Blog 5 Part 1

Both Native and White American women experienced hardships during the expansion to the west .During the early 1800’s, most White American women’s lives revolved around the home, with domestic chores throughout their day. Women did not make important nor small decisions. Instead they followed their husbands. Moreover, the decision to migrate to the west was not in the control of the wife, the husband gave permission for her to accompany him, or he went alone regardless of his wife’s opinion. Many women during the Gold Rush joined their husbands and the others stayed behind. The number of women who went to California amounted to about 2% of the total number of emigrants in 1849 and 1850. During the trip, women suffered the same hardships as the men as well as worries of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. Furthermore, their choirs of the home continued on the trail, as well as added tasks; such as, gathering fuel, setting up and taking down tents. Furthermore, the lack of modern inventions gave women a hard time to cook and do laundry. Women spent countless hours “pounding the dirt out of cloths in cold running steams”. Moreover unlike men having only a few tasks; such as, tending the animals and making decisions about direction or pace women had to wake up early to prepare the days work of cooking breakfast, taking care of the children’s needs and preparing for the next day. Often when men finished their tasks early they would have time to relax, however women did not share this experience along side their husbands. Women’s hours of labor were far more extended then mens; however they still contributed to the mens tasks; such as, driving the wagons and tending the stock. Due to the women devoting all of their time to labor, they did not have time to supervise their children; consequently resulted in small cases of getting injured or numerous cases of ,”children falling under and being crushed by the wheels of a moving wagon. This was not the least of their hardships also many women suffered from a disease called, “cholera” which was brought by European immigrants that killed many people. Though, women contributed to many difficult tasks and experienced hardship, many women seemed to enjoy the trip to the West. Women were looked upon as heroines and men often spoke in their journals of the women’s ability to willingly continue in spite of everything.
Moreover, “The Natives along with the Mexican citizens were pushed aggressively out of the way as the U.S took over the continent and caused women to go against each other on the grounds of culture, race, and ethnicity”(Pg 207). Indian women faced many hard experiences; such as, being household servants to the Mexicans and in other cases slaveholders. Native Women learned the domestic tasks of housewifery and even tried to adapt to American society; although, President Andrew Jackson drove the natives out of their homes to Mississippi. Women still continued to go by the norms of the American society and educated their daughters in virtues of Christian womanhood. Native Women left their own people to live alongside the white men for informal sexual and domestic unions which later the men left them once they got married to white women. Because The Native women abandoning their own they were not allowed to return so they ended up as domestic servants and prostitutes which white men referred to as “ black dirty Squaws”. Moreover, young native girls were kidnapped and raped by white settlers they were treated as trash and had no respected what so ever. Consequently this resulted in drastic reduced Indian women’s fertility which dropped the pop from 150,00 to 30,000 in 1850-1860.2.Majority of the people who left their homes in pursuit of finding gold in the west were men; although small minorities of people were women. Furthermore, there were also “Golden Women”, which were a few who went to search for the gold. Their outcome was that they realized they had more freedom in California than in their homes in the Eastern U.S.
After the Gold Rush women continued to have class differences amongst themselves. Middle- class women lived in San Francisco where they bought furniture, houses and servants. While white women’s husbands for out looking for fortune white women did laundry for men who were not married and were willing to pay well for their service.