...The Family Sphere: The Changing Role of Women in the Home HIS 310 American Women's History Instructor: Dr. Cheryl Lemus April 18, 2016 Dr. Barbara Welter penned an influential article in 1966 titled “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820–1860” which shed light on the often restrictive family sphere of existence within which, most American women throughout history had dwelt. According to Welter, true womanhood held that women were designed exclusively for the roles of wife and mother and were expected to cultivate Piety, Purity, Submissiveness, and Domesticity in all their relations (para.2). The Cult of True Womanhood, the idealized sainted mother, unconditional devotee of her husband and children, and the core power within the home still exists in the minds of many American men and women and seems to be an intrinsic part of our shared history. The ideal of the sphere of the American women and her relationship to the family evolved as the colonization of the United States evolved. When the first settlers arrived, women held a much more equitable role, laboring alongside the men to establish the country’s first settlements. As the initial settlements grew, the women who had proved vital in their creation were expected to lay down their hammers and saws and return to the family sphere. The supposition being that the return of the American woman to the family sphere was a returning to of them to their natural roles. She would leave the public sphere and revert to the more domestic...
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...The Colonial Era and Family Fluctuations In the colonial era women were limited to certain occupations and duties. There were some regional differences in the women and families, but the women were similar in most ways during the colonial era. Women had large families and spent most of their time tending to the children, house work and the farming at times to support their family. As the years progressed women evolved. Women were giving more freedom and independence. With freedom and independence came social classes that families and women were put into according to social and economic status. The American Industrial revolution was a big boom in American history and it effected everyone men and women. Life was changing. To establish a thriving settlement the Virginia Company officials of London imported women into the colony. The Virginia Company wanted to ensure that Virginia would prosper and plantations grow (Student Guide/ History 211,2004 p.8). Women learned that men were the head of the house hold and they were to be silent and so as her husband wanted. Women continued to learn the role thought out their lives. Young girls also learned this by watching their mother remain silent and do as she was told by her husband. In the colonial era women did not defying a man they could be taking to court and persecuted for that crime or for less. “These women also found out their marriage portions would be inferior to those of their brothers” (America: A Concise History 4th edition...
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...Mariama Bessane Professor Perine James American History 1151- Essay #1 Jan 7th,2016 Status of Women in Colonial Society Women were always considered inferior to men since day one. That belief had been existing until the eighteen century. During that period, English Colonists brought to America their ideologies with them. Women did not have the same rights as men did during that time. Women were tied in a leash, kept in the dark, and controlled by society. Life wasn’t easy for them. They were not allowed to express their opinions, and if they did, they would be called wicked or evil and be negatively judged by society. During the colonial era, women played an important, if restricted role in work and religious life. During the eighteen century, women were portrayed as weak, unintelligent, and inferior to men. As one minister stated “the woman is weak creature not endowed with like strength and constancy of mind.” (America 70) Women were seen as the “feebler vessels,” not as strong physically or spiritually as men and less emotionally stable. Women of the colonial era were expected to be devoted, passive, powerless, meek, graceful, sympathetic, and above all pure. As a matter of fact, the term “Cult of Womanhood” was an ancient ideology in the eighteen century defining women as pillars of virtue, who represent the value of pity, submissiveness, and domesticity. The role of the women was to be obedient, submissive, devoted to their husbands, and taking care of the children....
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...A) During the revolutionary era, Enlightenment ideals such as political, economic, and religious freedom, protection of rights and property, and individual responsibility and natural rights greatly influenced the new nation's government. These ideas began to affect American culture, such as women's roles, family roles, education, and religion. One of the primary changes resulted from social structures. Family members usually had specific roles during the colonial era. Fathers were revered and were considered the heads of their household and the custom of primogeniture was present, which meant that a family's firstborn son inherited the family's wealth. Furthermore, women had subordinate roles in society during the colonial era....
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...Colonial Gender Roles The main roles of a woman in Early America were: cooking and cleaning, having a family, and taking care of their spouse and children. The facts are that women were not looked upon as intelligent or equal to a man. In the Early American Era, the struggles women went through has influenced the writing and speaking of equality of sexes and started the feminism phenomenon. People have asked what exactly is a gender role and what makes something a gender role? Most people in the Puritan era did not think much of gender roles as they were societal rules and were not questioned. They had particular roles for men, women, and even children. There are many other questions about gender roles like how women have or are overcoming them...
