1607-1770

The woman of the 1600’s were destined to live under the rule of their husbands. The only way a woman could avoid this at the time was to remain unmarried or become a widow. The only amount of power they really had was in their social circles. Everyone knew everyone else’s business and gossip was prominent. Many women worked together exchanging goods, selling milk and butter, and helping with children.

There was a great social divide. Men wanted women to submit to them the way a man would submit to God. Women were to take care of the home, allowing men to go out on all of their adventures. It was not common for a woman to be able to read or write, especially if they were poor.

The New World was a rough place for both men and women. Only one out of four children lived past one year old. African women who had been taken as slaves, taught their children of their memories of home.

When women resisted the social norms often times they were beaten and punished. In the case of the Salem witch trials, fourteen women and six men were put to death under the assumption that they were witches. Those who were accused were done so because they of the fear of powerful women. They did not believe that women should hold places of like those of men.

With the production of consumer goods increasing in the 1700s, a woman’s role around the house began to shift. This was the time of the “pretty gentlewoman”. Instead of doing so much work in the fields, they were now sent into the home to prepare it for guests and keep it neat and clean.