The Role Of Women In Carol Berkin's Revolutionary Mothers?

1424 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sample essay on women after the american revolution

Would have winning the American Revolution have been a possibility without the help of women? In Carol Berkin’s book Revolutionary Mothers, she discusses the role the women played in the American Revolution and the significance it played. Berkin writes about how the women played a huge role, from raising money to spying on the other side. In the book, Berkin sheds light on the rarely discussed side on the revolution, the role of the various groups of women during the war. In the book, Revolutionary Mothers, Berkin writes about the importance of women during the American Revolution. She prevents the reader with evidence to show how the women were necessary during war time. They fought for their independence along with their husbands, whether
There are little primary sources available on the women’s role in the American Revolution. Often women were not literate in that time. Berkin had to use numerous books and articles, as indicted by the lengthy list of sources in the book, to find the information necessary to write the book. Many of the sources included various types of writings, such as diary entries, letters, and biographies. Another reason it is challenging to find primary sources, is the women’s role in society before and after the American Revolution. Women did not have their own legal identity. They did what their husband wanted to them to do and did not make decisions on their own. Due to this, women’s writings would not have been considered important. They would have been regarded as frivolous and unimportant to
Not only did they have to keep the family business running while their husband or son was away, but they also had to worry about the loss of their loved ones. The women were attacked from many different sides, even at home. They had their husband and sons off at war, and they were trying to provide supplies for the army, even though there were little materials for other necessities. Also, they were being physically attacked by the soldiers in town. These women were no longer just mothers, daughters and wives. They now ran everything and performed the role of both men and

Show More
Related

  • Revolutionary Mothers Summary

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book begins by explaining the roles that women in this time were known to have as this helps the reader get a background understanding of a woman’s life pre-war. This is done because later in the book women begin to break the standards that they are expected to have. It shows just how determined and motivated these revolutionary women and mothers were for independence. First and foremost, many people believed that a “woman’s truth was that God had created her to be a helpmate to a man” (p.4). Women focused on the domain of their households and families, and left the intellectual issues of the time and education to the men. Legally, women had almost no rights. Oppressed by law and tradition, women were restricted their choice of professions regardless of their identity or economic status. As a result, many women were left with few choices and were cornered into marriage or spinsterhood, which also had its limitations. As a spinster, you were deemed as unmarried who was past the usual age of marriage. Patronized by society, these women were left and stamped as “rejected”. On the other side, If the woman became married, all that she owned belonged to her husband, even her own existence. In exchange to her commitment, if a woman’s husband was away serving in the military or if she became a widower, she could use but not own, one-third of her husband’s property. This left her to manage the land and serve as a surrogate laborer in her husband’s absence. Needless to say, a day in a woman’s life then was filled with a full day of multi-tasking and as circumstances changed, more women had to adapt to their urban

    Read More

  • The Impact on Social Attitudes in Bexley during World War Two

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ven our notice.’ Although this demonstrates how society’s views attempted to revert back after the war, this does show that females had had a sacramental role in Bexley. The fact that the women were used to train the men, shows that women clearly did a good deal of work during the war that was useful.

    Read More

  • Carol Berkin: A Journey through American History

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the first chapter, she wrote about the part of women in the colonial era in two disparate stages. From the 1600 century to the 1700 century, women just made their family to have happy family. But in the middle 1700 century, they had the part of a “pretty gentlewoman”, and they had much bondage that made them. The next chapter, Berkin took over the stand-up of women’s social; it brought a positive direction. Many women began with the notion of their political actions and started to mention their future. In the third chapter, the book talked about many difficulties in the wartimes: lack of troopers, foods, material, and women’s death. When the war started booming, women tried to arrange in her life. They left their house, to protect their assets like ranches or works. Also, they saved their children. Moreover, in the chapter four and the chapter five, she wrote about the compare and contrast of their perspective between the high level and low level, and good women in the family. Many people came into the military as bondage: they made the meals and washed clothes, also they treated the wounds of soldiers. There were many reasons in the wartimes, but women tried to serve in the army. They did many jobs, but they did not completely recognize their

    Read More

  • First Generation Women In Colonial America Chapter Summary

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    In her book, First Generations Women in Colonial America, Carol Berkin depicts the everyday lives of women living during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Berkin relays accounts of European, Native American, and African women's struggles and achievements within the patriarchal colonies in which women lived and interacted with. Until the first publication of First Generations little was published about the lives of women in the early colonies. This could be explained by a problem that Berkin frequently ran into, as a result of the patriarchal family dynamic women often did not receive a formally educated and subsequently could not write down stories from day to day lives. This caused Berkin to draw conclusions from public accounts and the journals of men during the time period. PUT THESIS HERE! ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE BOOK.

    Read More

  • Women's Role Of Women During The Revolutionary War

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most of their work became invisible and the women were referred to as amateurs. Many historians consider this time after the war as gender amnesia because everyone after the war forgot all the women did. Women were credited for their contributions. This amnesia caused the women to lose the little inclusion that they had and not many fought this because of the urge to go back to normalcy (Berkin). If the need to become a strong and steady nation had not meant a push back to normalcy, the women may not have been set back as much in terms of inclusion.

