Women Of Early Canada Essay Research Paper

Women Of Early Canada Essay, Research Paper

The female immigrants of New France were categorized into two

groups. The first group were the religious figures that came to enhance the

religious aspects of new settlers. These women began to arrive in 1639 and

continued on into the 18th century. The second group were the devotes and

the filles du roi, brought over to marry the settlers and increase the population

of the newly developing nation. They arrived in New France between 1663

to 1673. The lives of these women differed greatly to that of the women in

the old country. It is said that the women in New France had many privileges

that didn’t exist in Old France. Jan Noel’s article, “New France: Les Femmes

Favorisees” and Jacques Mathieu’s article, “New France: The French in

North America, XVI-XVIIITH Century,” discuss the role of women in New

France and how privileged their lives were.

“Many a man, observing the women of New France, was struck by the

advantages they possessed in education, cultivation and that quality called

esprit or wit.”1 Historians have found documents that describe the way

women in New France were seen by men of Old France. “A young woman

had lost her understanding and reason because she had given herself for

reading and writing, and written many books,” Winthrop said, “If she had

kept her place and had attended to household affairs, or such things as

belongs to women; and not gone out of her way, and calling to meddle in such

things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, etc., she had kept her

wits, and might have improved them usefully and honourably in the place

God had sent her.”2 This quote found in John Withrop’s journal, often is used

to encapsulate the male attitude toward women in New France. When the

men of France came to New France as visitors or traders, they were quite

uncomfortable and openly disapproved of the women and their role in society.

Women in New France were involved in all aspects of the colony.

They were better educated than the general public, involved in positions of

politics, and held jobs outside of the home. The women in New France

diversified their lives by expanding the roles they took on, but at the same

time, did not neglect their traditional position in the family. “… they (the

women in New France) almost certainly-being better educated than their

French sisters took up the farmwives customary role of keeping accounts and

managing purchases and sales.”3 Women helped in the fields and managed

the farms, but they also had a role in business operations.4 These jobs were

more common than others and women played a key role in these occupations.

Other woman-dominated jobs that were common in New France, but

uncommon in Old France included: fur traders, canoe manufacturers(to carry

the furs), and trading post holders, iron-forging, tile-making, sturgeon-fishing,

brick-making, sealing and contract building. Women were also involved in

retail sales and real estate. Women in New France thrived in the

enterpreneuring field, which was directly related to the shortage of

entrepreneurial talent in New France. Agathe de St. Pere established the

textile industry in Canada, after colonial administrators had tried repeatedly

but did not succeed.5 Women also played a big part in the military, involved

in fighting, building and maintaining the imperial forts and provisioning the

troops. The new privileges the women of New France obtained were the

result of three factors- the ancien regime, the demographic configuration, and

the colonial economy.

Women of the ancien regime were often generalized as not being

relegated to the private, domestic sphere of human activity because that

sphere did not yet exist. They had not yet learned how to separate private

and public life.6 This was mainly due to the fact that single houses were not

yet common and people lived in manor homes. Manor homes were made up

of no more than one long hallway, not allowing any form of privacy. Eating,

sleeping, working, and receiving visitors were all done in the same room. All

extended family lived together with their servants, clerics, and apprentices.

In public life everything was very open, people didn’t control their bodily

functions, close their bedroom doors, or care about what they did in public.

The reasoning behind this comfort was that people of society saw themselves

as a group rather than individuals. This idea of a “comfortable” society

helped women in New France adapt to their surroundings allowing them to

prosper in different areas other than the household.

Women in New France were pressured into marriage more so than in

Old France, but they were granted special laws to protect their rights as

women. The Coutume de Paris, a French legal system, protected the rights of

family members. Since the women often

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать