Journey From Restrained To Independent Essay

The Journey from Restrained to Independent The evolution of women’s rights has a unique history of its own. Women’s rights have evolved tremendously throughout many decades. Going back to the colonial times, English women did not have personal rights and they served as maids to their loved ones. Modern women have the freedom that our female ancestors did not have. Due to the poor treatment that women received during the colonial times, many of them made the decision to escape from their homes and live with the Native Americans captors. The Chesapeake society was located in the Maryland and Virginia region during the 16th century. During this time, women were mistreated by men and not taken into consideration. In the book, “First Generations;

One of the differences between the Puritans and the Chesapeake was that the puritans were more religious and they believed that god decided the outcome of their future. Men physically abused the majority of women in the 17th century. During this time period, there were no laws that were established to protect females from domestic abuse. Some of the examples of domestic abuse that Berkin explains in her book are, “John Tillison chained his wife by the leg while he plow in order to keep her for leaving the house, or when a Maine husband kicked his wife and hit her with a club because she refused to feed his pig, they were considered to be exercising their right to discipline subordinates disrespectful of legitimate authority” (31). This is an example of why women during this era struggled excessively. A few of the duties that women had during the 1600s were cooking, cleaning, taking care of their children and husbands, and also assisting their husbands in agricultural work. Furthermore, women were also expected to give birth every two years until they reached the menopause stage. Overall, women were not pleased with their

The Native American tribes compose an important part of U.S. history because they cooperated in the process of helping women obtain more civil rights and most importantly respect. A woman that made an impact in female history was Wetamo. Wetamo belonged to the Wampanoag group during the 17th century in the Rhode Island region. She was married to a son of Massasoit, who was the leader of the Wampanoag group (Berkin 52). When the Europeans came to the New World they made an agreement with the Native Americans. The agreement was that they would support and make amends with each other. This agreement did not last long because by 1664, the Europeans were taking advantage of the Natives by stealing their land and killing their people. This is where Wetamo comes into act. She was a woman who stood up for her people and fought to protect their land, unfortunately most of the Wampanoag members decided to allow the Europeans to take over their possessions (Berkin 55). During the war of the Natives against the Europeans, the Natives captured a lot of men and women. Most women that were captured by the Natives prized their new lifestyle and the way they were treated. The Natives’ lifestyle was different from the Chesapeakes’ and the Puritans’ lifestyle. Essentially, females spent most of their time with other females and their children in