Colonial Women Native American Women

Colonial Women

Native American women enjoyed an elevated status in many tribes and clans, in fact, some, like the Iroquois and Cherokee, were matrilineal, with much of the property passing through the female's family, rather than the male's. Women generally were expected to add to the overall health and welfare of the tribe, from cooking and planting to producing crafts such as blankets, baskets, and pottery. They were a vital part of the community, and many whites noted this during their interaction with the Native Americans. As Native communities were overrun by white settlers and began to adapt to European ways and customs, some of this autonomy and freedom disappeared, and women adapted to the white ideas of subservience and subjugation in society. Legally, Native women were often leaders of tribes and clans, and maintained their own property. This changed as the Natives adapted to white ways, which dictated that women could not own property, divorce, or generally control their own lives. As Natives adapted to American religion, this intensified, as men became the traditional "head" of the family.

African-American women were almost always victims of subjugation and prejudice. Most African-Americans arrived in America as slaves, and they would continue in this subservient role until after the Civil War in 1865. They had no legal or social status in the white community. However, in the black slave communities, women were often the matriarchs of black families, and held the families together during times of strife. They also helped maintain religious values that they brought from their homelands, and were the workhorses of the family. They were responsible for cooking and cleaning for their families, in addition to their duties for their masters. In the slave community, aged women were often either revered as leaders or taken care of as they aged. Black women held a special place in the black community, but they could not own property, and in fact, they could not even legally marry in just about any state. Women often were stripped from their husband and family at a master's whim, and they had no recourse. Black women were at the very bottom of the pile in Colonial America, and they had little recourse to change their fate.

White women enjoyed some freedoms in Colonial America, but certainly nothing like they have gained today. White women's roles were similar in many respects to black and Native American women. They were foremost wives and mothers who supported their families by cooking, cleaning, sewing, and tending gardens and animals. The men worked, either on a farm or in an industry, and were the "head" of the household. Colonial women could not own property or vote, and they could not divorce. Their rights were dictated by society, but by the Church as well, which supported male superiority. In the community, some women did become leaders in some respects. They gained the respect of other women through their actions or through the power of their husbands. Women had the freedom to socialize, shop, and meet to create crafts together, such as stitching or making quilts. However, they did not have any real freedoms that most women take for granted today, and they did not have extensive social standing in their male-dominated communities.

For the most part, the Revolutionary Era reinforced many of the roles women played in society. Native American women would continue to lose status as the country grew and they continued to be pushed from their native lands. African-American women would neither gain nor lose ground; they were still slaves with all the subjugation associated with their status. White women did not gain any material freedoms, such as owning property or the ability to divorce, but they did gain a measure of independence in that some women began to speak out against wrongs, such as slavery. Later, more women would begin to fight for women's rights, and women would begin to write, speak out, and discuss the changes they wanted to see in society.

In the beginning, this short work indicates the prejudice of men toward women who did not take their "work" seriously, that is, the work of taking care of a family. The nephew makes fun of the woman, indicating she cannot possibly take good care of her family if she is a "blue stocking," or a writer. He has his mind made up before he even visits his friend, and this indicates the rigidity of men and their thinking at the time, and how unwilling they were to give up their stranglehold on women and their "family duties."

The story attempts to challenge traditional roles of womanhood at the time, but today, it simply reinforces them. The men "indulge" the woman her little pastime of writing because she saved her husband during a time of weakness, and continued to manage the home with perfection. Thus, the woman took on both male and female roles and received no help from anyone else. She was expected to maintain a perfect home and keep it afloat. Today, most couples share roles a bit more equally, and so, even though this essay attempted to paint the "blue stocking" in a positive light, it simply shows how unequal men and women's roles were at the time.