Women in Colonial America

Tim Hartmann	Colonial History
May 16, 2001	Professor Michael R. H. Swanson

 

Women in America worked hard were treated unfairly and persecuted by organized religion and the law. However in America changes were being made, slowly but surely that would create a climate unlike any other in the world. Even though the steps were small they were still a beginning.  There are a number of important differences that make a women’s life in colonial America different from life in other regions at this time. The mixing of cultural idea from the Native Americans was one of these. The social dynamics of the Indians was in some ways more liberating then the European equivalent. It is not had to imagine women examining these differences with interest and curiosity. Another was the experience of Ann Hutchinson; she went from the realm of heretic to political leader all under her own merits. Hutchinson created a legacy for women of later generations to follow. While the evolution of the new judicial system and its attempts to treat all people equal in the eyes of the law.  Would begin a legacy of fairness and equality under law that had never existed anywhere else.
 

The role of women in colonial America revolved around survival and practicality. The role of these women would be shaped by the influence and roles of the native people that already existed on the continent. These women had had many responsibilities they included cooking, food preservation, creation of household utensils and furnishings as well as the construction of their dwellings.  They acted as the nurturers of children and gathers of food for their families. On the other hand, men’s roles were centered on hunting and warfare.  Since women contributed to the survival of the tribe they were treated as a valuable part of the society, and afforded the rights thereof.  The significance of this was in the respect and treatment that the rest of their society accorded them. It was significantly higher then that of white European society at the time of colonization. A white women adopted into the Seneca tribes in 1758 illustrates this by describing there work as: “ …we planted, tended, and harvested our corn, and generally had all of our children with us; but had no master to oversee or drive us, so that we could work as leisurely as we pleased…” She is pleased to 0be accorded the respect of an autonomous individual.  Her comment about the lack of an overseer is significant in that she obviously expected to be watched and driven. Later in the same transcript she describes how at the harvest time the women of the tribe collectively choose an older women to act as overseer to drive them, and how all of the other women feel bound to obey her. With the onset of European colonization it is inevitable that the two cultures would have many effects on each other. When the Europeans came to the new world they would be forced to begin viewing women in a modified manor. Since the women that made up the colonies would play a different role from their European counterparts the men in the colonies would begin to view them in a different light.

 

Colonial women would have a different role to play in the new world as opposed to the old. There influence would be spread to many parts of the new society and begin to flavor the American national identity. This included an expansion of the household duties. The duties of a typical colonial housewife included, housework, up keep of the washhouses, control of the cellars, influence into her neighbors’ kitchen and out into her husbands’ fields.  Two good examples that illustrate the range of women’s sphere of influence were Beatrice Plummer and Hannah Grafton.
 

Beatrice Plummer’s death on January 24, 1672 prompted her neighbors to create an inventory of her household; from this inventory we can recreate her daily routine. Plumbers Husband, Francis belonged to the middle class of his time, he came to the colonies as a Linen weaver but later become a farmer.  The Plumbers had a sixteen-acre farm, and farm equipment, twenty acres of salt marsh and a meadow for their cows.  Beatrice’s home consisted of a typical New England house with a hall, parlor and two chambers upstairs.  There is also a closet that is designated as “another room” in the inventory that held all of the families’ pots; pans and house hold items. In the inventory there is a myriad number of cooking items, this suggests that she was adept at not only normal day to day cooking but also baking, from the type of wheat in the inventory it is likely that she baked a type of bread known as “maslin”.  There is also evidence that she helped in the slaughter of animals and in the brewing of alcoholic beverages, which were a staple of the colonial households. The house was for the most part quite Spartan with only two chairs and a backless bench. This family is representative of a farming family that produced much of there own supplies. A farmer’s principle workforce was his family; the one exception to this was the German settlers in the Pennsylvanian colonies, where the Germans introduced the concept of barn raising. However, even here women added their considerable labor to the effort. While the men raised the skeletal barn women would create a feast for the assembly and had it ready for consumption when the work was finished.  There were very few adornments or decorations in the house. The farm life was very plain and practical. Beatrice Plummer represents one type of housewife in the colonial period, Hannah Grafton another.
 

The Grafton home, located in Salem Massachusetts, was the same design as the Plummer’s, and had nearly the same collection of pots, pans, and agricultural tools. However they unlike the Plummer’s only had a single acre of land and were on the shore. In addition they had a garden, three pigs, and a cow. One of the greatest differences between the two women was that Hannah in 1699 had three living children ages eight, six and ten months. Due to this, the upstairs was used as sleeping chambers as opposed to storage. One of the most notable differences between the two was that Hannah seemed to purchase, not make, many of her provisions. She had no tools in her inventory that indicated that she could bake or create cheese. However in her inventory there were the large amount of chairs and a large punch bowl that seemed to indicate that the Grafton home, though simple, was still often used for social occasions. You can therefore draw the conclusion that she would have bought those things that a farmer’s wife might produce. Hannah would either go to the store, send her bread to a baker or have bought items from other women that sold items door to door.  A final difference seems to be that the Plummer’s had a looms and a flock of sheep, whereas the Grafton had a simple spinning wheel for the production of cloth. The spinning wheel would later become a symbol of women hood and mother hood in the seventieth century.  When a women had child rearing duties her time was spent rearing children, and the wheel gave her a chance to watch her children and be productive in the home as well. However to all women were productive in the same manor. An example of a woman that offered something that could not be weighed on a scale was Anne Hutchinson.
 

 

Anne Hutchinson was born Anne Marbury the daughter of a clergymen. In 1612 she married William Hutchinson and moved with him in 1634 to the Mass Bay Colony. Here she began to hold church meeting, discussing recent sermons and to giving expression to there own theological views. Anne’s life before these meetings brought here into conflict with the Puritan church must have been one very much likes that of Hannah Grafton’s. Had we an inventory to compare the two women we would undoubtedly find that Anne had the same pots, pans and household utensils, indeed it is very likely that they would have lived in the same type of three room colonial house. Both women lived on the coast and it is reasonable to conclude that social gatherings played a large role in both these women’s lives. It is clear that the types of gathering that Anne held were not unusual; perhaps what was unusually was that she challenged her own social role. She did this by not only discussing the sermons of the local preachers, but by questioning them and challenging them. “She stressed the individual's intuition as a means of reaching God and salvation, rather than the observance of institutionalized beliefs and the precepts of ministers.”; Encyclopædia Britannica.  When asked about her home meetings, she said during her trial “ It is lawful for me so to do. As it is all your practices and can you find a warrant for yourself and condemn me for the same thing? It was in practice before I came there-fore I was not the first” during her trail it becomes obvious that she is being persecuted for having the audacity to be an opinionated women. To the modern reader the trial is a farce and a mockery. However during this period, it may be a step toward equality. The idea that women, who preached “heretical” ideas were to be afforded a trial attests to the rule of law over that of even the laws of God. At first the majority of the colony supported her revolutionary views, unfortunately, when her main opposition, John Winthrop, won the governorship of the Mass Bay Colony she was quickly put to trial. She was tried for "traducing the ministers," in 1637. The Cambridge International dictionary defines traduce as “to criticize (someone or something) very negatively” so in essence she was arrested and tried under the charge of sever criticism.   She was held under house arrest, and then later exiled with some of her followers to the town of Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, which would later become Rhode Island. The trial of Anne Hutchinson illustrates a number of important topics.
 

 

One such article is the saturation of misogynistic ideas in the colonies. Women during the colonial period had very little opportunity to work. Jobs for women were very few and far between. While they did a great deal of labor, this labor did not translate into any sort of financial independence. In fact any income generated by a married women by law belonged to her husband. There are numerous cases where a husband before his death attempted to transfer his funds to his wife, only to have the authorities refuses to recognize this transfer of funds after his death. One such example was the case of William and Eunice Cole.
 

 

Understanding the colonial belief in the supernatural is important to understanding the witchcraft phenomena. Early Americans believed in the powers of good and evil and in the biblical presence of god in their everyday lives. However they also felt that their world was a battleground where good and evil attempts to way the moral realm in the great battle. The felt that all natural disasters were signs of Gods wrath and that there were signs and omen in the world to remind the mortal of their sinfulness. An example of this are the books published by Increase Mather, the Bishop of New England. They were on the ominous nature of signs and eclipse’s. His son, Cotton would later write a book on witchcraft and possession.
 

 

Another serous hindrance to women in puritan society was the idea that women were more inclined towards evil then men. This idea comes from the puritan belief in the concept of original sin, and the story of Eve and the apple. Many puritan people believed that since Eve ate the apple in a search for knowledge that this was the inherent nature of all women, to seek knowledge no matter its’ source, good or ill. This sort of thinking would lead to continued accusations of witchcraft on women. However of closer examination of the witchcraft there are also economic considerations in many of the accused witch’s cases.
 

 

However the economic ties to the accusations of witchcraft were not simple. Part of the problem was the initial inheritance laws in New England. As in many agricultural societies the children received part of the families accumulated estate.  Usually when they married.  Sons normally received land and money whereas daughters usually received movable item such as furniture. While there was no law pertaining to this dowry, it was customary. Also it was custom, now law, that dictated the split up of properties and funds in the event of the head of the households passing. Custom dictated that the widow should receive one third of all assets to live on for as long as she too lived. This property was to be used for her continued survival, and could not be sold unless absolutely necessary.
 
