The colonists lived in a male dominated society where women and men had gender roles to adhere to. There was many jobs that women could not perform because people believed that "the female brain was too weak to absorb abstract ideas" (Berkin, page 5). Due to this, most women had no economic independence and could not move up in society without marriage. At the same time women had rights that would be taken away when they married such as losing the right of ownership because the husband would gain ownership of all of his wives property. Women also had little to no impact in the government partially because “Only the best—most virtuous—men would serve as representatives and only those with land were entitled to vote.” (Keene, page 59).
After the American Revolution women started to challenge men over their social status. Women argued that men saw women as inferior because of the poor education that they received, they also argued that mothers should be well educated because they are the ones who teach children. Women have also proved to be capable of doing many of the activities that men did. This is because the war left many women alone, so they had to learn how to manage farms and businesses, defend themselves, and take on other traditional male