English Colonies - Women & the American Story

English ColoniesLee Boomer2025-12-10T08:06:10-05:00

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English Colonies

Key Ideas

In the 1700s the English colonies of North America began to shape an identity and culture separate from that of Great Britain.
The experiences of women in the English colonies varied widely based on race, class, and age.
Some women in the English colonies fought for greater autonomy while also being subject to traditions and norms meant to subjugate them.

Introduction

Detail from Jean-Charles Baquoy, Frontspiece, Atlas Universel, 1757. Gilles and Didier. Robert de Vaugondy, cartographers. The New York Historical Library.

English Colonies

In the 1700s the British colonies in North America began to assert themselves as unique political and cultural entities connected to but distinct from Great Britain. First, the colonies themselves grew. The English acquired the colony of New York from the Dutch, and the spread of settler colonialism brought new lands under English control. But this expansion did not occur peacefully. Indigenous populations across the continent actively resisted the encroachment of settlers, and English settlers also clashed with settlers from other countries. There were also internal clashes, in part fueled by the constant external threats facing the colonies. Meanwhile, the brutality of enslavement and the dehumanization of the slave market led many enslaved Black people to seek to self-emancipate. Less than fifty years after the Salem Witch Trials, New York City was swept up in an eerily similar panic over the possibility of slave revolts.

Throughout this turmoil, the home remained the focus of women’s responsibilities. But some pushed beyond that boundary to seek opportunities in business and commerce. Networks of women authors and innovators introduced improvements to colonial life and education. Some completely bucked the intense pressure to conform, challenging gender norms and religious dogma throughout their lives.

This video is from “Women Have Always Worked,” a free massive open online course produced in collaboration with Columbia University.

Section Essential Questions

Why were women critical to the development of the English colonies in North America? How did these colonies shape the identities and experiences of the women who lived there?
How were women’s activities in this era circumscribed by social and legal limitations?
What effect did a woman’s race, class, or social differences have on her life in this era?
How did the experiences of women in the English colonies differ from life in the Spanish and French colonies?

Resources

A legal principle dating back to the Middle Ages that had significant impact on women’s lives.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

PROFESSIONAL PORTRAITIST

Two works by artist Henrietta Johnston, the first professional female portraitist in the English colonies, illustrate the fashions and values of the eighteenth-century colonies.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

CHILDREN AT WORK

The indenture contract of nine-year-old Elizabeth Fortune reveals the opportunities available to young free Black women in colonial New York.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

free Black colonials, colonial society, British colonies in North America

EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY EDUCATION

These excerpts from Milcah Martha Moore’s textbook reveal the tenets of an eighteenth-century Quaker education.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

CONDITIONAL MANUMISSION

These court cases reveal how enslaved Black people in Virginia sought freedom in the courts after the colonial government made manumitting enslaved people the responsibility of the government.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America, slavery, free Black colonials, self-emancipation, race and racism

THE BUSINESS OF SLAVERY

These pages from the log book of the Sloop Rhode Island starkly demonstrate the treatment of enslaved people during the Middle Passage.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

slavery, colonial society, British colonies in North America, race and racism

FRONTIER DIPLOMACY

This engraving illustrates George Washington’s meeting with Seneca leader Queen Aliquippa, an important ally of the British during the French and Indian War.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

Indigenous cultures of the Americas, French and Indian War

A WOMAN OF BUSINESS

This letter from Mary Alexander illuminates women’s roles in the thriving trade of British New York.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

This advertisement about a runaway enslaved woman contains fascinating clues about her life.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

slavery, self-emancipation, British colonies in North America

THE RAPALJE CHILDREN

This portrait of an affluent colonial family illustrates the different expectations of boys and girls in the eighteenth century.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

SYMBOLS OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

This sampler and chatelaine reveal the skills and responsibilities of upper-class eighteenth-century women.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

WOMEN OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR

Accounts of the variety of ways that women contributed to the war effort during the French and Indian War.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

French and Indian War, Seven Years War, French colonies of North America

THE COMPLEAT HOUSEWIFE

A popular early cookbook shows the expectations of women in the domestic sphere.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

LONDON FASHIONS

Two advertisements that show the changing attitudes toward goods imported from England.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America, colonial trade

Life Stories

SARAH

The story of an enslaved Black woman caught up in the hysteria of the 1741 slave uprising.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

slavery, colonial society, British colonies in North America

MCLENNAN’S ENSLAVED WOMAN

The story of a woman for sale in colonial New York.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

slavery, colonial society, British colonies in North America

THE PUBLIC UNIVERSAL FRIEND

The story of a nonbinary and nonconforming preacher in colonial New England.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America, First Great Awakening

The story of a Quaker scientist, poet, and innovator.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America

ELIZA LUCAS PINCKNEY

The story of a woman who used her knowledge of botany to expand her family’s business.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America, STEM

The story of a free Black woman who tried to use the court system to secure her family’s freedom.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

Slavery and emancipation, race and racism, Free Black colonials, British colonies in North America

The story of a woman who devoted her life to the study of the natural world.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:

colonial society, British colonies in North America, STEM