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Ran a household Raised 8 children No Martha No wi-fi

Anne Bradstreet’s story gives an example of the many women who made a good life for themselves even though it did not initially turn out the way they thought. For all of us who are being challenged in this era of confusion, maybe we could take notes on how she and others managed.

Anne Bradstreet (nee Dudley), America’s first published and notable poet is an example. She was raised as a noblewoman in England in the early 1600’s. Married at 16 her husband, Simon Bradstreet was a ward of the York’s and together they all migrated to the colonies on the Arabella, one of the first ships to bring Puritans to the shores of New England. The three-month journey was terrible for many of the future colonists and many did not survive. For Anne Bradstreet, this journey was no different. She survived a bout of small pox.

Even with her husband becoming Chief Administrator to the Boston settlement’s governor, John Winthrop, life was a daily struggle. Anne handled the daily challenges of the colony by praying; she had to believe God had not abandoned them. She also chose to go remember easier times in England.

If all the threats to life, the challenge of finding food was not enough, Anne came down with a paralysis that left her weak, but she still didn’t give up her passion for living. She and her husband managed to have eight children and build a home around them.

In her poem, Upon the Burning of Our House, she once more shows how she manages to keep herself sustained. Thanks to Simon’s standing in the community and the many helping hands to rebuild, they soon recovered. Simon traveled often throughout the Boston settlement, so Anne spent many days and nights alone with the responsibility of the household and raising the children. With their personal supply of books, she kept herself busy reading and teaching her children. From these books, she learned and taught the subjects of medicine, religion, science and the arts. These lessons helped them all survive the life in New England.

Anne loved poetry and started to write herself. At this time, it was considered wrong for women to air their opinions or pursue learning. To accent this belief one of her closest friends, Anne Hutchinson made her opinions public and was banished from the community.

Without her permission, her brother-in-law copied her poems and took them to England for publishing. Her poems contain her love for her God, her family, and her husband. A reader can also read how she valued intellect and knowledge making her one of our earliest feminists.

Her father and husband were involved in the organization of Harvard University. She is still valued today young coeds still walk through the Bradstreet gate dedicated to our first poet by the Harvard Community and is located at Canaday Hall. Anne Bradstreet died at the age of 60 succumbing to tuberculosis. Many women power through their challenges by depending on their spiritual beliefs and possibly their writing.

Courage, spiritual

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