Women's Roles In Early American History

Words: 1078
Pages: 5

I have always loved history but have never had the opportunity to study women’s history before. When I arrived for this class on women and gender in early America I had no idea what to expect. Obviously we would learn about women in history, but how would it be any different than other history? After participating in the class for the past weeks I can say that it is very different. Women had immense roles in history that I had never learned about before. When I used to think of women in early America I believed they solely worked in the house, cooking, cleaning, and caring for their children. I imagined women as having few rights in a male dominated society. These may hold some truth in history, but at times appear much different to me after learning about women’s history in early America. When our center of study changes to look at women and their lives, I realize that women were not all the same throughout history. They had different ways of doing things, different ways of caring for their families, but most importantly, these women did not all share the same gender. …show more content…
It was so interesting to learn that in their society, power and wealth passed through the female family line. The women were in charge of agriculture, which made the Native American men look lazy in the eyes of the English settlers. Women in this society seemed to hold much more power than I would have guessed. Since they were in charge of the fields, they had a significant voice on whether or not the tribe would move to new land. They were strong women who did not just work inside their homes. They provided half of the food for their people while the men hunted for the other half. They participated in their society just as much, if not more, than the men