The Importance of Women Linda K. Kerber's Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America

During the American Revolution, not only did men have to face the struggles of war time atmosphere, but women had to as well. The country during the war was divided into three different groups of people; the loyalists, the patriots and the remaining people who did not care. Catherine Van Cortlandt, a loyalist had to endure different struggles then the patriot women Eliza Pinckney and Abigail Adams. However, parts of their stories are similar when it came to their family struggles.

From the social viewpoint the war changed the lives and rights of women all across the United States. Many of the husbands left to fight in the Revolutionary war leaving countless women in charge of farms and businesses, roles which they were not accustomed to. Although the war did little to change women’s rights, in some states it did become possible for women to divorce and in new jersey women even obtained the right to vote which was way out of the ordinary in that time. Before the war both men and women viewed the wife as an obedient and serving spouse that raised the children and took care of the house. But the revolution encouraged people of both genders to reconsider the contribution of women to the family and society.

“Revolutionary Mothers Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence,” is a book written by Carol Berkin. In this writing, Berkin goes into detail on the important role women of the 1600s-1700s took place during the Home Front War. Berkin argues that it wasn’t just the men who fought for independence, but women fought for freedom as well. The book describes the roles that different women faced, the challenges women faced, and women’s capabilities during the war.

Linda Kerber’s Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America was a refreshing historian analysis of the role of women in our nation’s history. In the early Revolution eras, the political role of women was nonexistent due to the traditional roles held by the patriarchal society the colonists lived in for most of their years. Kerber intertwined her book with an intelligent analysis, but also conveys this analysis in a clear way so that reader can comprehend further. Throughout the book, chapters divide each segment of women’s rights by explaining the slow, but progressive build of them. The exploration of womens rights in Women of the Republic is developed by each opportunity opened during the American Revolution.

Document A, shows a woman holding a musket and powder horn wearing a tricorn hat. This document bolsters that women’s roles were expanded during the American Revolution since they participated in the American Revolution and hints at the potential for revolutionary change in women’s roles. The Daughters of Liberty proved that they could do anything a man could do. When their husbands, brothers, and or sons went to fight in the war women had to continue making a living at home by assuming the tasks that the males had. The Daughters of Liberty were working relentlessly to prove their commitment to “the cause of liberty and industry.” Home manufacturing originated from when women made clothing for the people of their respective towns to boycott the British and when they had to produce products such as artillery as well as clothing for the American forces to utilize. Document J, a valedictory address by Molly Wallace from the Young Ladies’ Academy of Pennsylvania notifies us that friendly encouragement allowed herself to overcome apprehension due to sex, youth, and inexperience which will be an example that women can do anything they set their mind to and that if women are not denied the right to read, moreover they should not be denied the right to speak. Her speech increased discussion of educational opportunities for women and the Revolution had not yet greatly altered society’s perception of the role of women.

Women generally did not fight in the revolution, and the traditional status of Eighteenth Century women meant that they were not publicly able to participate fully in the debates over the revolution. However, in their own sphere, and sometimes out of it, woman participated fully in the revolution in all the ways that their status and custom allowed.

After studying women and gender history in early America for the past semester, my views about American history have changed tremendously. Having very little prior experience with history, I had many assumptions and preconceived notions from high school history classes. Women were never even mentioned in my previous learning about U.S. history, so I assumed they took on unimportant roles and had little, if any, impact on shaping our country’s history. However, after this semester of delving deeply into the women of early America, I could not have been more incorrect. Although they were not typically in the public realm, we cannot fully understand history without studying women. The following readings uncovered the roles of women in the private sphere and were crucial to my new understanding of the importance of women in American history by bringing women to the forefront.

The term Republican Motherhood is not misleading; women during the revolutionary war raised their family to be patriotic towards the republic. They attended social gathering and conversed with and influenced politicians from around the world. Women involved with the Republican Motherhood were just as important in building this nation to what it is as the men were.

