Colonial Women Essay -- History Historical Colonies Gender Essays

Colonial Women Women did not have an easy life during the American Colonial period. Before a cleaning lady reached 25 eld of age, she was expected to be married with at least one child. Most, if not all, domestic tasks were performed by women, and roughly domestic goods and food were prepared and created by women. Women performed these tasks without having whatsoever healthy acknowledgment. Although women had to endure many hardships, their legal and personal lives were becoming less restricted, although the change was occurring at a snails pace. Life for the colonial woman was a mix of imprisonment and freedom in their marriages, homes, and in the American Colonial legal system. Women who chose to come to the American Colonies had a 100 percent kick downstairs of finding a husband. Men outnumbered women almost six to one. Any woman could be choosy when finding a husband, for countless men tried to romance her into marriage. Because women could choose their husbands, they could marry those men who would give her the most benefits. A woman did not have to marry a man who would treat her poorly. In most New England colonies, a woman could sue her husband for a divorce if he treated her without respect and abused or neglected her. Although women had the legal perk to divorce a bad husband, she did not have any legal rights under the law. As soon as she married her husband, she lost all legal existence. For a woman to have any place in the legal system it was better to remain single. Single wom...