colonial New England, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich writes, “The doctrine of the time called for a woman to fulfill the roles of housewife, deputy husband, consort, mother, mistress, neighbor, and Christian all while remaining anonymous.” x Without all contributions women had made to colonial economy, the colonies would not have survived as permanent
Colonial America English cultural values were influential in shaping the New World. Women’s work was confined to household production such as spinning, weaving, gardening, cooking and cleaning, while men’s duties were concentrated …show more content…
Women’s roles in Colonial America were limited, though not as stringent as they were in England. Because few women were in the initial migration of settlers, women who did arrive in the New World had a choice in whom and when they married. Once married, women were legally absorbed into the identity of the husbands – becoming a feme covert. This meant that husbands had legal control over all women, their children and any property. Young women were not given the opportunity for a formal education and had to learn from their mothers. They learned what it meant to be bad or good through Bible instruction. They learned the basic chores of women; spinning, weaving, sewing, gardening, midwifery, nursing. Girls were often sent out for apprenticeship with other family members or friends to learn a specific talent if their family did not know it. The girls were also taught to have the moral values of women: piety and self-sacrifice. Colonial women played an important part in the economic success of the American colonies by contributing to the community by supplying material goods used at the time. During this period, …show more content…
Their contributions allowed the colony to be a country and an economy in which to forge a new nation. For many country women in America, the revolution was a juncture in the establishment and maintenance of their freedom. Women were left on the home front to cope with many adverse conditions. In an essay titled, Roles Of Women In The Economic Success of Colonial New England, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich writes, “The doctrine of the time called for a woman to fulfill the roles of housewife, deputy husband, consort, mother, mistress, neighbor, and Christian all while remaining anonymous.” x Without all contributions women had made to colonial economy, the colonies would not have survived as permanent