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Women's Rights Of Women And Political Rights

Decent Essays

People were not only discriminated due to their race but some of their gender, which affected their political rights in a multitude of ways. To illustrate, one of the Colonies most unspoken laws, dating from Ancient Greece to 1920, is that women have no right to vote and that only the gentry could contribute in political matters according to the Governor. Additionally, a law from Great Britain in stated that if a landowning woman is to marry, she must sign a document stating she is giving her property to the husband. However, in the case of Anne Cart, a wealthy indigo farmer who was engaged, she testified to a jury that the land was worth more under her ownership and she won the right to own it. Another example is that 97% of court cases involving dark magic is directed towards women accused of witchcraft and found that 78% of the women are convicted and hung. This shows that in the 16th century, people thought women were generally inferior to men and treated them as such politically.
Gender discrimination also played a role in economic rights. To demonstrate, women would be subjected to forced marriages where their family would combine with another gentry family for financial support. While the wife was rarely consulted about her marriage, she would become a lady and usually weave army uniforms for the colonies when she does. Likewise, many women would not be given an education, unless it is under an apprenticeship, therefore limiting their career choices further on in life. It was found that 87% of women's jobs in Williamsburg consists of unskillful task such working in taverns. The other 13% consists of wig making, weaving, and tailoring. It was a common belief that women did not have the skill to pursue intellectual jobs, therefore limiting their options for careers. Lastly, Emy Mill worked for no pay at her husband's farm and was exploited as if a free laborer. This shows that some women were used for economic gain by their husbands while gaining no financial benefit.
Women had different social rights than their male counterparts and were often considered subordinate. For example, graves, where separated by gender, were women's graves would not be in the same section of the graveyard as men, nor have a

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