Women felt a need for a change because they were tired of being "barefoot and pregnant". Women did not want to be mere objects (Hand 1). There is evidence that God had created men and women as equals in the fifth chapter of Genesis which says, "In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed and named them man in the day when they were created" (Rogers). Women have not always been treated fairly and not all women are treated fairly yet. Although, women's rights have changed significantly for the good in the past two centuries.
African American women had no say in which they were "mated" with. Owners often ordered mating much as with livestock, because he thought the cross would be good. Marriage ceremonies were sometimes performed between African American men and women according to their customs and beliefs, but the slaveholder did not often recognize such marriages.
United States
English: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman titl...
United StatesSpouses, as well as children, were commonly sold off and never seen or heard from again.
English Common Law was patrilineal (titles, property, and rights were held by males), but the colonies adopted a matrilineal position with African Americans. African American children share the status of their mother. In other words, if the mother was a free woman of color, then her children would be free, but if a slave, her children would be slaves, owned by the same person that owned their mother. Their owner decided occupations of enslaved African American women. They could be assigned to work in the house, shop or in the fields. There not much gender role designation - if assigned to the fields, the women would do the "lighter" job of hoeing, while the men plowed. Often hired out to...