Summary Of Carol Berkin's 'Revolutionary Mothers'

Daniel Mitchell
Mr. Domingue
History 1301
September 27, 2014
Courageous Women In the book Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence, author Carol Berkin provides a voice for the women of the American Revolution. Berkin exposes the war through the eyes of patriot and loyalist, American and British, Native American and African-American women. In doing so, the author permits the reader to comprehend the war not as black and white, but rather in shades of grey. Berkin reasons “it is important to tell the story of the revolution and its aftermath with the complexity it deserves” (Berkin, xi). The ultimate goal of the book explains the impact women had on the outcome of the Revolutionary War. In the seventeenth century, women had the task of maintaining the household and the garden, and processing raw materials, such as food
and clothing. “In this environment, a woman’s fertility was as vital as her productivity, for children were an essential labor force on small farms throughout the colonies.” (Berkin, 6,7). According to colonial society, women remained helpmates to their husbands. However, in the late eighteenth century gender roles began to change. On October 25, 1774, in Edenton, North Carolina, women across the state gathered to sign the Edenton Ladies Agreement, which boycotted all British goods and products. With large amounts of British goods no longer being imported, women had to come together to learn how to spin thread. Ideologically, these meetings became one of the first political awakenings for women, as Berkin interprets. Women’s roles further changed, on April 19, 1775, as the Battle of Lexington arose. The Battle of Concord closely shadowed the Battle of Lexington, and thus the American Revolution commenced. Americans began fighting for freedom and independence from Great Britain. As the men went of to war, women found themselves in charge of the household finances. “Along with this new set of chores came a new code of behavior, a new definition of femininity.” (Berkin, 7). Throughout the Revolution War, a trivial percentage of women served in the military, as nurses, washers, cooks, hunters for supplies, seamstresses, sexual partners, and even spies and soldiers. Primarily, the women remained in the back of the line, wearing ragged clothing, hauling pots, pans, and kettles. Women frequently traveled with the soldiers, because of poverty, loneliness, fear of starvation, and the possibility of rape or death by other armies. All throughout the book, Berkin remains even-handed, devoting space to tell the stories of Loyalist women as well as American patriots, and not neglecting the lives of African-American and Native American women.
Many ethnicities faced difficulties during the American Revolution. Native Americans chose to fight for the British or the Americans, in hopes that the winning side would reward land. During the war, the Iroquois Confederacy, the Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Seneca fought for Great Britain, while the Oneidas and Tuscaroras fought for America. The wives of Loyalists, American colonists who remained loyal to the British Empire, suddenly found themselves alienated in a place they once called home. The single most interesting story in the book describes Loyalist Frederika von Riedesel, the wife of a German general who fought in the pivotal Battle of Saratoga. The von Riedesel family endured captivity, and long forced travels. Eventually, Frederika befriended Thomas Jefferson during a stay in Virginia and returned to Europe, with the good will of major players on both sides of the
battle. Once the conflict ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, women's roles in society remained forever changed. After the Revolutionary War, advancement came in the form of the establishment of academies for female education. Though the economic and legal status of women remained unchanged, women had proven themselves and revealed their abilities. In the years after the Revolution, the belief of women being inferior to men stood contradicted. As a result, postwar intellectuals then urged their countrymen and women to acknowledge women's moral and intellectual capabilities. Overall, this book is informative, yet short and to the point. Even though, in a few of the chapters the stories overwhelm the narrative. Also, the book became uninteresting during one or two chapters, particularly the fifth chapter regarding general’s wives. In conclusion, Carol Berkin superbly tells a side of American history not often taught in a classroom. Berkin provided a voice for the courageous women of the American Revolution.