HST 304 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Little Ice Age, Freydís Eiríksdóttir, Indentured Servant
HST 340
Women in European Exploration and Contact with North Americans
Questions
• What can our knowledge about Northern Europeans in North America tell us about
women’s role in exploration and settlement?
• What motivated the English to establish colonies in North America?
• What ideas and practices concerning gender did early modern Europeans have?
• How did these beliefs about gender affect European society?
First settlers come from (Northern European) Norway/Iceland – Vikings (Norse)
Moved west for resources
Leif Ericsson and his sister Freydis
• Voyagers
Difficult to settle because of hostile natives leading to abandonment of Norse settlement in North
America
Little Ice Age in Europe
Mercantilism and investment drive European settlement
Leading to English colonies in North America
• New things to sell and trade
• Convert natives to Protestant
• Aristocracy
• Merchants
• Clergy
• Commoners – workers
• Impoverished laborers (& convicts) – indentured servant
Spanish is already there
Piracy and settlement
• English begin to invest in piracy
• One of the first English settlements; Roanoke 1585 – failed
o Didn’t supply colony
Back in Europe…
Hierarchy & Patriarchy
Sex:
• Biological (body parts and functions)
• Unchanging (in the early modern world)
Gender:
• Behavioral attributes associated with sex identity
• Socially constructed; changes over time
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
First settlers come from (northern european) norway/iceland vikings (norse) Leif ericsson and his sister freydis: voyagers. Difficult to settle because of hostile natives leading to abandonment of norse settlement in north. Leading to english colonies in north america: new things to sell and trade, convert natives to protestant, aristocracy, merchants, clergy, commoners workers. Piracy and settlement: english begin to invest in piracy, one of the first english settlements; roanoke 1585 failed, didn"t supply colony. Sex: biological (body parts and functions, unchanging (in the early modern world) Gender: behavioral attributes associated with sex identity, socially constructed; changes over time. Gender roles dictate the following: characteristics attributed to each sex, appropriate behavior for men and women, laws and common practice. Men: guided by reason, physical strength, world, sexual experience tolerated. Medical basis for gender roles: pregnancy makes women"s bodies weaker, menstruation weakens body, thought women were not fully formed men.
