Women In Carol Berkin's Revolutionary Mothers

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.

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’s book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for American Independence, asserts that the Revolutionary War was not a romantic time period in our nation’s history. It was one of upheaval, tremendous discord and violence. The Revolutionary War was not one fought on distant shores, but one of blurring the lines between the battlefield and the home front. The war touched all classes of people from those of the new American nobility down to Blacks and First Nation. It provides us in a series of what I call vignettes or snapshots of the war and its effects. We are provided on how these differences between all the differing groups impacted the daily lives of women.

Carol Berkin is a professor at both Baruch College, and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, teaching American Colonial and Revolutionary History and also Women’s History. Berkin received her B.A. from Barnard College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. She is also the author of various books including First Generations: Women of Colonial America (1996), A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution (2001), and Civil War Wives: The Life and Times of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant (2009).

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.

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.

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.

Women in the Revolution by Mary Beth Norton explains the hardships that women faced during the American Revolutionary War. Throughout the writing it is explained women’s role in the Revolution and how they impacted the lives of others. In the writing it explains specific groups of women and how they were influenced by the war. Throughout the war women faced just as many difficulties as those who were fighting in the war. The efforts of women in the revolutionary war were very important in the course of women’s civil rights.

The first of many small changes started to happen as the men left to fight in the Revolutionary War and the women stepped forward. The contributions made by the American women became noticed as America fought for their independence. The war allowed them to seize tremendous responsibilities. In “Women’s Role in the American Revolution,” they note these responsibilities, “The war gave some women the opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to assume responsibilities regarded as male. Women took charge of businesses and farms, defended their homes and neighborhoods, gathered

“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.

Despite all this, the growth of industry caused increased dependence on women, eventually leading to the creation of feminism. By following women’s role in society from the creation of the colonies, Zinn analyzes patterns of continuity and change over time in the development of feminism. The first women came to colonial America as a shipment of female servants: meant to bear children and act as domestic slaves. As servants, women faced abuse including whipping and molestation, their low position preventing them from protesting against their masters. Female slaves faced even harsher treatment due to their double oppression of slave and gender, often giving “birth to children in the scalding perspiration from the human cargo,” and even while “chained to corpses” (Zinn 96). Even freed women suffered from the English prejudices regarding women. According to English laws at the time, wedlock made a women’s “new self [her husband]… her superior; her companion, her master” (Zinn 97). Society assumed women “wanteth [sic] our [male] Reason for your Conduct, and our Strength for your Protection,” implying the inferiority and ineptitude of the female sex (Zinn 98). The role of women as servants in colonial America supported the general prejudices of the time and made it easier to disregard the female sex entirely. The arrival of the Revolutionary War helped some women defy gender roles by actively participating in the war efforts. The contributions that many women made remain ignored due to the inconsistency with the stereotypical qualities exemplified by the refined wives of Revolutionary leaders. Jefferson’s view that women ought not “to wrinkle their foreheads with politics” reflects the sexist ideas carried throughout the Revolution (Zinn 100). Industrialization between the

As the saying goes, “a woman’s work is never done,” but today’s women live a far different life than their predecessors. The women of the revolution were courageous and brave-hearted. The obstacles of their time were far more difficult to overcome than those faced by women in this day and age. Whether it was slavery, war, or racial prejudice, these women kept their heads held high and worked to break down these barriers and create change for the future. On top of having to deal with these hardships, the women of the revolution had families to take care of, mouths to feed, houses to clean, and wounds to heal. For many women of the revolution it was all about taking a stand for their rights and being

During the American Revolutionary Era, women played essential roles in the defiance against Great Britain by boycotting British products and joining the non-consumption organization. During the American Revolution, women served as nurses, cooks, maids, seamstresses, some even secretly enlisted in the Continental Army. From 1825 to 1850, women were fighting for equal opportunities as men and women’s right to vote, the Reform Period. Women’s roles were similar during the American Revolutionary Era and the Reform Movement because during both periods, women contributed to the movements, by joining political protest. Their roles differed during the periods because women during the reform movements, created conventions geared towards women, exacting

A woman’s job is to cook, clean, and bear children. Although it may not remain true now, many thought this for most of history. A woman had her duty to her husband and that served as almost all of her worth. During the Enlightenment, some women began to question this norm and to voice their unhappiness. The Enlightenment period was an intellectual movement that sought to reform society and advance knowledge (“Age of Enlightenment”). Even with all of the Enlightenment’s great advancements, women still did not possess many rights. Women continued to be “oppressed and kept to the private sphere,” separated from men (“Women in the Enlightenment”). Few women challenged these social norms, but a few existed such as Mary

Carol Berkin’s "Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence" is an excellent book that I immensely enjoyed. When many people think of the Revolutionary War, they might imagine George Washington gallantly leading his men through the winters at Valley Forge or the like. Berkin begins her masterpiece by giving a general overview of the roll that women played in our countries war for independence. Now I, like many others come to think of the iconic role model women like Betsy Ross and the fabled Molly Pitcher, but this star of a book opened my eyes to the everyday