Women & Work in American History

This link opens up to the book introduction, with the chapters linked on the left side of the screen. Read Chapter 3 “The breedings shall goe with their mothers”: Gender and evolving practices of slaveholding in the English American colonies, starting midway through the chapter on page 87 [starting with the section “Fading Frontiers”] and read through the end of the chapter on page 106.
Chapter 5,  A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, online. Read through chapter 5, and especially focus on pages 193-196 that gives details about the number of children a woman gave birth to in her lifetime throughout her childbearing years, and about Martha Ballard’s reproductive and caretaking role as midwife in her community.
Reading and Writing Assignment: Be sure to read the Key Concepts for Module 1 and the Introduction to Women’s Roles in the Colonial and Early National Eras. Read “Midwifery and Women’s Work in the Early American Republic: A Reconsideration of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale” by Tanfer Emin Tunc. Also read: Martha Ballard’s practice of midwifery described in A Midwife’s Tale by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Chapter 5. Read through chapter, and especially focus on pages 193-196 that gives details about the number of children a woman gave birth to in her lifetime, throughout her childbearing years, and about Martha Ballard’s reproductive and caretaking role as midwife in her community.

Using the terms you are learning in the “Key Concepts” when they are appropriate, write a 5 page doubled-spaced essay (1000-1500 words) about your own “reproductive” work, whether that includes giving birth or childcare, or other ‘housework’ and caregiving over the course of a couple of “typical” days. Compare and contrast “reproductive” work historically in the colonial era, based on what you know from Martha Ballard’s diary and the study of slave women’s lives by Jennifer Morgan, and in current-day society. How did society value reproductive work in the colonial era, how does it value reproductive work today? What portion of your day do you devote to “reproductive” work versus “productive” work? What do you find rewarding about reproductive work? What do you find frustrating about reproductive work?

When you are including quotes or other specific information from the assigned readings in your essays [and you should be doing this!!] include a brief reference following the quote or the specific information you want to reference by including the author’s name and page number in parentheses following the quote. Examples: (Morgan, p. 70) (Tunc, p. 427) (Ballard, p. 194)