| This thesis focuses on three generations of women who acted with great agency in early
modern America, yet have been broadly overlooked due to their gender. By applying
genealogical methods, this thesis navigates silences in the archives for women in colonial New
England.
This thesis argues that despite the use of English Common Law in the New England
colonies, which limited land ownership by women, instances of independent female landowners
did exist within North America. Secondly, it argues that women in the Province of New
Hampshire participated in public demonstrations of political action. And lastly, it argues that
women within the territory that would become the United States organized strategic and violent
rebellions against British colonial taxation before the eighteenth century—over ninety years
before the American Revolution. The uprising and revolutionary action of these women set the
precedent for early Americans who opposed colonial rule and inspired later revolutionary efforts
in America. Yet, their actions have not been widely recognized.
The overall goal of this thesis is to help overturn a tradition of dismissal for early modern
American foremothers and to demonstrate that identifying the experience of women and girls
within history has the power to illuminate the cultural fabric of society, both in the United States
and transnationally.
Keywords: Political History, Women’s History, Colonial History, Public History, Family History |