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Puritan Attitudes Towards Women

427 Words2 Pages

Barrett Neves
Instructor: Luna
History 1 Tuesday 8:10-9:30
9/28/15
Article Response, Part 1: Annotating and Paraphrasing
Saxton, Martha. "Bearing the Burden? Puritan Wives." History Today 1 Oct. 1994
28-33, Print
Topic: Attitudes towards Women
In Puritan communities women, were for the most part respected and held importance on the future of these communities. However not every women or wife within the communities was, some were mistreated. Men praised the patient endurance of wives with abusive husbands (Saxton 29). Others simply acknowledged their mothers, wives, or other female relatives as inspirational or spiritually influential to them (29). With the influence and strength women had it could and did bring them respect in their families. It would be an important heritage to women of the later era (29).
Topic: Obedience
For Puritan wives obedience and to be under the authority of man was essential. All agreed that it was essential to martial satisfaction and should exist regardless of the husband’s comportment (Saxton 29). In addition men envied the idea and practice of the obedience that women gave them. For women, submission to God’s will and the will of the men around them made their lives, ideally, …show more content…

When normally timid women, rendered even more so by pregnancy, triumphed over the terror of death (Saxton 30). If death did occur during childbirth, the women is heavily praised for their sacrifice. When it came to being a mother, women were religious teachers to their children. She was to work as hard as she could, instilling the principles of religion in her babies and catechizing them as soon as they can speak (31). To righteous puritan mothers the path of god was a must for their children. Mothers with this unique spiritual ferocity who gave more importance to their children’s salvation than to their physical lives, were exhibiting the highest form of human love a Puritan could imagine

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