The Role Of Patriarchalism In The United States

Patriarchalism has been embedded in society for a long period of time. For the United States, the patriarchy dates back to the 17th century, a time when colonists were living on America’s soil. Patriarchalism is a society where men hold the most power, dictate how the society runs, and control over other members of the society. However, this system was not new to the women in the colonies. They had been living in the patriarchy for years in Europe. Due to this, they suffered because of the power that men had over them. Through limited rights, restrictive social roles, and abuse, patriarchalism detrimentally affected the lives of women living in and around the North American English colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, constraining women’s opportunities. Patriarchalism limited women’s rights
The women were stripped of the opportunity and the basic right to change anything in politics and economics, both of which had major impacts on the lives of everyone in the colonies. Any law or rules that the men made women would have continued to live with that law, dictating their entire lives. For example, a woman who was having discussions about her religion in her home was put on trial. Since all white men directed the courts, she was put on trial against the men that thought that women should be able to have discussions. They would say that what she did was “a thing not tolerable nor comely in the sight of God nor fitting for your sex”. To strengthen the patriarchy, the men in the court decided to give a harsh punishment to scare other women from standing up against them. The court had told her, “the sentence of the court you hear is that you are banished from our jurisdiction as being a woman not fit for our