Native and European Women in the early colonial era Essay

Native and European Women in the early colonial era - Essay Example Women worked in groups especially in the farms, farms tending to the crops such as corn. Group work seemed to make work lighter for the women and many groups came from extended families. Women work was appreciated greatly as they did most of the household chores and mad sure that the family as well fed. Men were not offering much assistance and leisured around hunting animals, fishing, and building homes Women used to tend farmlands although it was a hard task during the pre-colonial times especially farming tobacco. Some of the families with enough resources could hire slaves to help in the farms. The slave women performed most of the household chores and in the farms. Women in England had a lot of authority over their women and at some time there were laws by the law-makers defined the roles for women. They came up with two distinct roles of women, the good wife free and white performed domestic chores around the house (Ulrich, 1991). The other one was the agricultural laborer mostly the blacks and slaves. White women later acquired a clear place to inherit land and another policy allowed widows and daughters to occupy the land. The native women most of them slaves serving as cooks, hairdressers, housekeepers, washerwomen, and tailors. The slaves worked in the farms as labourers and never got time for themselves. These women were to serve their masters and carry out all the housew ork without pay. Men were more than women, which created some imbalance; women became more valuable and appreciated in marriage. Women got more rights such as the right to keep any property that she brought in marriage as asserted by Ulrich (1991). A woman was supposed to be a loving wife, a mother, and a true housekeeper. Later women started owning lands and venturing in other areas such as businesses, managers of inns, and taverns. Men appreciated their women and allowed their