Us Women's History Analytic Paper

        Laurel Thatcher Ulrich states, “Well behaved women rarely make history.”  In the early colonial times, seldom did women step out of their life structure to stand up against a man’s law.  The colonial era was a very demanding time for women of all ethnicities; Native American women were seen as lascivious to the white man and lost much of their power as colonialism expanded. Northern Colonial women were expected to perform many roles that included religious teaching, household duties, and food preparation that were very trying at times. Southern African American women had a double burden placed on them due to not only being a slave, but also being a woman.

        Native American women had more power within their tribes than any colonial women had.  Women in Indian tribes were allowed to choose whom they married, and once they were married they were allowed to divorce.  

They have a sort of marriage among them, which is like this: when a girl is 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 years old, she will have several suitors, according to her good graces, who will woo her and ask the consent of her father and her mother, although often the girls do not accept their consent.  Those who are best and most discreet submit to their wishes.  This lover, or suitor, gives the girl some necklaces, chains, and bracelets of wampum.  If the girl finds the suitor agreeable, she accepts this present. This done, he comes to sleep with her three or four night without saying a word, when they gather the fruit of their affections.  And it often happens that after having spent a week or a fortnight together, if they cannot agree, she will quit her suitor…^[1]

Also, the Native women were not expected to be virgins before married.  They wore fewer clothes than colonial women and at times did not wear shirts.  All of these characteristics lead the colonial men to believe that Native American women were lascivious and whorish.  

        As colonialism expanded, Native American women lost many of the roles that gave them power within the tribe.  Native women did much of the skinning, storing, and preparation of the food.  “While men were the primary hunters and trappers in Ojibwa communities, women processed the furs, a fact that would have given them greater authority in deciding what would happen to the furs, as well as the opportunity to trade them.”^[2]  With the spread of colonialism, white men trapped and killed many of the animals that the natives relied on to live.  This took away the women’s power over the trading.  

        The only time a woman’s job is noticed is when it is not done; Northern colonial women had many roles expected of them.  These roles included child bearing and rearing, food preparation and cooking, cleaning, and sewing.  “By English tradition, a woman’s environment was the family dwelling and the yard or yards surrounding it.  Though the exact composition of her setting obviously depended upon the occupation and economic status of her husband, its general outlines were surprisingly similar regardless of where it was located.”^[3]  Women were also in charge of keeping their home religiously educated. They taught the

children about the bible and made sure their husbands’ were acting in an honorable fashion.  So, in some sense, the women had some small power over their husbands.  

Women were supposed to know their place and how they ranked in society.  It was seen as sinful to upset the order status, which resulted in treason.  The law was made by men and was based on a religious foundation.  Colonial women were not allowed to own any property; if the man of the household died, the sons were in charge of the property.  Women were allowed to take over the household if their husband was ill or away at war, which added to the responsibilities that she already had.