ok, so no one really wants to talk about the very old history but what about the dawn of america?
there are diaries that date back to these settlers and children of settlers that write about their lives.
in the beginning of our country, women were not allowed to vote and the man controlled the money, unless he asked her to help ,very primary education and she stayed at home while he went off to work.
the men left the home and went out into the wicked world , and worked in all sorts of conditions, some very hazardous. he couldn't wait to get home to relax. he felt his wife had it great because she stayed home to relax all day.
on the other hand, she took care of children, planted and tilled the crops , cooked, churned butter, made candles, killed chickens by her own hands,sewed and spun all day and educated the children the best she could . all she did was work with no break and did not leave home.
if her husband died, she did not even get to keep their things unless she had a son to inherit it. it would go to the state.
however, if she did not marry, she was expected to be a primary school teacher or a spinner because that was about the only jobs available.
so the choices were, to either marry and be submissive to a man and raise a family with all the hard work one must endure OR become a spinster.
if men did not want to marry, they could choose other occupations.
some women wrote in their diaries about how they hated being a slave to a man that they did not love, how they only missed their husband who had been out of town for months a little and others wrote about how their husbands were their best friends and couldn't imagine life without them.
some longed for education, but men thought women were too stupid to go to school and become doctors and such.
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