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Social Norms of Women, Race and Gender within English and Slave Populations
Social norms are judgements based on guidelines or stereotypes that are considered and shown to be correct or allowed in a group or society of people. Though if these norms are not followed or abided by, citizens have consequences which in most cases leads to jail time, being shunned or even the worst consequence - death. Right from the womb a baby is identified with a gender, skin color, and social classification. Anne Hutchinson, slaves, and servants or underclass populations went against social norms and disregarded proper boundaries. Social norms then are put into place against the inferior gender, race and social class.
.Anne Hutchinson was an English woman who
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based her faith in Puritanism. Hutchinson was a highly influential Bible study leader, who seemed to have taken her faith too far. Hutchinson was a strong believer in the Covenant of Grace which meant that redemption came through the grace of God. She was a strong believer with a sturdy faith and held Bible studies in her home, and criticized the new pastor and the sermons he was giving each Sunday morning. Men even started to attend her sermons where she spoke about God and how he talked to her. She was a highly motivating and smart lady that men wanted her to preach. She was soon taken to trial in 1637 for heresy, a crime defined as having a belief that is opposite of what congregation believes. Due to her temperament and high devotion in God she answered trial questions with faith based responses and challenged the men on their own faith in God. By the end of the trial she was charged with heresy and was excommunicated from her community. In the document by Benjamin Wadsworth this seems to point out that English woman’s “duties” were subservient to what the husband wanted (Wadsworth 1). This document even seems points to the fact that woman were supposed to be treated by their husbands who would follow the Golden Rule (Wadsworth 1). Anne was treated with love and respect from her husband and was not put down for her Bible studies she was holding within the home. Though the judge and some other community members pointed out that her husband should have been giving the message, and she should have been listening. Though looking to the other document written by Sir William Blackstone he seems to degrade women in more ways than Wadsworth had done (Blackstone 2). According to Sir Blackstone Anne should have been beaten as would a slave be beaten by her husband due to going against the gender social norms (Blackstone 3). Social norms for wives were “intended for her protection and benefit” (Blackstone 3). Women back in history really had no power to do as they wanted to, hence why Anne Hutchinson was a feminist figure that stood out during her time period. She went against all men or higher ruling power and questioned them on their faith. Anne was one tough, willed, faithfully devoted woman that stood up for what she believed in even when the social norms degraded her and brought her down. Anne was a white woman and had social norms on herself though others who were a “different” skin color had them as well. Race is just the color or pigmentation of someone’s skin.
Though when slavery and servanthood was occurring this is how they characterized humans and how they decided on superiority. This idea of race then created the discrimination between the English folk and the Native American descents. The words used toward these individuals of different color was so demeaning and horrible to see. Alonso de Zuazo stated that the Negro slaves were needed to be sent over to him in the New World. He was downgrading when speaking of the slaves and talked about making them learn the customs. He even goes forth to mention that it is rare that the stronger slaves die, but when you consider all the work they did, the torture they received and the trip they made to come over here many of them died. As Elizabeth Sprigs points out her life as an indentured servant was terrible when she went against social norm by disobeying or not putting full commitment into her task, she was “tied up and whipp’d to that Degree that you’d not serve an Animal” (Sprigs 3). Social norms were based on liberties of the servants that were created by the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, theses laid out four different liberties that each servant should receive from their owner (Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1). So comparing the liberties document to Ms. Sprig’s letter you notice a wide difference and see how better off it was for servants who got these. Liberties included running away and bringing back servant as soon …show more content…
as possible, servants can’t be put to other masters for over a year, no torture should be done to servants as to losing a limb or tooth, and if servant does what told for seven years they are able to be freed and sent away with goods to start on freedom life (Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1). Class can be tied to not just race but also gender.
Demographic or racial stereotypes seem to point out the view that English white men were higher in society than Native Americans. about husband and wife here – men had a higher class than women did and were the ones who most of the time made the money and made the decisions while they left the wife at home to do chores and most of the time to be bossed around (SUM UP). Men in the colonial white class were ones who created laws for the slaves and servants, protecting themselves (Foner). Englishmen made laws to protect themselves from the slaves. Slaves were in a need for freedom and desired this idea, so at times they would try and rebel against their masters, So then laws were made to point out that slaves couldn’t own guns and couldn’t act out toward his or her master. These laws however weren’t always followed by the English men; slaves master were not able to harm them to where they lose a part of their body or are tortured. Many masters went into court and told the judges that their slave’s injury was an accident. Slaves were often beat so poorly that they broke an arm and lost teeth, and most of the time judges would rule on the master’s side (Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1). Social norms were put into play in these courts where judges were against slaves and made sure they were shown what they deserved as
punishment. Class, Race and Gender went against the subordinate people like women, slaves and underclassman. Social norms were created against most of them from birth or once seen in market by slave purchasers. Social norms then can be used in court as a “better” side to the argument due to the more superior class, gender and race telling about it. Social norms created disobedience due to the judged person type being left out or being takin advantage of, Class, Race and Gender create the feeling of outcasts and are themes that continue throughout history.
