Women and radicalism

Question 1

How did female quakers shock many in a society where it was commonly accepted that women should pay no such roles

Answer 1

the visibility and activism of female quakers

Question 2

who was Dorothy Waugh and where was she jailed

Answer 2

• she was a prominent Quaker preacher
• jailed three times in Truro, Norwich, New Amsterdam and Boston

Question 3

what was Dorothy Waugh’s experience in Carlisle in 1655

Answer 3

• she was imprisoned
• put in a scold’s bridle and the jailor charged an entrance fee for people to come and gawp at her
• whipped out of town

Question 4

what did Dorothy compare herself and the Mayor too

Answer 4

she compared herself to the suffering, righteous Hebrews while comparing the mayor to the Pharaoh

Question 5

where was Sarah Tims imprisoned and what did the mayor tell her

Answer 5

• she was imprisoned in Banbury
• the mayor, John Austen, told her that ‘sweeping the house, and washing the dishes was the first point of law to her’

Question 6

what was the experience of Mary Fisher and Elizabeth Wilson

Answer 6

• the mayor called them whores
• issued a warrant for the constable to whip the women as a response to them saying that they have no husbands, only Jesus Christ

Question 7

what did a legal commentator from the seventeenth century state about marriage and women

Answer 7

that upon a marriage, a husband and wife will be treated as a single entity and that the wife’s separate legal status ceased to exist when it came to property rights

Question 8

how was the perceived inferiority and weakness of women justified in the patriarchal society of the 17th century

Answer 8

it was justified by the scripture

Question 9

what story from the scripture was used to justify that women should submit to men

Answer 9

the origins story in Genesis

Question 10

what did 1 Corinthans 14:34 state

Answer 10

‘Let your women keep silence in churches’

Question 11

what did 1 Corinthans 14:35 state

Answer 11

‘it is a shame for women to speak in the church’

Question 12

what did women form and join during the radical years

Answer 12

women formed and joined radical congregations

Question 13

what produced the first great wave of female prophecy in the British Atlantic

Answer 13

explosion of radical protestant groups during this time

Question 14

what did women take advantage of

Answer 14

they took advantage of Cromwell’s policy of religious toleration and the absence of censorship to preach

Question 15

what were the key features of Leveller

Answer 15

• favoured the abolition of property rights and the equalisation of wealth
• programme included reform of the law, religious toleration and free trade
• leveller ideas took hold of the New Model Army in 1647

Question 16

what did Leveller women present to the Rump in 1649

Answer 16

two petitions asking for the freedom of Leveller leaders Lilburne, Walwyn, Prince and Overton

Question 17

what justifications did the women use in the two petitions to the rump in 1649

Answer 17

• economic hardship
• treatment of Leveller men (illegally imprisoned)
• biblical authority (female heroines such as Deborah and Jael)
• historical precedent (women had taken a lead in the recent past)

Question 18

what was the development involving women in the cultural sphere following the restoration

Answer 18

for the first time, women began to have their plays produced openly on the public stage and to live by their pens

Question 19

where did the development of women having their plays produced openly stem for

Answer 19

• stemmed partly by the earlier introduction of actresses to the stage in 1669
• novelty of having women in the theatre opened the way for women play-wrights too

Question 20

how did female dramatists face prejudice and opposition

Answer 20

• they were seen as inferior compared to men
• constantly charged with sexual immorality

Question 21

who was Amphora Behn and what did she produce

Answer 21

• she was one of the most prolific writers of the period
• author of at least 18 plays, and poetry and prose works

Question 22

how were people in Stuart England raised

Answer 22

• raised obedient
• men were subject to the civil authorities while women were subject to their husbands

Question 23

during what years was there some pushing for greater equality of the sexes and what were the responses

Answer 23

• during the 1650s there was some push for greater equality of the sexes
• they were viewed as dangerously radical ideas

Question 24

how did women continue to have very little political power

Answer 24

• weren’t allowed to vote
• weren’t allowed to hold office

Question 25

how could have the Marriage Act passed by the Nominated Assembly in 1653 been revolutionary for women’s status and why was it ignored

Answer 25

• the marriage act would allow civil marriages to take place, overseen by JPs
• but it was largely ignored as it didn’t give men as many rights over their wives as church marriages

Question 26

what was a legislation that restricted women and what was it

Answer 26

• Adultery Act of 1650
• imposed the death sentence for adultery

Question 27

how did sexual misdemeanours differ between sexes + example

Answer 27

• men’s sexual misdemeanours were considered a lesser crime than women’s
• e.g. in Devon between 150-1660, 90% of the 225 people charged were women

Question 28

who lifted the legal restrictions on women performing in stage plays and why

Answer 28

• Charles II lifted the restrictions
• presumably more to do with his love for theatre than for his desire to enhance the status of women

Question 29

how did the Quakers help advocate women suffrage

Answer 29

• they held separate meetings for women
• allowed women to speak at mixed meetings
• allowed girls to be educated in 4 out to the 15 schools they opened before 1671

Question 30

what did Quaker women argue

Answer 30

that their divinely ordained role was not only one of wifely silence but one of action and intervention to spread God’s word

Question 31

how many Quaker women signed a petition to parliament in 1659 and what was the petition for

Answer 31

7,000 Quaker women signed the petition to abolish tithes

Question 32

what other groups advocated for women’s suffrage

Answer 32

• Levellers, gave some rights to women
• Diggers