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Ulrich "Ways of Her Household"

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Ulrich "Ways of Her Household"
History 110

In the article "The Ways of Her Household", Ulrich argues that women’s

work in colonial American was under appreciated and extremely difficult.

Ulrich states housekeeping is a challenging and complex task that requires

not only intelligence but also significant skill. In the beginning of the article

she describes the everyday roles of women in Colonial America. Women

preformed many difficult tasks some of them were cleaning, making meals,

maintained gardens, milking, made household items to sell and use. For

and example “Preparing the simplest of these meals required both

judgement and skill..The most basic of housewife’s skills was building and

regulating fires-a task so fundamental that is must have appeared more a

habit then craft. Summer and winter, day and night she kept a few brands

smoldering, ready to stir in flame as needed” (Ulrich, 49). These tasks

required a vigorous amount of energy and skill. Colonial women

understood how to do these difficult tasks for an example “ticklish chemical

processes which changed milk into cheese meal into bread, malt into beer

and flesh into bacon”(Ulrish,48) These tasks were very complex and took

tremendous skill.

Ulrich’s does a great job in supporting her thesis topic by giving

direct samples from families in different economic classes in the colonial period

and comparing the household responsibilities. She does immense research and

goes above and beyond to prove her statement. She also compares the lifestyles

and the household inventory in different families and economic classes but alI

had one thing in common there responsibilities as a mother of a household and

their contribution economically. In my opinion I believe her most significant idea

is that women were underappreciated even though there duties require so much

more skill and intelligence. Women did have an affect on their families and the

economy so they shouldn’t have been underappreciated. I find it so inspiring how

women back then did everything they could for their family’s survival.

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