Module 2: Women in History 16th-19th Century

Module 2: Women in History16th-19th CenturyHTY/SSC-335New Term: MiscegenationTerm originates in the 19th CenturyCurrently considered offensiveRefers to the mixing of different racial groupsThrough marriage, sexual intercourse, cohabitation, or child-bearing

White Women in the Colonies and Early RepublicClass differencesWives and mothersRoles and workNecessary purity and the fear of despoilmentPolitical Involvement

White Women in the Colonies & Early Republic: Class DifferencesSpecific time period had a major impact on classWho you were in Europe vs. who you became hereOld Money vs. Nouveau richeNorth vs. SouthReally began with the formation of the Massachusetts Bay and Virginia coloniesUpper class vs. Lower classAll depended on who your father or husband wasStrict series of behavioral standards among the upper classLower classes ironically often had more freedom to act

White Women in the Colonies & Early Republic: Wives & MothersMotherhood as the epitome of womanhoodDutiful wivesEssentially became the property of their husbandsBarefoot and pregnantThe duration of marriage in the early days of Colonial America was about 7 yearsMarried women had virtually no property rights or legal right to their children

White Women in the Colonies & Early Republic: Roles and WorkIndentured servants seen as having few/no rights during term of serviceA woman could work inside the home (cottage industries)Crafts, sewing, laundry, etc.Few acceptable occupations outside of the homeMany of the well-paying occupations were seen as indecent

White Women in the Colonies & Early Republic: Necessary Purity & Fear of DespoilmentCaptivity narrativesMaidenhood and the ruined womanA womans status as a pure being was invaluableA woman who lost her virginity to anyone but her husband was seen as ruinedIt did not matter if the loss of virginity was voluntary or not

White Women in the Colonies & Early Republic: Political InvolvementWomens movement began with state conventionsIntention was to begin the discussionSeneca Falls, New York convention1848Widely thought to be the real beginning of a national womens movementAbolitionist movement

Native American Women

Roles and workWives and MothersInvolvement in the communityNative American Women: Rolls and Work

Important to recognize that Native American tribes were not homogenous Strict division of laborDifferent, but equally important and , tasksValue of the work of women would decline after contact with white cultureWomen were responsible for child-rearing and often ran villages/farming endeavors in the absence of the hunter-gatherer menMost menial labor was the province of women Men were seen as hunters and warriorsNative American Women: Participation in the Community

Among the Iroquois (New York), women could nominate and recall chiefsAmong the Blackfoot (Montana), women owned everything they worked forIncluding the family home

Native American Women: Wives and Mothers

Iroquois women could decide how many children they wanted to haveWomen were revered because of their ability to create lifeHusbands and wives had a complementary relationshipNot one of a superior and a subordinateBlack WomenMiscegenationWives and mothersRoles and workPolitical Involvement

Black Women: MiscegenationEarly Colonies allowed black/white marriageVirginia lawWhite woman who bore illegitimate child with a black father would have to choose:pay 15 pound fine become indentured servant for 5 years Child of female slave and white master would be a slave (1662)Way to perpetrate slaveryParticularly once the influx of slaves from Africa ceasedChange in the commonly accepted way of inheritance of status imported from BritainPreviously status was inherited from the fatherSexual relations were often non-consensual or consent would be dubious at best

Black Women: Wives and MothersSlave women were generally housewives, in addition to other dutiesExpected to raise their own childrenExpected to cook and clean for husbandHusband might be her choice or the choice of her ownerSlave marriage was not officially recognized but was often encouraged No guarantee that family would be allowed to stay together indefinitely

Black Women: Roles and WorkVery different experience for free and slaveMost of the original blacks to come to America were indentured servantsLife expectancy was too short to make buying a slave cost effectiveIndentured servants were freed once their term of service was overEmancipation continued on a case-by-case basis until the Civil War

Black Women: Roles and Work:Slave WomenA slave womans most valuable asset was her ability to bear childrenNo choice about who the father would bePregnant women were treated betterSome female specific dutiesNursesMidwivesSeamstressesCooksNon-gender-specific dutiesField workServants in the houseGardenersLittle opportunity to improve ones situationOne exception: Charlestons market

Black Women: Roles and Work:Free WomenVery different social constraints than white counterparts Often went into business for themselves:Boarding housesBeauty salonsRestaurantsCateringFood marketsCharlestons was famousRelaxed atmosphere as long as the number of blacks in America remained small

Black Women: Political InvolvementBoth the abolition and womens movements were popular amongst free blacks and escaped slaves The two movements saw themselves as natural alliesSojourner Truth was one of the first black women to win a court case against a white manProtesting the illegal sale of her sonShe went on to become an advocate of both abolition and womens rights

Sojourner Truth (1797-1883): Ain't I A Woman?Delivered 1851 Women's Convention, Akron, OhioWell, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about? That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman? Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full? Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him. If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them. Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say.