In the book Revolutionary Mothers, author Carol Berkin discusses women’s roles in the American Revolution. She separates out the chapters so that she can discuss the different experiences and roles of women during the period. She utilizes primary and secondary sources to talk about how women stepped into their husband’s shoes and maintained their livelihoods and how they furthered the war effort on both sides, as well as how classes and race effected each woman’s experience. Berkin’s main goal was for the reader to understand that although women’s roles aren’t traditionally discussed when talking about the American Revolution, nevertheless, they played a major part in it. Information on the Revolutionary War typically focuses on the Founding Fathers and their actions that brought about American independence. Few women are ever spoken about, one might hear of Abbigail Adams or Betsy Ross but that is it. Berkin says that while women played no formal role in the revolution, they actively participated and without their help many men …show more content…
The primary sources we do have that were written by women are mostly poems or satire that were submitted anonymously newspapers. Primary sources written by women about their lives are hard to find because the war was a little over 200 years ago and things like letters or diaries are bound to have been lost, thrown out, or have deteriorated. Since primary sources were so difficult to find for this topic, Berkin mostly utilized secondary sources written by historians in the 1900s. Primary sources looking at women’s roles in war were written by men that at the time viewed women as too delicate to be involved in what was considered “men’s work”. For example, Berkin used sources by Benjamin Wadsworth and Samuel Chase to remind the reader that men of this time believed women should obey their husbands and take care of their
After reading the novel Revolutionary Mothers I have gained significant knowledge and a better grasp of the Revolutionary war. Carol Berkin 's purpose in writing this book was a simple one: Presenting a series of lenses of various raced women and how they affected and were effected by the Revolutionary War. She presents how women of every skin color was a major factor during the war and ultimately in aiding the formation of our nation. A major difference between this novel and what I have previously learned is that this novel magnifies contributions women have made for this country. Furthermore the textbooks that I read once in class greatly minimize those contributions and just give a broad overview of them.
Kirsten E. Woods wrote Masterful Women. This book was published by The University of North Carolina Press in 2003, and is a nonfiction historical book that is 198 pages long, without the notes and focuses on the struggles and accomplishments of slaveholding widows during the American Revolution through the Civil War (1765-1865). Women didn’t have any major rights until they were widowed, due to women being viewed as vulnerable and fully dependent on men. In this book, Kirsten Woods argues that women were viewed as dependent on men and they could not do anything for themselves. As a reader goes on through this book women prove that this statement is incorrect and women can therefore do most everything that a man can do.
While the men were out battling for independence the women stayed home and did the men’s old jobs and tried to grow as one themselves. The women she used helped this argument because the book covers the roles of prominent women, poor women, African American women/slave women, and Native American women--and it even talks about the role of British women. Using many different types of women allowed Carol Berkin’s to fully cover every different aspect that different women faced during this harsh time. During that era, it was quite difficult for the women, but they challenged those traditional customs everyone saw and pushed those gender and racial roles during the revolutionary period. In pushing those roles women participated by boycotting British goods, producing goods for soldiers, spying on the British, and serving in the armed forces disguised as men.
Without women during the war, times would have been difficult. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton dealt with women's rights during the war. The sanitary commission took care of families and raised money while men were at war. Woman on the home front grew crops to keep the U.S. from starving during the war.
Introduction The American Revolution was a very long and extensive war that lasted from 1775 until 1783, and as a result America gained its independence. It is very imperative to highlight the significant role that women played during the American Revolution. During this era a woman was often portrayed as illiterate, child-bearing mother, and a homemaker.
Roberts also differs from the other historians by giving an account in the perspective of the lower and middle class women of the British American Colonies. This gives the reader a completely different context, Woodard and Sacco promoting men since they are the only ones able to participate in the government constitution and decision making. This makes the reader lean more in favor of the Patriots, Roberts highlighting scenes on how women “ fear rape” from the British soldiers or how
To start off women played an important role in the revolution while the men fought at war. Women took jobs like shipbuilding, blacksmiths, carpentry, or weavers. Others transformed homes into hospitals for the wounded, and some sewed uniforms and stockings for the soldiers. One woman who dared to join the army was Deborah Sampson.
In a world full of war, women played key roles throughout the revolutionary movement. From one side of the spectrum lay more traditional roles such as nurses, cooks, and maids, and furthermore on the more unconventional side of the spectrum included spies and secret soldiers known as the daughters of liberty. These women were, at the time, not yet known to being the key to winning the war. One of the most common and influential roles of women was a nurse. Many of the wives, sisters, daughters, and mothers who eventually became nurses had trailed close behind their own soldiers looking for a way to provide for their families.
Lastly, women played a huge role in the Revolution. Many of the women became nurses to help aid injured soldiers. Some of them became cooks and maids for the military. Aside from the typical “women” work, some women became soldiers and spies. Women are not allowed to become soldiers; however, some do it secretly by disguising themselves as
During the American Revolutionary War, women played several important roles. Some of these roles were traditional. Others were unconventional
A female becoming a soldier or a spy or any kind of person that helped throughout these battles was unheard of. But there were so many women that did, some disguised and some not. The role that women held in the American
In Wendy Martin’s article “Women and the American Revolution”, the author is trying to bring to light that the men of the revolution weren’t the only ones who suffered during the war and in the wilderness living on the frontier. In this review I will be discussing the evidence the author provides to support this. I will also be discussing what in my opinion what are the strengths and weaknesses of the article. The author states “most women stayed at home struggling with… the difficulties of running households and small farms alone, as well as the more serious problems of epidemics of dysentery and influenza.” In my opinion these women suffered just as much as the men fighting the war; they had to adapt to the role of being the breadwinner
Throughout the Revolutionary War, the men now known as the Founding Fathers or Sons of Liberty were regarded as superstars and icons. Meanwhile, the women of the time period played a behind the scenes role that ultimately led to the success of the colonists just as much as the men’s actions did. Perhaps the most famous of these women was Elizabeth Griscom, also known as Betsy Ross. She lived a life of fulfillment and her support for the colonies never wavered; she was a force to be reckoned with. Through her contributions concerning the nation’s flag and her involvement with the patriotic Free Quakers, she has become the poster woman of the American Revolution.
The American Revolution was a political upheaval that brought many changes to America by greatly altering the popular understanding of women’s partisan status and creating a widespread debate over the meaning of women’s rights. White women had large, essential roles in America’s victory in the American Revolution creating new opportunities for women to participate in politics and support different parties. Women were able to take advantage of these opportunities until a conservative backlash developed by 1830 that stopped any political advancement of women. In Rosemarie Zagarri’s book, Revolutionary Backlash, the author talks about the many things that played a part in causing a backlash against women in the early republic starting when women’s
The French Revolution of 1789-1799 aimed to spread Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood through France and through Europe. It wished to create a French Republic and it ultimately resulted in the overthrow and executions of the King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. It failed, however, to secure voting rights for women. Despite this, participation of women in the Revolution was clear. However, the question remains - just how did women help the Revolution, and how important were their roles?