Settler Colonialism SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1692-1783 - Symbols of Accomplishment - Women & the American Story
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SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
Resource:
Symbols of Accomplishment
Sampler
Sarah Janeway, Sampler, 1783. New-York Historical Society.
© Women and the American Story 2021 Page 1 of 7
SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
Chatelaine
James Warne, Chatelaine, ca. 1761. New-York Historical Society.
© Women and the American Story 2021 Page 2 of 7SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
Background
The lives of women in the English colonies were hampered by legal and social customs
that governed appropriate female work and behavior. Women were considered
subordinate to men in all aspects of life, and were expected to prioritize caring for
their homes and families. Preparing and cooking food, spinning, weaving, sewing,
housekeeping, gardening, and childcare were all the responsibility of women. In the
colonial era, this work was difficult, draining, and never-ending. Even the colony’s
wealthiest women were not exempt from these expectations, but they did have hired
or enslaved women to assist them in their tasks. And any woman who had to work
outside the home to support her family had to do that work in addition to her
household responsibilities.
About the Object
Training for the life of a wealthy housewife started in early childhood, when young girls
were taught to read, keep household accounts, and sew. Young women produced
samplers that showcased their superior needlework skills. These works of art could be
shown to friends, family, and potential husbands as examples of the young woman’s
accomplishments and evidence of her domestic capabilities.
Samplers also revealed the character of the girls who made them. For example, this
sampler was made by 11-year-old Sarah Ann Janeway. It includes religious scenes like
Adam and Eve at the Tree of Knowledge, Jacob’s Ladder, and Saint John receiving the
Book of Revelations. It also has everyday objects like flower-filled urns, a peacock, a
small family with a dog, and a single building that represents a house or school.
Together, these images demonstrate her spirituality and feminine sensibilities. (Click
here to see a portrait of Sarah Janeway made later in her life.)
© Women and the American Story 2021 Page 3 of 7SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
Once women married, they assumed the status of mistress of their household. Many
wealthy married women owned or wore chatelaines, like the one pictured here, as
symbols of their domesticity and social status. Chatelaines were clips with hooks or
chains that held keys and other small household items. They were symbols of power
for women because they were originally used to carry the keys to all the important
items in a home, such as the pantry, linen closet, and tea chest. Chatelaines were
attached to a belt at the waist so the items they carried were always at hand. During
the early eighteenth century, elite women often secured small household implements,
such as sewing scissors, thimbles, notebooks enclosed in metal cases, and watches, to
their chatelaines. This chatelaine was given to Cornelia Dickenson Remsen by her
husband, Henry Remsen, as a wedding gift in 1761.
Together, these items illustrate the optimal path for a young, wealthy colonial girl:
from a well-bred and well-trained daughter to the mistress of her own home and
family.
Vocabulary
• Adam and Eve: The first man and woman in Judeo-Christian teachings.
• Book of Revelations: The final book of the Christian Bible, which describes
what will happen at the end of the world.
• chatelaine: A clip worn at the belt from which keys and small household items
could be hung.
• Jacob’s Ladder: A story from Judeo-Christian faith.
• sampler: A work of art made from thread and fabric. Samplers were made to
showcase a girl’s or woman’s needlework skills.
© Women and the American Story 2021 Page 4 of 7SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
Pronunciation
• chatelaines: SHA-tuh-lane
Discussion Questions
• What would it be like to make a sampler as ornate as Sarah Janeway’s?
• Why did wealthy girls need to learn to sew if they had hired and enslaved
women to do it for them?
• Why were chatelaines symbols of status and domesticity?
• What do these objects tell us about the women who made and owned
them?
• What do these objects reveal about the societal expectations of wealthy
colonial girls and women?
Suggested Activities
• Use these objects in any lesson about daily life in the English colonies.
• Combine this image with the portraits of the Rapalje Children and Henrietta
Johnston to illustrate what English colonial girls and women looked like.
• Give students needle, embroidery floss, and fabric so they can experience how
challenging this art form is.
• Read The Last Will and Testament of Joseph Grover and Coverture to learn more
about the legal and social limitations on women in the English colonies.
• Sarah Janeway’s father was a militia captain for the Patriots in the American
Revolution. After introducing Sarah through her sampler, ask students to reflect
© Women and the American Story 2021 Page 5 of 7SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
on how she might have been affected by and responded to the events of the
American Revolution.
• Women often hung small objects off their chatelaines to symbolize the work they
did. Ask students to consider: If women wore chatelaines today, what objects
might they hang from them?
• Teach these objects together with the excerpts from the Ornaments of the
Daughters of Zion and Milcah Martha Moore’s textbook to expand your student’s
understanding what was expected of colonial women.
• These objects are symbols of a very privileged kind of colonial girl- and
womanhood. Combine these objects with any of the following resources for a
lesson that better represents the diversity of experiences of women in the English
colonies: The Mourning Poetry of Anne Bradstreet, Children at Work, Spinning
Wheels, Spinning Bees, Life Story: Dennis and Hannah Holland, Ornaments of the
Daughters of Zion, Life Story: Deborah Squash, Runaway Slaves, Education in
New France, A Woman of Business, Legislating Reproduction and Racial
Difference, Life Story: Thomas(ine) Hall, Life Story: Weetamoo, and Childcare in
the New World.
• Combine this image with any of the following resources for a larger lesson about
childhood in the American colonies: Malitzen of New Spain, Kateri Tekakwitha of
New France, The Mourning Poetry of Anne Bradstreet, Life Story: Lisbeth
Anthonijsen, Life on the Encomienda, The Middle Passage, Children at Work, The
Business of Slavery, Education in New France, Life Story: Dennis and Hannah
Holland, Life Story: Mother Esther Marie-Joseph Wheelwright de l’Enfant, The
Rapalje Children, The Casket Girls, and Eighteenth-Century Education.
Themes
DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY
© Women and the American Story 2021 Page 6 of 7SETTLER COLONIALISM AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
1692-1783
Settler Colonialism
New-York Historical Society Curriculum Library Connections
• For more resources relating to childhood in the English colonies, see New World—
New Netherland—New York.
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