History Assignment

Cornelia Hughes Dayton, "Taking the Trade: Abortion and Gender Relations in an Eighteenth-Century New England Village"

Ann Little, "Captivity and Conversion: Daughters of New England in French Canada"

Carol Berkin, "African American Women in Colonial Society"

Cornelia Hughes Dayton

1. If a marriage between Grosvenor and Sessions would have been socially acceptable, what was the reason for the abortion that ultimately led to Grosvenor's death? In other words, according to the author, who wanted the pregnancy terminated and why?

2. If abortion was not illegal, why was the attempt to terminate Grosvenor's pregnancy kept a secret for three years? Who was responsible for keeping it secret? How did the case finally come to light?

3. In what ways does the Sessions-Grosvenor casesupport the argument that gender relations shifted in the mid-eighteenth century? What does the author argue was the cause these changes?

Ann Little

4. What reasons does Ann Little give for why captive New England daughters might choose to remain in French Canada rather than return to their families? Which one do you find the most convincing? Why?

5. New England families attempted to secure the return of their family members being held captive in French Canada. In what ways did the attempts differ when the captive was a daughter as opposed to a son? What does this tell us about the status of women in New England?

Carol Berkin

6. According to Berkin, what types of labor did enslaved women perform in the colonies? In what ways did the type of labor performed by these women vary from region to region (cities vs plantations; northern colonies vs southern)?

7. It was common practice for slave owners to sell off the children of enslaved women. Enslaved husbands and wives often lived on separate plantations; one or the other could be sold without a warning. So, despite being denied the opportunity to raise their biological children or live with their husbands, what were some of the tactics enslaved women used to generate kinship/family bonds with their fellow slaves on the plantation or farm? How did they attempt to create a sense of value and worth for themselves and their "families."