History 3070    MacKay

Women in Early America 1600s - 1790s

Discussion Foci:

1. A European settlement counted itself as having passed the stage of a temporary camp only after it had attracted a reasonable complement of women. Once founded, communities were maintained in large part by women's labor.  Define subsistence/domestic production economy. What are the roles of women in such economic systems? What is a "female economy."
2. Use readings,  Does the American Family Have a History? and Images of Colonial American Families and explain how the family portraits reflect patriarchal values, gender relations, attitudes towards children, the democratization of society in early American, white, middle-class society. Consider the ways that these portraits reflect patriarchal values, gender relations, attitudes towards children, the democratization of society,