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...SITUATION OF WOMEN IN KENYA Background information. * Individual women’s experiences intertwined with their social-cultural and political environment. * The changes that have taken place in Kenya, from the pre-Christianity period to the current period, and the changing roles of women overtime. * How marriage and religion as institutions of marriage and religion, which are founded on a patriarchal tradition, contribute to women’s powerlessness and silence, especially under the HIV/AIDS regime. KENYA WOMEN IN THE PRE-COLONIAL AND COLONIAL PERIOD The British colonized Kenya for over 60 years and she was granted her independence on 12 December,1963. In 1964, the country became a republic, with Jomo Kenyatta as its first president. In order to understand the position of Kenyan women in the modern political and economic dispensation, it is necessary to make clear the structures under which they operated before the colonial period and during the colonial era. The status of Kenyan women deteriorated during the colonial rule. This deterioration was particularly noticeable because, in the pre-colonial era, although women were to some extent subordinate to men under the African customary law, in many respects the roles of women were complementary in nature’ Pre-colonial Kenyan communities practiced subsistence agriculture and some forms of trade. Production was only meant to meet the basic needs of the family as opposed to profits. Division of labour was gender based women performed...
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...John Jackson Professor Orgala March 22, 2014 AFAM-101 The Negative Political and Economic Impacts of Colonialism on Africa In October 1884, Otto von Bismarck, the German Chancellor, summoned European countries to a conference in Berlin, Germany. At the conference diplomats from Europe and America signed the Berlin Convention, which ultimately ended the Berlin Conference. This conference was created to diminish intensifying colonial struggles in Africa. This conference effectively established the boundaries of European powers. The signing of the Berlin Conference led to the scramble for Africa, which is defined as “efforts to fully occupy” portions of Africa that remained independent. With the exception of a couple countries the continent of Africa became controlled by seven European powers, including: Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. After European powers possessed control over the continent, they began to transform African society and its politics. The reason I have for choosing this topic is that a thorough understanding of colonialism in Africa is key to comprehend the obstacles that the continent of Africa and it’s leaders have to face to lead their countries into prosperity (Schraeder). Peter J. Schraeder, author of the book African Politics and Society: A Mosaic in Transformation, credits the spread of the Roman Empire as the precursor to European colonialism. The Roman Empire’s spread to Africa started in 146 B.C. when the city...
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...During the colonial era, distinct political, religious and economic conditions led to settlement in America. Many diverse groups of people played roles in this settlement and created truly unique societies along the eastern seaboard, in the southwest, and in the upper Great Lakes regions. Drawing from the examples in your textbook, consider the perspectives of large landowners, farmers, artisans, native Americans, women, indentured servants, and slaves and discuss a couple of the groups of people who you believe were most instrumental in the creation of the unique colonial societies and why. Please include specific examples from your textbook and cite your sources. Answer: Every group given above played crucial role in creation of the unique colonial societies. The groups which I believe most instrumental in the creation of the unique colonial societies were slave and large landowners. Majority of the slaves were black. They were brought from African countries. The first slaves to be brought to the British colonies of North America were disproportionately male. Considered more valuable workers because of their strength, enslaved men performed labors that ranged from building houses to plowing fields. Their major role was to assist their masters in farming. Some slaves used to work in industries. Lots of restrictions were imposed on slaves. Slaves were not allowed to live with their families. They were forced to work for 18-20 hrs. In return of their hard work, they were...
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...Why 18th Century Women Sought out Freedom through Prostitution Michelle E. Raines Lindenwood University Abstract This paper reconnoiters the reasoning behind prostitution, focusing mainly on the motives of an 18th century woman. The goal of this research is to provide readers with an explanation of why women resorted to prostitution for freedom. The paper will arrange for you primary sources supporting that prostitution plateaued because of lack of expression, racism, and feminism during the 18th century. The business of prostitution was so important to our society because it allowed women to join the workforce. Unfair treatment spawned one of the greatest highlights of women in this era that this paper will display for you. Why 18th Century Women Sought out Freedom through Prostitution Prostitution is recorded as beginning in 1721 when the French government sent women to the colony so the settled men would refrain from having sex with the Native Americans. These women had found that sex trade created them more freedom/independence instead of marriage. Soon after, the red-light district was formed to segregate the prostitutes. The act of selling sex was not illegal in the US and the law had not known the term “prostitution”. The law had no understanding of what to do, women were still social outcasts and officials looked for petty crimes to target these certain women. So we ask why these women turned to prostitution; freedom was sought through sexual acts due to the...