    Read More

  • Education in America of the 18th Century

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Education did not form part of the life of women before the Revolutionary War and therefore, considered irrelevant. Women’s education did not extend beyond that of what they learned from their mothers growing up. This was especially true for underprivileged women who had only acquired skills pertaining to domesticity unlike elite white women during that time that in addition to having acquired domestic skills they learned to read a result becoming literate. However, once the Revolutionary War ended women as well as men recognized the great need for women to obtain a greater education. Nonetheless, their views in regards to this subject differed greatly in that while some women including men believed the sole purpose of educating women was in order to better fulfil their roles and duties as wives and mothers others believed the purpose of education for women was for them “to move beyond the household field.” The essays of Benjamin Rush and Judith Sargent Murray provide two different points of view with respects to the necessity for women to be well educated in post-revolutionary America.

    Read More

  • Flappers

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 liberation. When the men returned from the war they found competition from the newly liberated woman who did not want to settle for making a home (Melman 17). This new class of women exercised a freedom that shocked society.

    Read More

  • Women In The American Revolution Essay

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women had a role in the forming of our country that many historians overlook. In the years leading to the revolution and after women were political activists. During the war, women took care of the home front. Some poor women followed the army and assisted to the troops. They acted as cooks, laundresses and nurses. There were even soldiers and spies that were women. After the revolution, women advocated for higher education. In the early 1800’s women aided in the increase of factories, and the changing of American society. Women in America were an important and active part of achieving independence and the framing of American life over the years.

    Read More

  • Impact of US involvement in World War I

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    for their jobs as women were upholding them during the war. Some men even went on

    Read More

  • Role of Women in Early Republic

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    The role of women in the Early Republic is a topic mostly overlooked by historians when dealing with this era of American history. The triumphs of the Revolution and the early events of the new nation were done solely by men. However, women had their own political societies and even participated in the Revolution. Women's roles began to take a major turn after the war with Great Britain. This was due in part to their involvement in the war and female patriotism. Others believed it was due to the easier access to formal education for young women. Whatever the reason, it inspired women to challenge the social structure of the Early Republic. The roles of women were changing in the Early Republic. However, progress was slow and little change followed after the Revolution. This change in social structure elicited two questions. What caused this social change and what was the major setback for the progression of women's rights? These were the questions Linda Kreber's Women In The Republic: Intellect And Ideology In Revolutionary America, Caroline Robbins' review of Mary Norton's Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, and Sheila Skemp's review of Lucia McMahon's Mere Equals: The Paradox of Educated Women in the Early American Republic attempted to answer. Each of the pieces of literature agreed that the social equality of women was changing, but each offer a unique aspect of what changed it, and what slowed progression of equality.

    Read More

  • Women In World War I

    1370 Words  | 3 Pages

    When all the men were across the ocean fighting a war for world peace, the home front soon found itself in a shortage for workers. Before the war, women mostly depended on men for financial support. But with so many gone to battle, women had to go to work to support themselves. With patriotic spirit, women one by one stepped up to do a man's work with little pay, respect or recognition. Labor shortages provided a variety of jobs for women, who became street car conductors, railroad workers, and shipbuilders. Some women took over the farms, monitoring the crops and harvesting and taking care of livestock. Women, who had young children with nobody to help them, did what they could do to help too. They made such things for the soldiers overseas, such as flannel shirts, socks and scarves.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in the American Civil War

    1951 Words  | 4 Pages

    The women during the war felt an obligation to assist in one form or another. Many stayed at home to watch over the children, while others felt a more direct or indirect approach was necessary. Amongst the most common path women took to support the war, many "served as clerks.filled the ammunition cartridges and artillery shells with powder at armories, laboring at this dangerous and exacting task for low wages. Both sides utilized women in these capacities (Vol. 170). " Women that stayed away from battlefields supported their respected armies by taking the jobs that men left behind.

    Read More

  • Feminism in The Things They Carried by Tim O´brien

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...as Mary Ann in the novel show that women can do so much more than sew and cook. Without women, all wars would have been a lot harder. Although men tend to keep a macho facade in order to calm others (such as the women in their lives), inside they may be like glass, easy to break. A society set on the ideal stoic, fearless warrior who acts ruthlessly and saves the damsel in distress (also showing that women are weak) obviously is one where doomed to sexism. Without the comfort and inspiration, men would have deteriorated in the face of death. All and all, women provided the needed comfort, nursing, “manpower”, and love that the soldiers of Vietnam need, something that helped them endure the havoc of war. O’Brien’s expert use of the feminist lens allows the reader to know that women indeed were a powerhouse in the Vietnam war, without whom, men would have perished.

    Read More

  • The Lack of Women's role in society in the 1950s

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, when the war was over, and the men returned to their lives, society reverted back to as it had been not before the 1940s, but well before the 1900s. Women were expected to do nothing but please their husband. Women were not meant to have jobs or worry about anything that was occurring outside of their own household.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • Women in World War One

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women were not only separated by class, but also by their gender. No woman was equal to a man and didn’t matter how rich or poor they were. They were not equal to men. Women couldn’t vote own business or property and were not allowed to have custody of their children unless they had permission from their husband first. Women’s roles changed instantly because of the war. They had to pick up all the jobs that the men had no choice but to leave behind. They were expected to work and take care of their homes and children as well. Working outside the home was a challenge for these women even though the women probably appreciated being able to provide for their families. “They faced shortages of basic goods, lack of childcare and medical care, little training, and resistance from men who felt they should stay home.” (p 434)

    Read More

More about The Role Of Women In Carol Berkin's Revolutionary Mothers?

Open Document