AP US history We see evidence of it everywhere we look, lush wilderness and amazing animals. That is what the colonists saw when they arrived to the Americas. A land that no one else had been to or experienced before, this is where America took its first breath. When the colonists arrived there were many people looking for a new life and retreat from the harsh rule of the queen. Both men and women looking to start a new life but women were already outnumbered and at a disadvantage. Many consider this time in U.
S history to have been a "Golden age" for women but there are also those who are against it. The colonial period was not a "golden age" for women because of living conditions, politics and hard labor. Living condit
...ions in this time was appalling. This was a time where reaching the age of 45 was considered a long life. Women were especially vulnerable because they were the ones giving birth and it is well known that a woman's immune system is weaker than most people making her more susceptible to disease than other people.
Even if she could make it o the point of childbirth the risk of her dying while she had the baby was very high (Norton,35). During this time having no front teeth was very common and bathing even two times a month was something to admire if you could. This was even worse for the female slaves during this time. The way the white women lived at this time was considered upper class when you see how they live and how they were treated. Thi
takes us to the hard excruciating labor and abuse they faced every day. Women were considered caretakers of their home and family.
While their husbands ere off growing tobacco and bringing money, the women were in charge of the entire household. This meant that they had to go out if they were lucky enough to have livestock, to milk the cows, collect eggs from chickens and salt meats so they could be preserved for the hard winters. (Norton,35)They made their own candles, would have to cook for their whole and on top of that if they were poor actually have to make their own clothes. They would have to make their own yarn and use that to make all of their clothes by hand (Norton, 36).
Slaves worked long days I the sun and ad no control over their children and no choice to do what they want (Norton, 36). Their entire life was in someone else's hands, all women were basically indentured servants. Women were also sexually and verbally abused regularly, this brings us the politics and the voice they had in society. When you look at the colonies from a political stand point you realize that women had absolutely no effect on the outcome and society they lived in. The women did not have the right to vote until the 19th amendment was passed in the sass's.
So that meant that they were automatically entered powerless in their colonies (Norton, 33). Even when it came to divorces and death. Men rarely left all the property and money to the women, most of the time it was in her hands until the children were
of age and that was given all to them. And usually everything was lost when they remarried. Widows evidently received at least enough property to maintain themselves but in most cases was given to the eldest If you consider the conditions they lived in, the abuse they faced son (Norton,33). ND labor they had to do very minimal then you can make an argument that it was a olden age but until then it is obvious that the colonial period was not a golden age for women. But it is amazing to see that hundreds of years later even though it wasn't as bad women are facing problems that are evolving with time. Same work and yet no equal pay, taking the male over the female for a position is very common. This will just continue unless we expose this issue to the public and stake our claims with confidence. But until then there may be no difference between us and the people who took their first steps of their ships after a 3 month Journey.
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