FREE The Role of Women in Early American Settlements Essay (original) (raw)

In early America, women were viewed as less important than men. This lack of respect is demonstrated when looking through pre-Victorian era History books. Try to find one story about a female who was given the opportunity or encouraged to become a successful trailblazer, soldier, engineer, architect or professor. It's obvious that men "ruled the world" and women were their distant counterparts. But in the turbulent years of settling our country, lowering women to a place of unquestioned submissiveness, led to some serious problems.
In the beginning stages of settling our country, the only active participants were men. No women were present during the first few years of the process, for only men were considered strong, brave, intelligent and resilient enough to endure the freeze of winter and the harsh wilderness conditions. Once the men realized that women were actually a basic essential -for cooking, mending clothes, harvesting and sexual interactions - they sent news to the homeland to send women as soon as possible. .
When the women arrived in the new world, they were met with unkind, aggressive and domineering men. There are written records of females arriving to be with the men yet being badly mistreated, abused and looked down upon. It was travesty for the women who had given up everything they knew to attend to the men. And the men, in turn, suffered the consequences of their brutality, for typically, women do not respond favorably to men who are dirty, cruel and unkind.
As the years went on, the status of women continued to drop until "The very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women.their submerged status.this invisibility (we are) something like black slaves.".
The women who did arrive in a few colonies were sent there too be "imported as sex slaves, child bearers, companions. "2 This shows the callousness of the men of our "New World ", beyond any shadow of doubt. Another source writes "in the great chain of being, women occupied a slot just above the beast of the field.

1. Colonial Native American Women

The roles of women in each of these areas played an important part in distinguishing between the unique tribal lines. ... The Native American women were well respected and given plenty of freedom. ... They were often taught from an early age to work in the home and even the fields. " In Spring, both men and women worked in the fields planting the crops, but thereafter the women were expected to do all the hoeing on their own" (M. ... Although few histories of the European settlements in North America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have acknowledged it, women played a key role...

2. A Brief Look at American History

The Supreme Court had said that the Bank of the U.S. was constitutional earlier. ... Early in 1836, Texans declared their independence. ... Women's Roles and Rights Starting the nineteenth century, the U.S. was still a man's world. ... Even then, American women were still being treated better than European women. ... The economy was increasingly separating women and men into sharply distinct economic roles. ...

3. Women's Rights in the 19th and 20th Century

For centuries, all over America, women have been forced to stand in the shadow of man because they were seen as weak individuals not worthy of equality. In earlier times, the women's role in American society placed the woman in the home, with her duty to cleaning and bearing children. ... The early 20th century also saw a successful push for the vote through a coalition of suffragists, temperance groups, reform-minded politicians, and women's social welfare organizations. ... During the late 19th century and into the early parts of the 20th Century, the issue of women's rights i...

4. The changing of the American Family

Of course, that closeness depended upon the settlement. ... However, it happened more in the outlying settlements than in the earlier now settled towns. ... In earlier times, the neighborhood worked and worshiped together. ... It was deemed necessary that women have a passive role in government at this time. ... America was not yet ready to give women the political power that they deserved. ...

5. FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER

Frederick Jackson Turner was a teacher and a scholar in the late 1800's to early 1900's. ... Turner redefined American history by stating that the settlement of the West by white people - "the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward" - was the central story of American history. ... According to Turner, the frontier played the role of the driving force behind modern advancement, yet also served the purpose of taking us back to our humble beginnings, before modern advances. ... It is said to be a product of its time...

6. Canada

Canadian women first gained the right to vote in Manitoba, on March 24th, 1916, making Manitoba the first province to allow women a role in democracy. ... His term as Prime Minister was ironically during the women's suffrage movement in the early 1920's. ... Since Ancient times, women have had few roles in political society. ... Canadian women first gained the right to vote in Manitoba, on March 24th, 1916, making Manitoba the first province to allow women a role in democracy. ... His term as Prime Minister was ironically during the women's suffrage movement in the early 1920&#x...

7. Mexican american family

Native to the Southwest, the Mexican American people have a history marked by the Spanish and then by the Anglo Americans. This early history, perhaps because of the proximity of the southwestern states to the Mexican border, has left a legacy of conflict that is present today between Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans. ... The first Spanish settlements in southwestern North America were in what is now known as New Mexico, where 25 missions were established between 1598 and 1630. ... American War. ... Because of their long history of settlement in the United States and continues emigrati...

8. Notes on 1920's America

Early in the century, only city dwellers could afford cars. c. ... America's Role in the World 1. ... In the culturally divided 1920's, Americans could not reach a satisfactory settlement on the issue. ... Women Assume New Roles 1. ... During the Victorian Age of the late 1800's and early 1900's, women had been expected to center their lives on home and family. b. ...

9. The Italian Immigration Experience

Early immigration of Italians into America can be traced to the 1880s when Southern Italians began a mass exit from Peninsula. Precisely, early Italian immigration began in various regions including Basilicata, Apulia, Calabria, as well as Campania. ... The dynamism of Italian immigration may also be attributed by the immigration of women and families. After the young lot came and accumulated wealth and returned back to Italy, Italian immigrants comprising of women and families flocked into the United States. ... A close analysis of the settlement patterns of the Italian immigrant settlements ...

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