Women of Early Canada

             The female immigrants of New France were categorized into two
             groups. The first group were the religious figures that came to enhance the
             religious aspects of new settlers. These women began to arrive in 1639 and
             continued on into the 18th century. The second group were the devotes and
             the filles du roi, brought over to marry the settlers and increase the population
             of the newly developing nation. They arrived in New France between 1663
             to 1673. The lives of these women differed greatly to that of the women in
             the old country. It is said that the women in New France had many privileges
             that didn't exist in Old France. Jan Noel's article, "New France: Les Femmes
             Favorisees" and Jacques Mathieu's article, "New France: The French in
             North America, XVI-XVIIITH Century," discuss the role of women in New
             France and how privileged their lives were.
             "Many a man, observing the women of New France, was struck by the
             advantages they possessed in education, cultivation and that quality called
             esprit or wit."1 Historians have found documents that describe the way
             women in New France were seen by men of Old France. "A young woman
             had lost her understanding and reason because she had given herself for
             reading and writing, and written many books," Winthrop said, "If she had
             kept her place and had attended to household affairs, or such things as
             belongs to women; and not gone out of her way, and calling to meddle in such
             things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, etc., she had kept her
             wits, and might have improved them usefully and honourably in the place
             God had sent her."2 This quote found in John Withrop's journal, often is used
             to encapsulate the male attitude toward women in New France. When the
             men of France came to New France as visitors or traders, they were quite
             uncomfortable and openly disapproved of the women and their role in society.
             Women in New France w...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Women of Early Canada. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 09:37, July 01, 2025, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/39851.html