Speaking about Martha Ballard attitude towards God it is worth mentioning that woman occupied a special place in the life of the American society of the XVIII century. This theme is of current issue now because in the conditions of developing feminism and emancipating, everything that is connected with female themes attracts much attention.
So, the focus of the work is that God was viewed as fatalistic by Martha Ballard. Though there are many contradictory moments in her diary because she seemed to be completely indifferent to God and to God’s role in her life and in the life of her community. She did not attend the church often. As it is known every decent person who believe in God was to attend the church at least once a week, but Martha Ballard did not do this systematically. Nevertheless she was always grateful to God for having children.
In general it is worth noting that women of that time were under the pressure of some social rules and norms, that was why everything was taken as fate by them. And that was why they understood the role of God as fatalistic.
The type of family in the USA, the colonial period, was based on so-called “family economy”, had nuclear structure that is consisted of two generations – spouses and their children. The family, besides economic functions and functions of reproduction, played a role of a social regulator. As from early age child labor was used in housekeeping, education of children differed by severity and ascetism.
A great attention was paid to the family relations which are fallen outside the limits “parents-children” which make the essence nuclear families. Such family relations played a significant economic and psychological role, have been most developed and were the basis of ethnic traditions.
The social status of female inhabitants of colonies has been as much as possible approached to the status English women in the sense that they were respected, free, were in safety, but in full ignorance. The isolation from the families of immigrants from the roots has imposed the print on their character of intrafamily attitudes which was less authoritative and has been much less connected with clan concepts.
On this boundless ground the life of women was defined by such factors as demographic disballance – there were more men, than women; high birth rate and the same death rate; the social structure where there were no borders between family and community, between private and social life. And still, owing to the wide circulation of Puritan morals, the cultural tradition ordered to women the certain problems and gave them the role of submission to the man.
And therefore the obedience of the wife was similar to the fear of husband as God and was a metaphor behind which all hierarchy of social attitudes caused by a political system of a society disappeared. The woman enslaved not only religion, but also the right. According to English laws, the husband acted the role of “trustee” of the wife. Receiving the status of the married woman, the woman lost any legal independence. She did not possess the property right and could not sign contracts; it was forbidden even to earn money. The Social status of the wife was defined by a social status of the husband. Only lonely women who were older than twenty one and widows – possessed the legitimate right to dispose the property and to conclude transactions.
The book describes the condition of medicine of that time. Martha Ballard gives her pieces of advice to the women who are going to have a baby. She did not mention any abortions and she really had a great experience in midwifing, she really believed that God made fate. Martha an exellent midwife: Cloudy morn, raind aftern. I have felt very feeble. mrs Stone Came in to See me, Shee brot wood to the doore. Shee informd me that William Brookss wife fell from the Scaffold of her Fathers Barn yesterday and hurt her So her life is not Expected. Nancy Smith here, Says Shee is not any better. I was Calld by Wilm Saunders at 4h pm, his wife was Deld at 10 Evn of her 3d dagt & 4th Child and is Comfortable. I laid down & Slept Some (April 17 – 24, 1812).
It is a well-known fact that not many women could get education and they were lack of knowledge in different fields of life. That is one more reason to state that they considered the role of God to be fatalistic. Martha Ballard viewed God as a strong force which helped to life. She really considered that much depended on this force. Martha loved her children very much and her love to them showed that she was really grateful to God for having children. Nevertheless it very hard for her to survive the death of her three children and even her belief could not console her. But it was fate and she took it.
So, the role of fate was really very important in life of the society of that time and people believed in God strongly.
Works cited
A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812.