In order to understand the significance of the actions of these women, one must first understand the stringent rules society imposed on them. In this section on contextual understanding, primary source quotes will reveal the basics of gender roles in colonial communities governing feme sole, feme covert, and notable housewives; in addition, a brief summary of taxation affecting colonial women is included.
Most colonial men and women--like most ordinary Americans today--took the gendered world as they found it, and, although what they found varied with social class and region, certain truths seemed too obvious to debate. Chief among a woman's truths was that God had created her to be a helpmate to man and Nature had formed her for this purpose" (Berkin, 4).