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...Christy Penner Comparative essay The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin ( Wood,2004) and Abigail Adams (Holton, 2009) each depict historical figures before, during, and after the American revolution. Respectively, Woody Holton and Gordon S. Wood present unique aspects of Abigail Adams and Benjamin Franklin which highlight societal, institutional, and ideological changes brought about by the American revolution. Holton’s depiction of Abigail Adams provides an in depth analysis of the challenges she faces as a wife who assumes the roles typically undertaken by the family patriarch. In wood’s book, the depiction of Benjamin Franklin allows the reader to understand the progressive development of Franklin as he transitions from a gentleman to an ardent revolutionary. An interesting aspect of Wood’s portrayal of Franklin resides in his detailed analyses of his contributions to the American Revolution and the generally negative reception he receives upon returning to the independent colonies. Both Wood and Holton chose these individuals, and specifically the overriding topics of each book, in order to explain these chosen themes through the perspective of well-known historical figures. Although both authors make interesting arguments, Holton’s research on Abigail Adams presents a more significant contribution to historical research by highlighting her contribution to women’s rights and feminism. Woody Holton’s work, Abigail Adams (2009) tells the story of the wife of...
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...Africans The History of a Continent Chapter 11 Independent Africa, 1950-1980 Finally, the people of African felt like it was the dawn of a new era. An era of better health care, an era where people were happy, an era when babies where gladly made babies. A lot of things are characterized with this era. There was rapid population growth, growing economy, and independence. The gain of freedom also had its bad side. Debts were incurred, civil wars were fought, and political oppression was dominant. Rapid Population Growth Africa, being part of the baby boom had a drastic population increase around 1950. By the 1970’s the growth rate in sub Saharan Africa had increased from approximately 1 to 2.8 percent. One of the main reasons for the growth of the population was a continuous fall in death rate. The death rate fell from 22 per thousand to 16 per thousand between 1965and 1988. In sub-Saharan Africa, the life expectancy rose drastically from 39 to 51 between 1951 and 1988. Africa did not also experience as much crisis and hence the rate of crisis mortality also declined. The decline in infant mortality in Africa definitely played a big role in lowering the death rate. In the 1950’s 30-40 percent of children in most African countries died before the age of five. However in the mid 1970’s the infant mortality rate dropped to approximately 22-27 percent. The Western part of Africa however had higher mortality than most of the other countries. Another reason for the...
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...by the British, which was one of the reasons why the colored was discriminated by the higher class or white people. The interaction between the eastern and western hemisphere gave America its characteristic of religious freedom, democracy, and economic success. But it also created the unfair treatment of the colored people. During the colonial eras, the idea of democracy and religious freedom wasn’t exactly the same of how we viewed it...
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...In Colonial Latin America, women resignedly occupied inferior roles in the political, economic, and social spheres that dictated the happenings of their daily lives. Society did not view women as equivalent to their male counterparts and thus aimed to restrict and diminish their intellect and political agency. Their most effective manner of perpetuating this oppression was to discourage women from seeking an education. From a colonial mindset, the duty of the woman was to meekly obey the desires of the paternal figures in her life and aspire to become a wife and mother; the only acceptable alternative was to devote her life to Catholicism by entering into a convent with the intent of becoming a nun. Although both options deprived women of their right to self-autonomy, the latter offered lesser societal confinements. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was a woman who challenged the social norm that women were not worthy of entering the realm of academia. Her inquisitive nature and desire for knowledge prompted her to...
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...the stronger sex. Women have been deemed “hysterical” and “weak”, but they are far from those words. Women have undergone different gender stereotypes, while men take them for granted and see them as theirs. Judeth Butler made it known that gender roles were fictional. Spanish, African American, post-colonial women and Native American women faced horrendous obstacles throughout their life with gender roles and unjust events – and those obstacles are still being faced in today’s culture. Gender roles and gender stereotypes are what men have based their whole life existence around. “All gendered behavior in our society is an act.”...
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...estimated 12 million African slaves (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Enslavement of the African Americans formally commenced in the 1630s and 1640s. By 1740, colonial America had a fully developed slavery system in place, granting slave owners an absolute and tyrannical life-and-death authority over their slaves or 'chattels' and their children (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez ). Stripped of any identity or rights, enslaved black men and women were considered legal non-persons, except in the event of a crime committed. Documents and research on the slave era in the antebellum south are awash with horror stories of the brutal and inhuman treatment of slaves, particularly women (Slavery in the United States, Junius P. Rodriguez). Considered 'properties' by their masters, enslaved black women endured physical and emotional abuse, torture, and sometimes even death. By the 1800s, slavery had percolated down mainly to the antebellum south. While a majority of enslaved men and women were designated as 'field servants' performing duties outside the house, a smaller percentage, particularly women were employed as domestics or 'house servants', mammies and surrogate mothers. In the absence of any security, and with laws granting owners full power over their slaves, these women in bondage were frequently harassed, sexually abused and used as long term concubines by their masters. Enslaved men were powerless to challenge or intervene on the woman’s behalf...
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