Women and Economics during Colonial America and Before and After Essay

Women and Economics during Colonial America and Before and After American Revolution - Essay Example Women in colonial America were suffering tremendously. In the simplest of words, women in early America worked as caretakers of the family, workers in the house and responsible of creating and looking after the home: homemakers. They were not allowed to vote and had little or no chance of attaining an education. Often these women included "indentured servants", these were the migrants who had been allowed a passage into the American colonies. They were forced to work without pay until their contracts, with the individual who paid for their entry, expired. Thus, most of the woman's role was centered at home. If the husband was a farmer or owner of a plantation she could work alongside him on the land. As most of the woman's job centered on child-birth a large amount of her time would be spent in taking care of the children. This included cooking. She had to tend to her own animals, grow her own fruit and vegetables and cook with the limited resources provided by the male member of the house. Candles, soap thread, cloth and clothing (WE)1 were a luxury that had to be produced by the woman herself. Even the most affluent of families had women involved in acts like taking care of the house and cooking for the family. For instance, the characteristics of the society in New York were different to that of other colonies. It consisted of what appears to be a "feudal lord" of today. However, even these women had little to do but sit and sew or knit. She had to tend to her own animals, grow her own fruit and vegetables and cook with the limited resources provided by the male member of the house. Candles, soap thread, cloth and clothing (WE)2 were a luxury that had to be produced by the woman herself. The worse bit of American colonization came during the witch-hunts. The aggrieved Christian colonists needed a reason to explain their defeat at the hands of the "heathen" Indians. Women were the perfect victims to take the blame. In a conservative culture where women had a set and fixed role in the household and society, it was unacceptable for women to break the norms. Thus, if any woman dared to venture outside her prescribed role, the immediate consequence in that time was to blame her alien behavior on mysterious causes: witch-craft. (WE)3 . Despite the limited education, a desire to satisfy physical needs made women proficient at running economically sound households. Women understood the concept of maintaining healthy networks with other females. They adopted the concept of barter with fellow neighbors, friends and relatives. As mentioned previously, women were not educated thus the best teachers were the ones who had served the role of wife themselves. These women taught their own daughters and often took in other young girl students who managed the house in exchange for the skills they performed during this practice. The only job acceptable to women of that time was that of midwife. Though a number of women died in child-birth because very few females had the professional skills needed to carry out proper birth. This occupation was held in the highest respect. The payment was generally in the form of