Summary Of First Generation By Carol Berkin

Imagine, if you will, being stripped of all power within your life. Everything is now in your partner’s control, and you are submissive to them always. Do not speak out of turn, do not pursue dreams, and more than anything, do not disobey. The church, the law, the townsfolk, and your partner all have claim in how you should live. In fact, the only person without a say is yourself. Sadly, this is what colonial women endured every day of their life. Carol Berkin’s “First Generations; Women in Colonial America” paints a picture of inequality. Women were groomed throughout life to marry, and then stripped of all independence once wed. Many colonial women were not allowed to feel the virtues of motherhood. Not even church could give them

As Berkin explains, “the father took care to see that his sons learned to read and also write and do sums; for his daughter…it was enough that she could read and sew” (4). Additionally, there were many sacrifices required to wed. A single woman had rights to legal matters, work, property, and heirs to name a few. However, Berkin describes marriage as an, “exchange of her legal persona for the protection and support of her husband” (14). The women were stripped of all possessions and treated as children or criminals within the law (14). Men were required to provide, while women submitted under their authority (15). Although they assumed this would allow for a happy marriage, this ideal was rarely upheld and led to many arguments within the household (15). Influenced by their upbringing, most women married despite these

On this land, they not only had voices, but equal responsibility. Women were leaders of agriculture, often had control over land, and oversaw food distribution. The Iroquois women had political power. Not only did matrons nominate the males for chief, but they could initiate their removal (63). Berkin informs us, “Women policed behavioral boundaries, they were a legitimating authority and an interest group to be heeded…” (63). Women were not only political, but religious figureheads. They were allowed as “keepers of faith” and were honored for their roles in the community during religious ceremonies (64). One 18th century French commentator argues, “Nothing, is more real than the superiority of women. It is of them that the nation really consists…”