During the infant stages of America's development throughout the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, settlers came over not knowing what their futures held or all the hardship they must first endure before finally building colonies that would grow and flourish. With the harsh environment and unknown world before them, men were seen as the saviors and the creatures of the new world. In contrast, women were simply pushed aside and not given their rightful place in history. Women were told to stay within their roles as a housewife and caregiver; none could rise up against the oppressive ways they had come to know. While history has shown that there were those who rose up and fought against oppression with blood, few women did so in the colonial period. There were those in the new world who fought the oppressive ways of society by proving that the pen is much mightier than the sword. Writers such as Anne Bradstreet revolutionized the stage for women writers in the early years of the colonies, pushed the boundaries, and made a lasting impact for women's rights. A hundred years after Bradstreet pushed the boundaries with her captivating poetry and paved the way for future women to take over, Judith Murray broke through with her use of unfiltered literature and she continued the fight for women's equality. During the federal period, women like Judith Murray took greater liberty in letters and intellectual pursuits than women such as Anne Bradstreet took during the middle colonial period. With Murray's strong feminist views and Bradstreet's tenacity to see change for the female role in society, they were able to begin the process of change for all women.
Both Murray and Bradstreet were alike in having been privy to a good education. Bradstreet especially, having been born in a frame of time where the education women received was severely shorter and less comprehensive than the education of men.