Introduction
During the colonial period in America life was so had for the common man especially the immigrants and the American Indians. People had to work extra hard and they also endured a lot of suffering in order to make ends meet.
For example the women who lost their spouses had to assume the family roles of their husbands. In the Southern colonies the number of men was really high as compared to that of women. Life was always challenging for the married people and their marriages rarely survived. In this colonial set up everybody worked regardless of his or her gender.
In the traditional American society, women were often exempted from participating in commercial activities (Berkin, 2006). They were entrusted with domestic chores like washing, cleaning houses, and cooking. On the other hand, men worked in various farms and businesses. They also believed that women were weak Compared to men who were physically strong. Women were also kept out of political activities and they could not vote or contest for public offices.
Women Participation in Blacksmith Trade during the Colonial Period in America
With the coming of the colonialists there was division of labor which led to people specializing in different activities. Labor became very important and women took this opportunity to explore their potential skills in different activities. It is in this context that women started participating in commercial activities. For example some women weaved baskets, while others worked in farms as cattle keepers. Others also engaged in various trading activities. For example some women worked in the blacksmith industry (Terry, 1997).
Despite the numerous discriminations that were often leveled against women, they worked had in commercial activities whenever they had a chance. Women in Williamsburg participated in several activities like weaving, making clothes and blacksmith activities (Martin, 2008). The female blacksmiths were mostly African Americans and American Indians who had very low social status in the American society. There is also enough evidence that some of them learnt the art of blacksmith from others (Martin, 2008).
This trade impacted on their lives differently. Since this trade required a lot of energy, they had to really struggle to cope with its demands. For example they had to shape the materials into various items and this process was difficult. The working conditions in the factories were also very precarious and this exposed them to a lot of danger (Berkin, 2006). For example some of them could be injured in the process of working.
Their participation in this trade also impacted on their family relationships. For example they could financially support their families hence they now assumed the roles which were previously done by men. This could occasionally lead to such women demanding for better treatment in the family. Such demands often culminated to divorce cases due to domestic quarrels.
Industrialization also improved the working conditions of these women through the introduction of modern tools and machines which made work easier. However, their trade was also negatively affected by the cheap goods which were exported from Europe to America.
This led to stiff competition hence their profit margins were reduced. It was also very unusual to find women doing such activities and whenever strangers met them doing this, they were often really amazed and they could ask them numerous questions (Terry, 1997). This happened because of the common believe that the blacksmith trade was a male domain.
Conclusion
From this discussion we can conclude that women were very instrumental in economic activities during the colonial period in America. They always struggled to survive using various mechanisms (Berkin, 2006). This is best explained by the number of activities they engaged in. The analysis of this trade is very important because it enables us to understand how the gender roles of women were reshaped during the colonial period in America.
References
Berkin, C. (2006). Revolutionary mothers: women in the struggle for America’s independence. New York: Vintage.
Martin, J. (2008). Ordinary courage: the revolutionary war. Washington D.C: Wiley-Blackwell.
Terry, A. (1997). First generations: women in colonial America. New York: Hill and Wang.