They preferred African slaves to European or Native American slaves because they "could be held for unlimited terms, and there was no means by which word of harsh or arbitrary treatment could reach their homelands" (Wood, 43). The ability of the Englishmen to hold slaves for an unlimited amount of time and to use any methods of punishment gave them all the power. The indentured servant only worked to fulfill the previous contract as part of the headright system. Colonists "complained of the 'servants that dayley become free"(41). Since the servants had varying terms of service, it made it difficult to keep enough workers. Native Americans were cheap and did not have to be imported, but knew the land better than the Englishmen and could easily escape. There was also a language barrier and they died relatively quick, which made them not worth the investment. This shows some insight into how the African population started to become
Slavery is the idea and practice that one person is inferior to another. What made the institution of slavery in America significantly different from previous institutions was that “slavery developed as an institution based upon race.” Slavery based upon race is what made slavery an issue within the United States, in fact, it was a race issue. In addition, “to know whether certain men possessed natural rights one had only to inquire whether they were human beings.” Slaves were not even viewed as human beings; instead, they were dehumanized and were viewed as property or animals. During this era of slavery in the New World, many African slaves would prefer to die than live a life of forced servitude to the white man. Moreover, the problem of slavery was that an African born in the United States never knew what freedom was. According to Winthrop D. Jordan, “the concept of Negro slavery there was neither borrowed from foreigners, nor extracted from books, nor invented out of whole cloth, nor extrapolated from servitude, nor generated by English reaction to Negroes as such, nor necessitated by the exigencies of the New World. Not any one of these made the Negro a slave, but all.” American colonists fought a long and bloody war for independence that both white men and black men fought together, but it only seemed to serve the white man’s independence to continue their complete dominance over the African slave. The white man must carry a heavy
In history, social norms have not been fully established.
Literary historicism, in the context of this discussion, describes the interpretation of literary or historical texts with respect to the cultural and temporal conditions in which they were produced. This means that the text not only catalogues how individuals respond to their particular circumstances, but also chronicles the movements and inclinations of an age as expressed in the rhetorical devices of its literature. Evaluating the trial of Anne Hutchinson within such a theoretical framework means speculating on the genesis of her theological beliefs with recourse to prevailing theories of gender, class, and interpretation. Because texts are self-contained spheres of discourse, nuanced interpretations of them can be undertaken with greater assiduity than in the case of individuals whose private experiences remain largely concealed from the interpreter's knowledge. A historical analysis of Anne Hutchinson herself is hence, in the present discussion, secondary to the analysis of how she comes across in textual discourse as a palimpsest of seventeenth century gender controversy.
In Puritan led Massachusetts Bay Colony during the days of Anne Hutchinson was an intriguing place to have lived. It was designed ideally as a holy mission in the New World called the “city upon a hill,” a mission to provide a prime example of how protestant lives should have subsisted of. A key ingredient to the success of the Puritan community was the cohesion of the community as a whole, which was created by a high level of conformity in the colony. Puritan leaders provided leadership for all facets of life; socially, economically, religiously, and even politically. A certain hierarchy was very apparent in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in which ministers always seemed to have gotten their way. Governor Winthrop got his way in 1637 by banishing a woman, Anne Hutchinson, whom he thought posed a threat to the structure of the colony. I believe that there is a legit rationale for her banishment, this being her religious ideas that were very close to that of the Antinomians who Governor Winthrop was not too fond of. I also think that this was not the primal reason. In my mind, Anne’s gender played a large role in determining whether or not she actually posed a serious threat to the solidarity of Massachusetts.
