AP History 10 Henretta Chapter 4 I. New England’s Freehold Society A. Farm Families: in the Household Economy 1. Husband the head of the household In (1712), Reverend Benjamin The Well-Ordered Family – Wadsworth of Boston told women that it was their duty love and reverence” their husbands; girls “to learned from their mothers to be subordinate to their fathers; courts prosecuted more women than men for the crime of fornication. 2. Wife as the Women assumed the role of dutiful helpmates; they tended gardens, spun “helpmate” – thread and yard from flax and wool, wove cloth, knitted sweaters and stockings, made candles and soap, churned milk into butter, fermented malt for beer, preserved meats, and mastered dozens of other household tasks. 3. Motherhood Most women married in their early twenties and had given birth six or seven times by – their early forties. Fear of death during childbirth and the importance of baptism for the new baby were believed to be a reason many Puritan women clung to the church even when fewer men were attending. 4. Restrictions No equality for women within the church; most women accepted such restrictions as – social norms. B. Farm Property: Inheritance 1. Family authority Emigrants wanted farms to provide for them and their grown children; landless – children could be placed as indentured servants until age 18 or 21; landless men hoped to climb from laborer to tenant to freeholder. 2. Children of wealthy parents Marriage portion was given when children of well-to-do farmers were in – their early twenties; consisted of land, livestock, or farm equipment; enabled parents to choose their children’s spouses because economic concerns outweighed love in the long-term interests of the extended family.
AP History 10 Henretta Chapter 4 I. New England’s Freehold Society A. Farm Families: in the Household Economy 1. Husband the head of the household – In The Well-Ordered Family (1712), Reverend Benjamin Wadsworth of Boston told women that it was their duty “to love and reverence” their husbands; girls learned from their mothers to be subordinate to their fathers; courts prosecuted more women than men for the crime of fornication. 2. Wife as the “helpmate” – Women assumed the role of dutiful helpmates; they tended gardens, spun thread and yard from flax and wool, wove cloth, knitted sweaters and stockings, made candles and soap, churned milk into butter, fermented malt for beer, preserved meats, and mastered dozens of other household tasks. 3. Motherhood – Most women married in their early twenties and had given birth six or seven times by their early forties. Fear of death during childbirth and the importance of baptism for the new baby were believed to be a reason many Puritan women clung to the church even when fewer men were attending. 4. Restrictions – No equality for women within the church; most women accepted such restrictions as social norms. B. Farm Property: Inheritance 1. Family authority – Emigrants wanted farms to provide for them and their grown children; landless children could be placed as indentured servants until age 18 or 21; landless men hoped to climb from laborer to tenant to freeholder. 2. Children of wealthy parents – Marriage portion was given when children of well-to-do farmers were in their early twenties; consisted of land, livestock, or farm equipment; enabled parents to choose their children’s spouses because economic concerns outweighed love in the long-term interests of the extended family.
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