Until more recent scholarly attention in the field of women's studies, the economic history of the colonial United States was almost entirely told from a male perspective. Women in the early United States played a variety of roles in the formation of the new nation, but these roles often depended on racial, class, and geographic distinctions. Despite the differences, however, general patterns existed, reflecting a common public attitude towards women at the time. Economic opportunities and the gender division of labor, often informed by cultural values, for women differed depending on the colony, its individual demands, and local customs. In some colonies, the value of European women's labor was worth more in the New World than at home, meaning that more economic opportunities could be found for women in the early United States; however, female slaves and indentured servants were offered little legal protection and, therefore, less autonomy. However, after the founding of the United States, women began to play a greater role in the public sphere, organizing foundations of the women's suffrage movement and taking part in abolitionist societies. Before coming to the New World, European women filled a specific role placed in society. Women were responsible for household tasks, such as preparing food, making clothes, and raising children. When settlers initially arrived in the new world, they were shocked at the sight of Native American women performing traditional, manual labor. Unlike their European counterparts, Native American women not only raised children, ran the household, and prepared food, but were also partially responsible for maintaining the land since the men were often out hunting. In Anglo...... center of paper ......oston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin. Print.Matthews, Glenna. Just a Housewife: The Rise and Fall of Domesticity in America. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005. Print.Wayne, Tiffany K. Women's Roles in Nineteenth-Century America. . Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Access: Web. http://books.google.com/books?id=ka3tPEGVLqIC&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false Wellman, Judith. The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Women's Rights Convention. University of Illinois Press. 2004. Print.Welter, Barbara. "The Cult of True Womanhood, 1820-1860." American Quarterly 16. 1996. Access: Web. Westerkamp, ​​Marilyn J. Puritan Patriarchy and the Problem of Revelation: The Journal of Interdisciplanry History. vol. 23, no. 3, Religion and history. Pp 571-595. Access: Web.