Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence - Book Report/Review Example

Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence Carol Berkin’s book’s title is an important glance at the components of this work. Firstly she emphasizes that where and when there were eminent men ‘Founding Fathers’ there were also side by side women or the ‘Founding Mothers’. Moreover she continues to contradict the conventional image of the women as a helpmate, as she points out that when during the war the men weren’t home, most of the women acted in their husbands positions and managed their properties. Nonetheless she also attempts to redefine the notion of a helpmate where a woman is not an indistinct inferior figure, particularly at what was referred to as the war at home front. According to Carol Berkin, women, were though not the central players of the Revolution, however it is important to note that they took part in each and every aspect of the Revolution. She continues this by pointing and discussing in detail the involvement of the women in the boycotts and protests that occurred before the Revolution, their harrowing experiences that they came across during the war that stretched the boundaries of the war from the battlefields to the home fronts and also on both sides the saboteurs and exploitation done by the female spies. Stories of loyalist exiles are dealt with in separate chapters, which include of the African American and the Native American women, these were the groups for the Revolution provided very few opportunities and created specific difficulties. Moreover another group which is discussed with particular regard is of the ‘camp followers’ this group comprised of the genteel officer’s wives, the financial uncertain, working women such as the laundresses, cooks and nurses. The regional aspects are dealt with precision and skill by Berkin; as she considers the central importance of the Indians, African Americans and enthusiast warfare occurred in the southern crusades, here also not exaggerating the highly eminent and budding sectional and racial discrepancies of the Revolutionary age. The war in the southern regional states are given sufficient attention by gathering the accounts of the regional stories of some of the iconic women; for instance the story of the imprisoned woman who aided her master to escape from a British penitentiary, called Mammy Kate. Also prominent is the account of Emily Geiger, who ate the note when she was captured, which she was supposed to deliver to General Nathanael Greene, and then when she was released by the British she delivered the message on the note orally. In the remaining areas northern women are being focused. Some important figures are not included in her accounts for some or the other reason, these are essentially the ones who implemented the Revolutionary principle that to widows and single women who owned property (including themselves) they were entitled to “No taxation without representation” they were Virginians Hannah Lee Corbin and Mary Byrd, then there was the patriotic editor of a newspaper Clementina Rind. However to some extent (not fully) this is bridged by the inclusion of the North Carolinian episode referred to as the Edenton Ladies’ Tea Party. There are stories in the book that are worth to be told, thus making the book worthwhile. It is for sure that her conclusions are prone to slight criticisms. For example in the case of Martha Wayles Jefferson, there is little or no proof that her patriotic efforts and measure taken to help raise money for the support of the troops did shock her husband, even when it was later discussed that her husband Thomas was quite hostile towards that women that are active politically. And also the ‘gender amnesia’ whose genesis Berkin locates in the late nineteenth century, adjoining women's partaking in the Revolution, was previously apparent in the instantaneous post Revolutionary epoch (p. xi). However, this can fairly be said that the analysis of Carol Berkin regarding the women’s wider scope of the Revolution and the importance of the Revolutionary understanding is convincing and unbiased. Across America, without disturbing their society's fundamental gender principles women were energetic contributors in a revolution that provided authenticity to new thoughts about their responsibilities and capabilities. Subsequently, both traditional domesticity and feminism were inspired by this indefinite bequest. In the book Berkin not only contributes what was contributed by women to the Revolution but also what the Revolution has induced into them. Explaining that how the bloated field of the helpmate throughout the war contracted into a more familial one subsequently, she annotates the inconsistent temperament of that outcome. It was the case that there was somewhat a notion that due to the active participation in the Revolution the women have been provided with more power and authority, however, the area where they could use or exercise it was limited. Such psychoanalysis offers the vital background for what is the spirit of the book: the vignettes of individual women. Not just because they provide for the evidence of generalization these stories are important, but due to the fact that they name women. It is quite clear from the respective stories that after when the war was over, all of the prominent women and heroines returned to the parlors, kitchens and to gardens and nurseries i.e. to the vagueness which their society considered to be feminine sufficiently (p.146), and this is the indistinctness which causes them to be ignored by the historians. When scholars started to recognize them, then, it was frequently only as grouping and figures; in consequence names give them identity. The role of the white women was expanded significantly by the Revolution, while on the other hand it had dissimilar effects on the black slave, and African American and Native American women. These two cases are being addressed in to different chapters so that the elucidation of the events are not resulted in misconceptions and also so that they could be avoided as being treated as a deviation or a diversion. The cultural variations in gender positions are being highlighted by the rationally sincere approach. As stated by Berkin in following words that: “The authority and autonomy that women enjoyed in their Indian societies stood in stark contrast to the accepted subordination and economic dependency of colonial farmwives or urban mothers.” Particularly ill-fated by their race and their femininity, black women could infrequently take benefit of the opportunity for liberty that British commanders presented to slaves who would battle for His Majesty. The biggest weakness and also the most significant strength of the book is being illuminated in the chapter that on couriers, saboteurs, spies and other heroines. By referring to a number of profiles, Berkin illustrates that how women play on gender reactions to mislead the enemy and also how were the women able to protect their families when they also experienced the struggling of the war. According to this, Berkin expresses that the participation of the American women in the Revolution against the British for freedom wasn’t actually limited to iconic personalities such as Molly Pitcher, Abigail Adams, Betsy Ross or Martha Washington. She maintains that even though the traditional accounts have not been able to record the heroic attempts and sacrifices of a small number of women in contrast to larger number of men, it is actually the case that the birth of a new nation wasn’t possible without such a contribution by women. In her work Berkin has divided the various accounts of the experiences of various groups of women, for instance the one who contradicted the English policy, African American women, women who followed the army Loyalist women, the general’s wives and the women who toiled on the home front. Works Cited Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Read More