The American Revolution, which happened during the last half of the eighteenth century, reshaped many aspects of life in America. The desire of the Founding Fathers to make America a republic played a very significant part in changing the role of women after the Revolution. The role of women as wives became more important as an emphasis on virtue was established; women were encouraged to find virtuous husbands and utilize their seductive nature to keep men virtuous. The roles of women as mothers also became more important in the republic, as patriarchy loosened and mothers were depended on to educate their children in the republican way. And finally, the role of women in politics was theoretically reduced due to the increasing demands of

The book Revolutionary Mothers, by Carol Berkin is a truth telling and eye opening experience for the reader that shows how the fight for America’s independence affected the role of women. The book reveals the unknown side of women during young America’s first major war, the Revolutionary War. It portrays the very important role women played during war despite the fact that war brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into their lives. Women’s lives changed drastically during this time period.

Carol Berkin clearly states her thesis in the introduction of Revolutionary Mothers. “Despite the absence of radical changes in gender ideology and gender roles for most women, the Revolution did lend legitimacy to new ideas about women’s capacities and their proper roles”. (Berkin 2005) In two thousand and fourteen it is questionable about how clearly women’s roles have changed especially in the areas of economics and politics at least it is obvious that the revolution did not bring equality.

Carol Berkin’s Revolutionary Mothers captures the spirits of women who affected, and were affected by, the Revolutionary War. Berkin dives deep into the lives of women who played a vital role in the war, but many that she examines are not the familiar patriot wives. She provides examples of all types of women: patriot and loyalist, American and British, rich and poor, Indian and African American. History books tend to romanticize the roles of women throughout wars, but Berkin presents heroines in a more practical light. Berkin, professor of American history at Baruch College in New York, believes that women’s roles in the Revolutionary War were essential to Americans gaining their independence.

In their edited volume of essays, Jeffrey Pasley, David Waldstreicher, and Andrew Robertson believe that it is necessary for the history of the American Revolution and creation of the United States to go Beyond the Founders. By going “beyond the founders,” these editors suggest a more in-depth and inclusive account of history, and in Catherine Allgors’ Parlor Politics, such an account of history is conveyed through the portrayal of women.

The method Berkin’s use to accomplish remembering the ladies that paved the way for America’s independence was by telling the stories of women of different race, culture and social class and how they impacted the war. In Berkin’s ten chapter book she dedicates a chapter to center in on the struggle of different women who had to change their role in life based off the war. Women that were in the struggle for America’s independence were overlooked by “the war for independence being portrayed as a male event” Carol Berkin uses this book to describe the various women political outlooks in the eighteenth century to show their input that was in the shadows of history. Some women stories consisted from fighting in the war, helping out at home, advocating the war and being enslaved in the war. Berkin showed how women’s roles flipped from home makers, and sewing to loading ammunition and setting off cannons. The values and contributions Berkin’s book delivers to the audience and the field of history is the lives of the women who impacted America equivalent to that of a man. Berkin told stories of women of different status who held

The American Civil War was fought for freedom. However, even after the war, the concept of freedom was not universally understood. Freedom remained limited for certain individuals depending on their race, gender, and different class systems. The war especially had a great impact on the country’s social and political aspects of the entire population, particularly women. Essentially, it gave women the momentum to fight for their rights. Years before the civil war, women and men had separate spheres. Men belonged in the public sphere, who went out and worked in shops, factories, or offices, while women were affiliated with the domestic sphere, emphasizing the up-keeping of their homes and families. Women were stripped of the many opportunities to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Throughout the 19th century, women initially advocated against slavery then began to escape the domestic sphere and fight for their rights as citizens. In both primary and secondary sources, the notion of women progressing for democracy is greatly demonstrated. During and after the American Civil War, women of the nation defend their equality by proclaiming citizenship as they fought for universal suffrage, advancement in public jobs, and justice in courts.