18th Century European Women

First Generations: Women of Colonial America, written by Carol Berkin, is a novel that took ten years to make. Carol Berkin received her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She has worked as a consultant on PBS and History Channel documentaries. Berkin has written several books on the topic of women in America. Some of her publications include: Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence (2004) and Civil War Wives: The Life and Times of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant (2009). The prejudice that the author brings forward strongly is the notion of feminism.

During the early to mid-nineteenth century women’s roles were seen to be confined to domestic affairs, but this phase would only lead to a stronger voice for women coming from within the home. The Second Great Awakening in the early 1800’s sparked a need for religion in the American culture. Women dominantly filled the churches leaving men to fend the vices of the world alone. In efforts to bring religion back, a new role for women was formed, the Cult of True Womanhood (Ginzberg 8). The ideal woman of this time period was a pure, feminine, and submissive woman that was always considered inferior to men mentally and physically (Lavender 1). Women thus became the face of religion, and became their job to convert the men of the country back

For decade women have been discriminated by society, all around the world. In many countries women are still treated as the inferior sex. “daily life for women in the early 1800s in Europe(Britain), was that of many obligations and few choices. Some even compare the conditions of women in time as a form of slavery.” (Smith, Kelley. "Lives of Women in the Early 1800s." Lives of Women in the Early 1800s. N.p., 2002.) Women have always been expected to find a husband, get marry and have children and nothing less was expected of them. Women during decades ago and even today in 2017, many women live by the norm that if you don’t get marry you’re a dishonor/disgrace to the family. Many men treated women as objects and without a doubt not as equals.

The Renaissance marked the most pivotal moment in human history that ended an archaic time, and initiated modernity. The rise in power of the female voice started during this period and built the foundation for feminism. The secular society of the renaissance began the historical rebirth for women, as they became liberated from inferiority through education. The start of educating women led western society to recognize the intellectual extent of female potential for the first time in history.

In her article, “Three Inventories, Three Households”, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich argues that women’s work was crucial not simply for subsistence but that “women were essentials in the seventeenth century for the very same reasons they are essentials today-for the perpetuation of the race” (Ulrich 51). She believes, women were expected to do everything. They were not only to take care of the children, but they were also cook, clean, raise the greens and ranches. Mainly, women plays important role for the survival and continuation of life.

Throughout the 16th century Reformation through the Enlightenment in the 18th century, was a period of time that saw both change and continuation in European society. One of the biggest examples of this was the role of women and how they should function in European society. Women in this era faced a large amount of hardships and obstacles from great leaders and philosophers such as Martin Luther and Immanuel Kant, who were both against the equality of women to men at this time. From the time period of the 16th century Reformation all the way up to the Enlightenment in the 18th century, the women of Europe were viewed as fragile and unworkable women whose main priority and purpose should only be being a housewife. As time progressed, women

Essentially, marriage in the 1700’s was seen merely as a means of birthing heirs and finding a way to financially support yourself, so it resulted in both men and women being devalued. It is universally known that women were often treated as inept and helpless rather than sophisticated people with autonomy and capabilities. In fact, during this time, “married women were consistently compared with minor children and the insane-- both categories of people considered incapable of caring for themselves. To marry a woman was, in one sense, to ‘adopt’ her-- or at least to adopt responsibility for all the circumstances of life with which she entered the marriage” (Teachman 39). Furthermore, when women got married, they would legally cease to exist.

Women of the Medieval Times Women have always had a significant role in history even though they were treated horrible in most cases. During the Medieval Times was really the first time women were allowed to become more than just a house wife. The fight for equality has always been a struggle and even in today’s society is still an ongoing battle. Although women of lower and middle class were treated poorly in the Medieval Times, some powerful women held great responsibility and were looked up too by both men and children; despite being admired, “men were thought to be not only physically stronger but more emotionally stable, more intelligent, and morally less feeble” (Hopkins 5). “The position of women in the Medieval Society was greatly influenced by the views of the Roman Catholic Church” (Heeve).

Women in the 1600s to the 1800s were very harshly treated. They were seen as objects rather than people. They were stay-at-home women because people didn’t trust them to hold jobs. They were seen as little or weak. Women living in this time period had to have their fathers choose their husbands.

Introduction Women in the Middle ages were treated as the second class members within their social class. They were taught to be obedient to their husbands and were expected to run the household and raise children. Their role in the society, however, was much more complex, while some medieval women achieved a high level of equality with men. In the Middle Ages women had a secondary role, coming second after men.

Many people have heard that women in the seventeenth century had little to no rights, and that would be almost correct. In Amsterdam, women had more rights than most of the women in Europe at the time, which really, was not much. An unmarried woman had more freedoms than their married counterparts, but being unmarried in this century still had downfalls. If an unmarried woman never wed or had children in her lifetime many people considered it to be a waste of her life. An unmarried woman was allowed her own property and businesses but if she was to ever marry, then the husband would assume ownership of it all. Women during this time were told to remain silent, to be seen but not heard. Women were often controlled by their fathers, brothers

As Simone de Beauvoir said that '' one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman''. As we can see, in this periods, male-dominated authorities rendered/defined women in a way how they want for their own interests. Briefly, women were defined/created by men rather than nature which in turn creates a critical question that is what was the women in Early Modern Europe? Wives, mother, daughter, sister; nun, heretic, saint, witch, bitch; queen, martyr, seeker and so forth.

Women played an inferior role compared to men in society in the 1600s and 1700s. Yes, women have been considered the weaker gender for generations way before then. One of the characteristics we have seen that Europeans classified Native Americans as savages was their “barbaric idea” of gender equality. In those times colonial women had few career choices if any. Men were greater than women during that time and that is why it was rare to find an unmarried woman. In fact, colonial women married earlier that their English counterparts and had larger families. The main job of the woman was to bare children, and that is why much of the typical woman’s adulthood was spent either as pregnant or nursing. That is why a strong network support and assistance

The Protestant Reformation took place in the 16th century in Europe. This reformation was led by reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. Martin Luther and John Calvin disputed the Church’s views and what they defined Christianity as. Not only did this reformation lead to changes in religious and spiritual life but it also led to consequences for politics and society. The Protestant Reformation caused outbreak in war, which showed the demand for reform to take place.

The Protestant Reformation was when the Catholics were being judged on whether their ways of their church were wrong. It was also when another religion was formed out of that religion with the changes that were thought to be wrong. This was happening from 1500 to 1700. All of this began to happen when Martin Luther began to question the Catholic Church and its’ ways. He saw at least ninety-five things that were wrong with the church.