In the North, women, especially colonial wives, had basically no legal rights. They could not vote, sell or buy property, or run their own business. Women in the North also had extensive work responsibilities when it came to housework. Northern society considered slaves less than human beings, and, consequently, did not give slaves any rights that would protect them from cruel treatment. The Southern colonies’ were no different. “Women in Southern society - and Northern society as well - shared a common trait: second-class citizenship”(74). In the South, women could not vote or preach and had very little education. They were instead taught to perfect the skills that could be used around the house such as sewing or gardening. In the South, slaves were branded as savages and inferior and did not possess any rights. Southern slaves possessed even less legal rights than Northern Slaves. Although the colonies had similar social structures, they had different
The Negros is not only better off as to physical comfort than free laborers, but their moral condition as well (Paragraph 2, George Fitzhugh). The slaves in the South loved life itself. The women only worked a little and yet were protected by their husbands and masters. The children and the elderly did not have to work at all. They were taken care of and had all of the necessary things that they needed. (Paragraph 3, George Fitzhugh advocates slavery) The masters of the slave justified in taking care of all the slaves’ even in the year that the word was suspended. The masters continued to feed and support their hired slaves (Excerpts from Edmund Ruffin, the Political Economy of
The Cycle of Socialization by Bobbie Harro gives an accurate description how social norms are created in society, and how we learn them and the consequences of not abiding by the norms. The social norms and identities that we picked are heavily influenced by what family we are born into. Growing my mother would always enforce to my twin sister and I that items such as clothes, toys, or school supplies we’re assigned to different genders based on their color. Whenever my sister wanted something that was the color blue, or black she would tell my sister that it was meant for boys because of it had dark colors and would insist her to find something that had a lighter color. This influenced my sister and I a lot because still to this day whenever I buy clothes or any other item I rarely
While breaking the three social norms there was one feeling that I felt was mutual throughout. Breaking those norms made me felt extremely out of place and rude. They made me feel that way because I knew what I was doing wasn 't socially right and people would get mad or be rude to me with their reactions. For the most part throughout my experiment, most people reacted the way I thought they would. You could tell that most people felt awkward or uncomfortable while I was breaking the norm. I faced a couple of difficulties through my assignment when it came to violating the social norms. While trying to break the movie theater norm, it was difficult for me to pick movies with different variety of people and movies that were a little older so less people would be attending them. I also had a little trouble when it came to answering the phone and waiting for the other person to talk first. The problem with this one was that I had to wait for people to actually call me which doesn 't happen that often in this day and age anymore. To conclude, these social norms forced people to be in uncomfortable situations and make a decision as to how they would react to
Social norms are the implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members. Implicit social norms are introduced to us at a very early age, and exert a powerful influence on our behavior into adulthood. Our culture is ruled by social norms. In many situations, people 's perception of these norms have a big influence on their behavior. Implicit social norms are not openly stated, but found out when disobeyed. Implicit rules are rules we conform to as a society, and generally these rules make living together more comfortable. Social norms are important because they define the nature of a group, clarify relationships among members, and express values. They are also important because they create cohesion within the society, and members of that society are very aware when such norms are violated. Social norms are often strictly enforced and offenders are often disliked for their conduct. Also, some norms are more strictly held to in certain situations than in
Before the horrid civil war, slaves, indentured servants or anything of the sort, were considered no less then pets and treated the same way as animals. What it meant to be a slave, was that you and all of your sons and daughters will either be inherited or sold. As horrible as this was, it was the truth. Your future grand son’s son could become a slave for nothing they did, but because you foolishly signed away your life
Religion became a sensitive subject during Colonial America after such oppression in England. The settlers that journeyed to the new territory claimed by England wanted to separate from the official church of England and become their own church. Extreme beliefs were exchanged among all separatists and puritans, but once each foot was set on American soil, the water started to boil. The differences between Anne Hutchinson’s belief of free grace and her community’s belief that santificationism could not be tolerated for much longer before Hutchinson would be banned from Massachusetts Bay and Boston would prevail. Although neither belief holds popular vote in Christian society today, the controversy was a decisive factor in colonial America as
The HarperCollins publishers in New York published American Jezebel written by Eve LaPlante in 2004. Anne Hutchinson, a forty-six year old pregnant midwife living in early Puritan Massachusetts, stood in court in front of forty male judges. Hutchinson was charged with heresy and sedition. Hutchinson exerted significant political power in a time when woman could not even hold public office, vote or teach outside of their home. Women were practically stripped of all rights and were invisible in the public eyes. Unlike the other women, Hutchinson was eventually able to surpass the gender limits of early colonial America.
Anne Hutchinson, a woman who stood up for her religious rights, even against men, was one of the most influential people during her time. Anne Hutchinson was exiled shortly after she was in an argument with John Winthrop, and 60 other people decided to tag along with her. This shows the impact Anne Hutchinson had. Those 60 people decided to give up everything to tag along with a women because they liked that she was sticking up for her religion. During Anne Hutchinson's time, no one could practice a different religion other than the Puritans religion, and Anne Hutchinson did it very boldly and bravely and ended up making a big difference in religious and women's rights and equalities.
Social norms are beliefs or rules set in place by society to define what is considered to be appropriate behaviors or cues. With our modern society, everyone is expected to conform to the same set of rules especially adolescents. Media can alter or structure an adolescent interests, motivations and views about the world. Also researchers have argued that descriptive norms are the most significant indicators risk behaviors (Beal, ...