Revolutionary Mothers
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The American Revolution was a home-front war that brought scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the life of every American. In this groundbreaking history, Carol Berkin shows us how women played a vital role throughout the conflict. The women of the Revolution were most active at home, organizing boycotts of British goods, raising funds for the fledgling nation, and managing the family business while struggling to maintain a modicum of normalcy as husbands, brothers and fathers died. Yet Berkin also reveals that it was not just the men who fought on the front lines, as in the story of Margaret Corbin, who was crippled for life when she took her husband’s place beside a cannon at Fort Monmouth. This incisive and comprehensive history illuminates a fascinating and unknown side of the struggle for American independence.
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I really enjoyed this book. This was an overview of how the life of women was impacted by the American Revolutionary War. It's divided thematically and provides an overview of the plight of the rich, the poor, loyalists, Native Americans, slaves, as well as the Hessians who fought for the British Army. I found that chapter absolutely fascinating.
I think so much of what we read (and I am obviously speaking to my own experience here) about the Revolutionary War is a rehash of Adams, Franklin, and Washington over and over. So it was incredible to see these first hand accounts that I'd honestly not known existed. I do wish she presented more material directly from them instead of paraphrasing, but I understand why that was done for the flow of the book.
Recommended if you're interested in early American feminism or Revolutionary history.
