"Suffer Not a Woman to Speak" R

The article "Suffer Not a Woman to Speak" focuses on the oppression women faced in religion and law, but also the important role they played during the Revolution. In Colonial America women were regarded as inferiors, property of their husbands. They were unable to own property and could not hold any significant offices in the church or government.

On the religions side of things women faced the same oppression as in the home. The original sin was of great importance to the many Christian denominations, Calvinists in particular. Women were believed to be more susceptible to the devil. Although they were created in God's image the same as men, the same degree of equality did not exist. Women could not voice their opinions on religious matters, especially if they did not coincide with the teachings of the church. Credit has to be given to those women, such as Ann Hutchinson, who had the audacity to voice their opinions. She disagreed with the Puritan clergy's on their influence on politics and was exiled because of these views. Although she was exiled, this was an important step forward for women.

Women had very few rights in this era; some of them would seem outrageous in today's day in age. Much like slaves, many of the laws treated women as if they were merely a piece of property as opposed to a human being. Although this is how people thought at the time and such laws were common I feel that they were inhumane in certain respects. Women could not hold public office and everything they owned was property of their husbands. Even after their husband died all property was given to the eldest son. Husbands even had the right to beat their wives and let them starve. Even though this was the mindset in those days, I found it hard to believe that such laws were acceptable.

During the Revolution women played a much larger role than many might think. I am amazed at the firece loyalty of some of the colonial women who contributed in whatever way they could. One woman who stood out to me was Mercy Otis Warren. Mrs. Warren corresponded with major American leaders and published political tracts in the colonies that were widely read by Americans. She had to assume a masculine name for her ideas to be taken seriously. Other women who had major roles in the Revolution were the Daughters of Liberty. The Daughters of Liberty participated in boycotts of British products in response to Acts imposed by the British. I have a great deal of respect for all the women who contributed to the independance of the United States. These were the same type of women who fought for Woman's Sufferage in later years.