 

However she could only sell, with the specific permission of the court. It was possible for a man to will more then this one third to his wife. However if a man died without leaving a will, there were several rules that the law followed to divide the property. First the widow was due her one third. The other two thirds were divided amongst the living children. A double portion would be given to the eldest son and then single portions to all of the remaining children. In the case of an all female surviving family, equal portions would be given to all of the daughters. If the children were not of age to inherit, then their portion was held in trust either by the mother or by some other court appointed legal guardian.
 

 

When these rules of inheritance were followed, property ownership tended to devolve to men. None of the inheritance rules signified much more then a women’s ability to access the property. Property inherited by a daughter immediately became the legal possession of her husband. In some cases she would retain title to the land but have no legal jurisdiction over the land without her husbands consent. Since women were to property owners it became easier to label and aberrant women a witch.  There are a number of cases in which women through inheritance were accused of witchcraft.
 

 

Katherine Harrison is one such example. Harrison appears in records in the early 1650’s. She was married to a wealthy landowner who died in 1666 leaving his wife one of the wealthiest people in Wethersfield. Her first accusation of witchcraft came on 25 October 1668 of which she was apparently acquitted. In May of the following year she was accused again, and released. Shortly after her release thirty eight townsmen filed a petition complaining; “shee was suffered to be at libertie,” since she “was lately proved to be deaply guiltie of suspicion of whichcrafte” (Karlsen) among the signers of the petition were a number of the towns most prominent citizens. Some of these citizens were already embroiled in previous legal battles with Harrison over property ownership. In 1668, just prior to her first charge of witchcraft Harrison filed a petition asking for relief from vandalism that had been occurring on her property. Her complaints to the leaders of her community were damages done to and oxen which had been beaten, a cow that a hole had been bored into, a heifer that had been slashed to death and a two year old steer whose back had been broken. In addition her crops had been destroyed. Shortly thereafter, in the fall of the same year, she filed another petition charging the court officers of depleting her estate. The court responded by fining her £40. In the record of her troubles, Harrison is constantly in fear of loosing her lands. In June of 1670 she moved to New York, her reputation for witchcraft followed there. There is a complaint on record filed against her by two of her new neighbors. They were apparently upset that she had been allowed to settle near them. A New York magistrate ruled that she should leave the area. Harrison refused the order. Before any further legal action could be taken against her, her eldest daughter become engaged to one Josiah Hunt. Hunts father, Thomas, became a supporter of Harrison, and appeared in court with other reputable witness’s from the local region in defense of her. With this male support the court ruled, “that in regard there is nothing appears against her deserving the continuance of that obligation shee is to bee releast from it, and hath Liberty to remaine in the towne of Westchester where shee now resides, of any where else in the Government during her pleasure.” (Karlsen) After 1670 there is no further evidence of harassment
 

 

The next case of economic pressure coinciding with accusations of witchcraft is the matter of Susanna Martin. Martin born Susanna North in England in 1625 was the youngest of three daughters. Her Birth mother died early in her life and her father remarried and immigrated to New England in 1639. At the age of twenty-one, Susana married George Martin a widower, shortly thereafter she gave birth to the first of nine children. Early in 1668 Susana’s father died. She and her surviving sister expected an inheritance of approximately £150, however her father had changed his will earlier in live leaving everything but £22 to his wife. Susanna’s share of this new inheritance came to 20 shillings. In April 1699 a bond was posted for  £100  for Susanna Martin to appear at the next court of Assistants, “Upon Suspicion of witchcraft” Coincidently this is the same day that George Martin sued William Sargent for slander against his wife. George accused William of saying that, “was a witch, and he would call her witch…” also George sued Williams brother for saying “that his son George Martin was a bastard and that Richard Marttin was Goodwife Marttin’s imp.” (Karlsen) While her husband sued people, Susanna was bound by the magistrates and taken to the high court to be tried for witchcraft. While no records of this trial exist, we can deduce that she was released since in October of that same year, there is evidence that George was again in court to defend his wife verses charges of slander against a neighbor. A number of years later, the Martin family was in court disputing the distribution of the estate of Susanna’s father, during these proceedings her stepmother changed her own will, and promptly died. The new will left 40 shillings to Susanna and her sister. What follows is a jumble of legal proceedings in attempts to gain the rest of Susanna’s lost inheritance and lawsuits which left the Martin’s poor and without the sought after inheritance.  The next mention of Susanna Martin is when her sister Mary dies in 1682, followed by her husband in 1686.  She was accused of witchcraft in 1692 by one of the “possessed” women of Salem who claimed that she had “greviously afflected” them.  (Karlsen)   To the infamous Cotton Mather she was a wicked and vile creature. He openly expressed his scorn and distaste for her. Unfortunately years of living under the accusation of witchcraft had left it’s mark on her. Sasanna Martin was found guilty of witchcraft and was executed along with five other women on July 19 1692.
 

