University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Honors Theses Student Research 5-2001 New Jersey women and their strategies for exerting power in marriage, 1770-1800 Jacqueline Deyo Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses Recommended Citation Deyo, Jacqueline, "New Jersey women and their strategies for exerting power in marriage, 1770-1800" (2001). Honors Theses. Paper 427. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND LIBRARIES 1\11\ Ill\\\\\\\\\ \\I\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ I\ 3 3082 00802 6014 UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND NEW JERSEY WOMEN AND THEIR STRATEGIES FOR EXERTING POWER IN MARRIAGE, 1770-1800 A HONORS THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY JACQUELINE DEYO RICHMOND, VIRGINIA MAY2001 In recent years, women's history has attempted to document and explore the lives of early American women beyond the traditional role of obedient, passive, and dutiful wife and mother. Historians investigated women's roles in supporting the Revolution, in the political system of the new republic, and in their own "female subculture" where they had power in the home or church. This paper describes individual cases of late eighteenth-century New Jersey women who also do not fit into the established woman's role. I discovered and investigated strategies women used to exert power within their marriages and relationships. The result is a fresh image of early American women that highlights their clever resourcefulness, surprising abilities, and strong personalities.