Revolutionary Mothers Summary

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.

The role of women played in any given war is quite often severely underestimated. This sentiment especially goes for the American Revolutionary War, where women actually played an absolutely essential role in our victory against the British. Not only where there different types of women who had helped, but there were many different ways each of them helped--particularly as nurses to help save lives and tend to injured soldiers. Without women helping in the war, we would have most certainly lost (National History Education Clearinghouse).

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

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.

American society was greatly affected socially by the American Revolution. Compared to women in Europe, women in America already held a slightly greater role in society. That role would grow even larger by the end of the Revolution. The artwork of the time shows that the American soldiers and minutemen often depended on their wives, not only to assist them in their duties at camp but also to run the communities while they were off

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

Many people question if women went into the war because of patriotism or because they lacked other opportunities. Women responded to the call differently depending on age, race, class, marital status, and number of children. They switch from lower-paying female jobs to higher-paying factory jobs. While patriotism influenced women,

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.

A critical analysis entails the review of the book Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the struggle for America’s independence by Carol Berkin. This comprised of details on women who had been involved in struggling to fulfill the independence of America. Women played their role at facing or creating impact towards the war. This outlines on myriad of women,s lives as well as getting to know the obstacles that they encountered during the war. This aids in bringing out the idea that not only men who played vital roles during the war, but also women as being key characters, inclusive of colonial women as well as Native American women and the consequences they faced. Women brought about a generation of having the initial tale of history avoiding rise of different stories thus the book,s intention was to reveal the truth of the history as well as women importance during the revolutionary war.

Although the American Revolution is often presented as an uncomplicated success story and the triumph of freedom and liberty, for women, slaves, and Native Americans, this was far from the case. During the American Revolution, women were strong supporters of revolutionary activity in many capacities. Women worked as seamstresses, nurses, and even as spies (Faragher et al 2009: 159). Women demonstrated their competency and autonomy from males when they took over the running of farms and businesses when males were serving in the Revolutionary army. These were striking, practical, real-life examples of how the idea of female incompetence was in error. Women published political satire and letters from the period demonstrate how women were critically engaged in a thoughtful manner about politics and what it meant to be free and independent. Women served on the front lines, offering food and supplies to soldiers and many later received pensions and acclaim for their efforts. However, none of these initiatives were enough to motivate the Founding Fathers to give women the right to vote even white, propertied women. In their eyes, all men were created equal (Faragher et al 2009: 160).

Looking at the historiography through the changes in the ideas and how this period of history was presented throughout time, one can see the differing perspectives of the time period as well as the growth of social history in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Before this period, however, there were historians who did in fact explore the topic of women in the American Revolution, and one such historian was Elizabeth Cometti in her article entitled “Women in the American Revolution.” In her article, Cometti makes the point that the hardships of women during the American Revolution did not hamper their spirits, but allowed them to take steps outside the home to provide for themselves and their families in ways that they never had before and wouldn’t again for some time as well as doing everything they could to assist

Women are a part of the present, the past and the future. They are leaders, mothers, creators, healers, believers, heroes, teachers and muses. They are from different race, origins, beliefs and education. Underated and put on the side from the beginning since the idea of “founding fathers”. However, we all acknowledge now that they did just as much as the men during the revolution. For example, they were soldiers, camp followers, couriers, spies, a community organizer, a newspaper publisher, nurses, defenders of their homes, a political philosopher, poets and propagandists. The following introduces to you some of the women and their stories.