In 1607, one hundred and four men landed in Virginia traveling aboard the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery. Later in the 1600s, in 1634, about two hundred emigrants settled in a colony and named this colony Maryland. Both colonies were formed in a part of the "New World". With this being said, the women of both colonies played roles of servants that depended on men, the English in Virginia did not respect the Indians as much as the French in Maryland, and lastly, how indentured servants and slaves were being treated and used had a large impact on the development of Colonial Virginia and Colonial Maryland.
Colonial women in Maryland and Virginia were very similar. They were very scarce and the women that were there were protected. Most women who came to either Maryland or Virginia were typically indentured servants or the wives of the men. However, Maryland women were portrayed as having very frail bodies. Women in this colony were constantly being stated as having frail bodies; nevertheless, this meant that men looked down to women more than they already did. Also, many women died during the journey to the New World. The ones that survived were exposed to new diseases which killed off a large majority of the survivors. This high death rate also helped impact the image that women had "frail bodies". In both Maryland and Virginia, women were a very big part of the development of these two colonies. One reason being that without women it is not possible to produce more colonists, and without colonist there would not be a colony. The women, in Virginia did have some things that differed them from the women in Maryland. This being that the women in Virginia, who were normally married, while being married they were "covered" by their husbands. Their husbands controlled their wife's land and representing the family in a court. Most women, in Virginia, worked primarily inside the household.
