History 116: Women in America

Helen C. Rountree, "Powhatan Indian Women: The People Captain John Smith Barely Saw," Ethnohistory 45:1 (winter 1998).

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, "The Ways of Her Household"

1. According to Rountree, why are Powhatan women "unlikely to be drudges"?

2. In what what ways does a gendered division of labor facilitate Powhatan women's autonomy (individual and collective)? In other words, how might "women's work" lead to women having independence, power, and control over their daily lives in real and practical terms?

3. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich describes the material goods found in three early colonial women's homes. What were three things the women had in common and what were some things that were different between them. Think of region and economic status when formulating your answer.

4. Ulrich doesn't focus on the relationships between men and women, however, we can make some assumptions about how much time men and women spent together as they moved throughout their days.

Did men and women do the same sorts of tasks or chores or were they different? In other words, to what extent were their daily lives segregated by sex? Explain your answer.

5. Thinking of the women's lives described in Rountree and Ulrich, describe some similarities and differences. Just jot some ideas down here and we will use them as a jumping off point for class discussion.

• Similarities

• Differences