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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How were the churches in each town supported?

2. What is the perception of midwives among women?

3. How did Ephraim and Jonathan assist in Martha's weaving business?

4. What was the birth to death ratio in Martha's town between the years of 1785 and 1790?

5. Which social and economic class had more out-of-wedlock births?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the circumstances surrounding the typical wedding?

2. Explain why the summer of 1787 was very harrowing for the Ballard family.

3. Explain how Martha's weaving business allowed for the overlapping of male and female roles in the Ballard household.

4. Both Ephraim and Martha had businesses to manage. How were their approaches to business different?

5. What was the religious structure in Hallowell and who was the minister in the town?

6. Where did Martha Ballard grow up and when did she marry her husband/

7. In addition to being a midwife, Martha also had a weaving business. How did that get started?

8. Explain the metaphor of the community as a blue-checked cloth.

9. Explain the contentious relationship between Reverend Foster and Henry Sewall.

10. Explain how courtship and marriage during Martha's life were very different from popular perception of the time period.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the process of making cloth in Martha's business. Begin with growing and harvesting the flax all the way to taking the cloth to market.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the role of the midwife in 18th century colonial America. What made Martha so successful in this role?

Essay Topic 3

Describe Martha Ballard's life story beginning with her birth in Massachusetts in 1735. Who was her husband? How many children did she have? What were her primary professions?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 927 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample