Minorities Involved in Making History

Without the help of minority groups in the new American nation, America would have never been able to establish it's independence from Spain, Britain, or France. Minority groups that helped pave the way for the creation of America included: women, Native Americans, Africans, and African Americans. Great recognition is deserved for these groups of people for their hard work, endurance, and, for some, loyalty to the land or their country despite their unfortunately cruel life they were born to because of their race, gender, or economical status.

To being with, women played a huge role as strong supporters for their husbands and families. When families first arrived in the new world, women went to work on labor that was outside of their realm of normal motherly duties, yet they realized that if they had not given their family their entire commitment then they would not make it in this new land. New roles that women took on at this time included farming, taking care of the family while the husband was away, cooking for the family, educating the children, make clothing, trading, acting as midwives and medicinal experts, and, of course, they also would bare children. Women also helped their country serving as indentured servants. As an indentured servant, a person of lower class would come to America to work for the person that paid their passage to America for usually 7 years. 2 out of 5 servants would die before their servitude time was over. The work they completed was very laborious and their masters could be very cruel without discipline. This was a very risky position to be in for a women because their masters could be sexually abusive and rape women who were indentured to them. Brutality such as this was able to occur because anyone who was an indentured servant had few rights. Women who were indentured servants helped grow the country by being a back bone for farmers or merchants which allowed America to flourish. Next, women also served the country by being able to run the household on their own in times of war. During the Revolutionary War, women aided soldiers by helping produce supplies, caring for the sick, and opening up their homes to soldiers. Some women were also found on the battlefield in disguise as men or taking the place of a family member in battle after they were killed. Women also helped keep the troops alive by gathering water and supplies. Although women did great things for the country they were continually looked down upon as non-intelligent and fragile creatures whose only purpose could be fulfilled by childbearing. Without the responsibilities that the women of this time took on, there would have been many roles neglected that could have resulted in the failure of the United States.

Native Americans were another group of minorities that were not given the praise that they deserved for helping America to grow, especially in the nations worst of times. When people first began migrating to the Americas in search of riches, people had biased opinions that Native Americans were non-intelligent, had no sense of respect for life(sacrifices), and they were a weak society that could be shoved into slavery. Slavery of Native Americans did not work for the explorers because they were killing off multitudes of Native Americans with their foreign diseases. Despite the torment from the immigrants, Native Americans helped the Newcomers survive the New world by trading with them, protecting