Klepp mentions, “the higher the educational attainment of women, the lower fertility rates” (Klepp, 915). There was a correlation between fertility rates and education. John Winthrop once said, “The woman’s own choice makes such a man her husband yet being so chosen, he is her lord, and she is to be subject to him” (Winthrop 1853). The idea of free choice in marriage only served to reinforce the wife’s duty to serve her husband. The relationship between God and man proved to be a stronger bond than between the couple. The power of the church also played a significant role in influencing the relationship between a man and woman. The idea of marriage and reproduction was a political and economic institution that served important functions in society. There were cases where spouses were selected based on whose family had a nearby plot of land or farming tools needed for their crops. The idea of marriage was directly connected to complex deals for economic survival. There were common themes during this time, mostly originating from Europe, that reflected certain motives for a family to reproduce at such a large scale. In Klepp’s “Revolutionary Bodies”, she talks about the metaphoric language that was used to describe a pregnant woman as “fruitful” and how these descriptions disappeared with the declining birth rate. In Susan Klepp’s “Revolutionary Bodies” and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “How Betsy Ross Became Famous” we see a glimpse of how women were viewed and treated by the mass society during Colonial America. Unfortunately for us today, there aren’t many pieces of evidence from females because men dominated in every facet of life during Colonial America. History have always been a crucial component to the development of Colonial America whether one wants to believe it or not. Countless primary sources rise up and provide us with essential details about our ancestors and how life used to be.

After Birth by Elizabeth Ross