The Ever-changing Role of Women in History
Had Martin Luther not dared to question the Catholic Church when he nailed The Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517, had King Henry VIII not been so set on a divorce in 1533, had the Pamphlet Wars during the turn of the 17th century not taken place, the life of women in the New World in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries may have been very different. These central characters, and so many others, set the stage for a revolution. Women were able to redefine their roles within their homes, in matters of community and politics, and most especially as a gender.
The first female English settlers were in a unique predicament; they came to America firmly entrenched in the European ideology of a woman’s place in home and society, yet they were thrust …show more content…
By the mid-nineteenth century women had become generous, self-sacrificing, and virtuous. Men took on the roles their wives, sisters, aunts, and mothers had filled centuries earlier as sinful, malicious, cruel, and calculating. Men had backed themselves into a corner by placing women in such a position. In redefining gender roles in the 19th century, men set themselves up for an uprising by women. Women could not be expected to be pious, moral, and virtuous, while also instilling these traits in their sons and neighbors, with no power to enforce these rules.
All of these events, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, and the Market Revolution, led to a modified view of gender roles in American society. By redefining the roles that women played within their homes, their communities, and their country, men essentially allowed women to recognize their value and find their own identities. Over the course of 250 years in American history, women had successfully found their individual voices and strengths and made enormous strides to becoming equal to their male
Had Martin Luther not dared to question the Catholic Church when he nailed The Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in 1517, had King Henry VIII not been so set on a divorce in 1533, had the Pamphlet Wars during the turn of the 17th century not taken place, the life of women in the New World in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries may have been very different. These central characters, and so many others, set the stage for a revolution. Women were able to redefine their roles within their homes, in matters of community and politics, and most especially as a gender.
The first female English settlers were in a unique predicament; they came to America firmly entrenched in the European ideology of a woman’s place in home and society, yet they were thrust …show more content…
By the mid-nineteenth century women had become generous, self-sacrificing, and virtuous. Men took on the roles their wives, sisters, aunts, and mothers had filled centuries earlier as sinful, malicious, cruel, and calculating. Men had backed themselves into a corner by placing women in such a position. In redefining gender roles in the 19th century, men set themselves up for an uprising by women. Women could not be expected to be pious, moral, and virtuous, while also instilling these traits in their sons and neighbors, with no power to enforce these rules.
All of these events, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, and the Market Revolution, led to a modified view of gender roles in American society. By redefining the roles that women played within their homes, their communities, and their country, men essentially allowed women to recognize their value and find their own identities. Over the course of 250 years in American history, women had successfully found their individual voices and strengths and made enormous strides to becoming equal to their male