Revolutionary Mothers : Women During The Struggle For America 's Independence By Carol Berkin

In First Generations Women in Colonial America, Carol Berkin demonstrates the social, political, and economic circumstances that shaped and influenced the lives of women during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the colonies. In exploring these women’s lives and circumstances it becomes clear that geography, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, and other factors less fixed such as war each influenced a woman’s experience differently and to varying degrees. In doing this, Berkin first showcases the life of a specific woman and then transposes that life onto the general historical framework and provides a context in which this woman would have lived. The lives of these women exemplified is also explored and demonstrated through the use of comparison to highlight their different experiences. Moreover, this analysis also seeks to identify the varied sources of these women’s power, albeit for many this power was limited. The analysis is broken up primarily by geography, then by race, and lastly by time and war. While these factors provide the overarching context of analysis, more specific factors are also introduced.

“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.

The book First Generations: Women in Colonial America written by Carol Berkin shares the power of control of a women’s role in the early part of American society was linked to her race and where she lived. In the book Berkin does a great job of giving examples of the life of the colonists. For example, we know that women white women had more freedom than slaves African Americans especially when it came to marriage. If a African American would want to get married to a white man it would be considered a “criminal offensive” ( Berkin 109).

From the beginning of the war women were more active in government social affairs. As they protested for both peace and preparedness their

The ideals by the Republicans which came into the limelight after the Revolutionary War would set into motion a revolution not just in the United States but in many countries across the world. Linda Kerber’s ‘Women of the Republic’ is a demonstration of the paradigm shift in relation to the US social and political structures after the American Revolution. Kerber observes that not only did the war provide more opportunities to women but also set a platform for women to chart the way forward politically. This important role is what came later to be known as the Republican Motherhood. The concept of Republican Motherhood demonstrates the important role that woken played politically in addition to attending to their traditional roles of domestic responsibility.

The war had become an excuse to evict the Indians from their land via violence, since their loyalties during the war was not clearly defined; in fact, the conclusion of the war broke any boundaries the colonist felt which spelled inevitable further decimation of the Indian nations. Additionally, the conclusion of the war had permitted women a greater political voice, and after the war New Jersey even allowed some women to vote (Schultz, 2009). However, this newfound freedom was short lived and shortly after the conclusion of the war things returned to status quo for women. Consequently, women bore the task of raising, teaching, and instilling political activism in their children, but their own freedoms in this area still awaited in the future. The end of the revolutionary war bespoke the birth of a new and exciting period in America for most, but not all the

Historians once presumed that, since women during the American Revolution had limited or no political decisions, and demonstrated little concern in achieving the franchise, they were fundamentally apolitical members of the society. In the modern world, scholars acknowledge the fact that women played a leading role during the war and they were actively involved in debates, which accompanied the movement towards independence, and that the war expanded their territories in their political and legal roles. Furthermore, the male welcomed women’s support during the war that was a very instrumental move towards the expansion of the women’s roles in the society unlike in the past when women were restricted to household chores. As women filled important roles because of the shortage of men to fill these roles, like managing business and farms, the idea that females were lesser than males started to fade away (Bielich, 2008). The laws prior to and during the revolution did not acknowledge females as equal to men in

Everyone has heard of the American Revolution or the Revolutionary War. The war that astonished mankind in the fight for Independence. This unforgettable war was fought in the year of 1775 and ended in 1783. This war brought confusion and chaos and we praised our first-hand soldiers but forgot about the women who also fought mentally and courageously. In a book written by Carol Berkin called, “Revolutionary Mothers,” she acknowledges the women for their drudgery during the war and explained the roles they took on in place of their fighting men. She also examines examples of the hardships these women went through during and after the war by giving insight into their lives separately.

Some of the people and revolutionary heroes in the war were women, George Washington, Paul Revere, and slaves. When men left to fight, women had new roles and jobs to do. When the women worked as carpenters, farmers, and shipbuilders, they must have been very successful because since most of the men were gone, they could do as much as they needed. They took over the jobs that men used to do. For example, women farmed, carpenters, and built ships. Some of the wives followed their husbands in the war and did new jobs in it. In the war, the jobs that they

Ms. Berkin begins her introduction explaining her purpose and thesis for writing the book. In this book, she hopes to show the historic role that women played in the Revolution. Ms. Berkin also wished to inform about how the war was actually not “quaint and harmless”(p. 9). Revolutionary Mothers, Women in the Struggle for America, is

The revolutionary Mothers a book that brings to light all the influence women had in achieving American Revolution. The book helps us to appreciate women more than just as a helpmate but as the invaluable ones that took care of the children while maintaining the family assets when the men were fighting for the revolution. The women were able to achieve some vital economic and political roles by petitioning, raising funds and boycotting trades. Some of the women were courageous enough to work as spies while some care for men in the army. Before the American Revolution, women were not a part of politic mostly because they were uneducated. The family finance depended mostly on the men. The women were the ones who stayed home and took care

When the war started, women had to take over the jobs of men and they learned to be independent. These women exemplified the beginning of change. Coupled with enfranchisement and the increased popularity of birth control, women experienced a new

Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the struggle for American Independence. By Carol Berkin (New York: Knopf Publishing Group, 2005). 194 pp. Reviewed by Edidiong Mbong, September 20, 2014.

I believe that this book would be a wonderful addition to my essay research. The author Linda Kerber is a credible feminist author with another book relating to the roles of women in history. The book tells of the many factors that drove women to being such an important catalyst in the American Revolution. Kerber informs the reader of the many reasons women began jumping into the job market, seeking an education, developing a sense of self-reliance, and breaking so many barriers not yet touched. Kerber brings to light the many emotions women were feeling at this time and why exactly the American Revolution offered so many opportunities for women to progress and partake in what was once a male dominated world. Although all of the content in

The Great War brought immense change to the entire world, with it came death, destruction and despair, however women all around the world rose from the ashes of war and found themselves outside of their roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers. The women of the war had proven themselves as being an irreplaceable asset to society capable of performing just as well as their male counterparts in many varieties of jobs, furthermore inspiring generations of women that they were worthy of more than what the veneer of social convention had led them to believe, following their awe-inspiring efforts in the war they had also obtained the status as being