A Women Of The Republic By Linda Kerber

Women, too, expressed intense patriotic devotion that was striking in its ardor and efficiency. The all-encompassing nature of the revolutionary conflict allowed women to take part in a political life that had, throughout prior generations, barred them from entry. However, with the onset of the war against Great Britain, Americans realized that in order to obtain victory against the crown, the entire citizenry, not just half of it, needed to put forth its utmost effort. One of the main ways in which women aided the revolutionary cause was through wartime production. Oftentimes, women met at their minister’s home to participate in “spinning bees,” during which they would weave cloth to make garments for the undersupplied soldiers of the Continental Army.

In Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers, she provides detail into the world of the women who played an active and vital role during the Revolutionary War. Over the years historians have downplayed the effect that these women have had on our nation. She emphasizes the effect of these women by speaking from the viewpoint of not only Colonial white women, but also Native-American and African-American women. Berkin also chooses to focus on portraying to the reader how the people of this time were affected. She accomplishes this by balancing the perspective between rich and poor, patriot and loyalist, and American and British.

Many questions come to mind when thinking about the American Revolution. For example; “what country did the American colonies rebel against” or “what year did the American Revolution begin”, but has one ever questioned what the women were doing during this time? Many people, including myself, either do not associate women with this time period or assume that during these years women were only housewives/caretakers, leaving governmental and military duties to the males in the society. Cokie Roberts, author of Founding Mothers, reverses these basic assumptions about women and illustrates to readers that women were very influential to the American Revolution. Through dramatic and heartfelt stories, Roberts’ Founding Mothers suggests that in order

Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic Rosemarie Zagarri studies women’s political roles from the end of the American Revolution to the election of Andrew Jackson. Women are overlooked by the male perspective of the American R evolution, but women have a profound impact in the political arena. Men welcomed women’s political activism but this attitude was short lived. By 1830 a backlash against women began; Zagarri argues women’s political role caused the backlash.

When Fanny Trollope stepped on American soil, women were 100 years from their right to vote, forced to stay within their strict gender roles by their controlling husbands, and were forbidden to pursue an education or a professional career. Compared with Trollope’s familiar British society, America was far behind regarding their equality of women. Trollope came to America, without her husband, and with most of her children, an extreme feat in the eyes of Americans back in the 1820’s. She advocated for education, self-sufficiency, and occupation. Trollope saw through the “new free democracy” facade and noted in “Domestic Manners of the Americans,” that women were not in mind when the framers wrote the constitution, and that they played a subordinate,

The Fight for Women’s Independence When thinking about the Revolutionary War, we think about the American colonist fighting against British rule for America’s freedom. In Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the struggle for America’s Indepe6ndence, we are shown through women’s eyes how the war affects them, and not just the army’s that fought in the war. The war saw changes in women that were different than their style of life had been, although not always recognized by the men who fought the war. Berkin argues that women were still treated the same as before the war, no matter the struggle for independence for their nation and themselves. I agree with Carol Berkin, because women did what they could at home or in the front

During the war women had enjoyed the feeling being independent. The feeling of losing the little power they had during the war was devastating. As the United States was becoming a nation the ideology of separate spheres became more clear and women and men were treated completely differently, “American women never manage the outward concerns of the family, or conduct a business or take a part in political life; nor are they, on the other hand, ever compelled t perform the rough labor of the fields, or make any of those laborious exertions, which demand the exertion of physical strength. No families are so poor, as t form an exception to this rule.” (Dumenil 156).

When most people think of the Revolutionary War, they envision heroic battles fought by men such as George Washington and Paul Revere. But equally important in America’s victory were the heroic deeds of the women of the time, both on the front lines and behind the scenes.. One of the first ways women got involved in the revolutionary movement was by boycotting British items. Men believed that it was going to be hard to get the women to boycott, however it was not (Slavicek 17). Since the Patriots would not buy supplies from the British, women now needed to step up and take the job of making their own cloth and turning it into clothes (Slavicek).

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.

We can do it In breaking tradition and family affair the changing role of the women during the civil war and world war II , each passage show that war transformed women’s roles in society. Before the civil war the women were expected to keep busy at home and church and to avoid heavy labor, business, and politics. Women could not vote or sign contracts, laws and traditions restricted women’s choice.

The years of the war was tiring and strenuous not only for the soldiers at war, but also for the women who were toughing it out on the home front. After clocking in long hours at the factory building machines and vehicles needed for the war, they still had to perform their household duties. But, many were happy and willing to do so, as working outside of their homes and helming jobs that they never did before was how women showed their patriotism for their country. Women had to maintain the industrial as well as the agricultural sectors in order to ensure that the American society could continue to function, and to help the allies in the war (“Brock, J., Dickey, J. W., Harker, R., & Lewis, C”, 2015). New opportunities were also made available for women in white-collar sectors.

Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin is about woman in the time of the Revolutionary War that were affected by this event. When writing this monograph, Berkin focuses on the Patriot and Loyalist, American and British, and Indian and African American women. When Berkin writes in this way she makes the war seem more diverse to different groups of women and families. Although, there was a mixture of women they had similar qualities about them the author made clear she appreciates. All the women were tough, physically and emotionally along with being brave.

The life of Women in the late 1800s. Life for women in the 1800s began to change as they pushed for more rights and equality. Still, men were seen as better than women, this way of thinking pushed women to break out from the limitations imposed on their sex. In the early 1800s women had virtually no rights and ultimately were not seen as people but they rather seen as items of possession, it wasn’t until the late 1800s that women started to gain more rights. The Civil War actually opened opportunities for women to gain more rights, because with many of the men gone to war women were left with the responsibilities that men usually fulfilled during that time period.

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