 

According to Karlsen’s studies of these cases she draws the conclusion that there is a pattern. The women involved either a) were daughters of parents who had no living sons. b) Were women in marriages which brought forth only daughters or c) were women in marriages with no children at all. In other words when there are no male heirs to inherit the women stood to inherit there fathers estates and were all denied or had difficulties inheriting. Between 1620 and 1725 there were 96 women accused and 41 tried for witchcraft that had no sons or brothers. Out of these women, 25 were convicted and 17 were executed. On the other hand during the same period of time the numbers for women with brother or sons was noticeable different. 62 women were accused and out of these only 23 were ever brought to trial.

 

Even more startling is that only 2 out of the 8 convictions were executed. In other words, women with male inheritors in their families only 11% was ever executed as opposed to the 89% of women without that influence.  While America was struggling to place the roles of women new ideas were beginning to emerge.
 

 

One of these is the idea that law is the supreme authority in America. Throughout American history, even before the precepts of the revolution, there are numerous examples of the courts being called to decided on public disputes. This is significant since the colonists came from a climate where there were arbitrary rulings, either from the crown or the church.  While the Europeans were also persecuting women accused of being witch’s they were arbitrarily putting to death thousands of people. While here there was a mere fraction of that number even brought to trial? According to Hawke, “By modern standards the Salem trials were unfair. But they were trials, each with judges and juries composed of the accuser’s peers. Every participant, accused included, accepted as fact that witches were servants of the Devil who could destroy men, beasts, and even communities if they went unpunished.” He further goes on to agree with an opinion by Chadwick Hansen that the American witch trials offer a ““Genuinely exemplary record,” especially when compared to Europe’s Treatment of witchcraft” In some ways even the persecution of witchcraft can be seen as a progression for women in early America.
 

 

Women in early American had hard lives. They were worked hard, treated unfairly and persecuted by organized religion and the law. However being a woman in America offered a change. America as a new nation offered women the unique chance to change the roles of women and shape a new nation. Even though the women that lived at that time were only able to make small steps, these steps planted the seeds for a glorious revolution to take place. There are a number of important differences that make a women’s life in colonial America different other women’s experiences of the same time. The integration of cultural idea from the native populations was one of these. Since the social dynamics of native life was very different from the Europeans there would be some degree of exchange between the two cultures. Another was the movement of women like Ann Hutchinson from the realm of heretic to political leader. Hutchinson creation of lasting political body left a legacy for women of later generations to follow. In addition the attempts of the judicial systems to treat women fairly even while persecuting them.  Would begin a legacy of fairness and equality under law that had never existed anywhere on earth save in the great experiment of the United States

---

Bibliography

Cambridge International Dictionary Online, Cambridge International Dictionary, http://uk.cambridge.org/elt/reference/ , Cambridge University, Cambridge  University Press 2000

This site was used for reference. It is included simply since It was an online source.

This Web sight was a transcript of primary sources from the Salem which trials and was useful for illustrating the how different Americans were from Europe in dealing with witchcraft and women.

This web site was useful as background information for the life of Anne Hutchinson.

This web site was useful in validating and juxtaposing the facts of Anne Hutchinson’s life against the opposition that faced her in the Mass Bay Colony.

Everyday Life in Early America was very usefull in paining a picture of what roles each member of a community would play and how the entire community related to those roles. It is usefull in gaining an overall picture of colonial society.

This web sight was instructional in the roles of women and gender roles in early America, and help in drawing conclusions and focusing the different examples used in the text.

Women’s America was very useful, it is a book of Essay’s and Primary sources that related to women’s roles throughout American history. It focused on many different roles that women played, in politics, the economy and how the these area’s of life effected the women of those times.

Ulrich. Laurel Thatcher “The ways of her household” Kerber 37-46

Court transcript “The Trial of Anne Hutchinson” Kerber 47-50

Karlsen, Carol F. “the devil in the shape of a women: The Economic Basis of Witchcraft” Kerber 50-64

Marcus, Robert D., America Firsthand. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997

America Firsthand is a compilation of primary sources. However there was little in this book that related to the women’s roles in the Colonial Period. There are transcripts that may be more useful to those interested in women’s roles of the revolutionary period and later.