Family Life In New England

How did the number and condition of women affect family life and society In New England, among Southern whites, and among African Americans? The number and condition of women affected the values and lifestyle of the community the women were in. In New England, the women were plentiful, emphasizing a family life and a town-like, sharing community. The opposite is found in the south, where women were rare and people typically kept to themselves or their own families only and tended to their expansive plantation. Finally, the African American women were also plentiful as well, causing them to be viewed as a more viable source of slavery for the Americans to use. Therefore, the women of the region determined the importance of family life in the
region, as well as the magnitude of the stagnation of social classes and the importance of a community by their abundance and strength. The New England region was one of a quiet, reserved town life, creating a type of image spurred because of the great amount of women who lived in the area.
From its’ foundation, the New England region harbored a great amount of people, the average lifespan of these people was in their sixties. This stability and abundance of women created an environment suited for family life. Women could live long enough to become married, have children, raise children, and see their children go through the process. In fact, it has been said that the New England colonists invented family, because they were like a shining beacon of hope in a dismal, violent wilderness. This was a huge impact of society as well. As the family life came about, so did the concept of sharing. A community within the town began to grow, regulating the wages people received and the prices on objects would be deemed based on the status of the families in the region. Thus, women affected the New England region because there abundance allowed for the creation of family and a community-like
region. The southern white, in contrast, were complete opposites of those New England.
This was foreshadowed by the disastrous results of the maiden settlements of the British, which all ended with a horrible and disappointing conclusion of failure. These conditions made women keep away from the area, only attracting the young gentry searching for fertile land to cultivate and profit off of. Also, the condition of the women that embarked on the journey there was poor, the average life span of the person being below 50, a sharp and dismal contrast to their New England neighbors. The lack of women forced the men to compete to get the remaining women, for the ratio of women to men was about 1 woman per six men. This discouraged the nations of family lives, for so few people had the opportunity to even create a family. Thus, this pushed the people of the region into a sort of isolation, focusing them of their crops more than their neighbors. As the community was much less valued in the region, social classes began to fluctuate, creating an obvious difference between the rich and poor in the community. Large plantation owners dwarfed the small farmers and completely overshadowed the slaves who worked on the plantation. Thus, because women were far and few between in the Southern colonies, and lived for a short time, the communities became spread apart and isolated, incredibly stagnated in wealth and
power. Finally, the amount and the condition of women played a critical part of African Americans in the American colonies’ society as well. On the search for a viable work force, the African American slaves were turned to for their reputed sturdiness. However, this was not the only factor that went through the Americans’ minds when choosing the use the African Americans as slaves. Women were abundant and strong in the African American society, which meant that the African Americans could reproduce and create more slaves for the colonists to use. Also, the strength of the women made them as well a viable work force, aiding to the amount of work that could be done by the slaves within the colonies. Another point contingent to the reproduction of African Americans was the rights of the children. Because so many African Americans had a family lifestyle, their owners were able to claim their babies as their property from the moment of birth, thus adding another slave and not only increasing help around the plantations, but also adding to the social stature of the master, for more slaves was equated to more wealth and power. Thus, African American women’s fortitude and abundance help make African Americans a viable work force, for the women would work and create new workers for the colonists to use. Therefore, women affected the importance of family life within the region, as well as the importance of community and the distinction between social classes. In New England, women affected the New England region because there abundance allowed for the creation of family and a community-like region. In the southern colonies, because women were far and few between, and lived for a short time, the communities became spread apart and isolated, incredibly stagnated in wealth and power. Finally, African American women’s fortitude and abundance help make African Americans a viable work force, for the women would work and create new workers for the colonists to use.