- Published: December 10, 2021
- Updated: December 10, 2021
- University / College: University of St Andrews
- Level: College Admission
- Language: English
- Downloads: 40
REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS: WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAS INDEPENDENCE BY CAROL BERKIN (BOOK REVIEW) By: Introduction The book talks about how the American Revolution was a home-front war that was responsible for bringing scarcity, bloodshed, and danger into the general life of each American. Through this groundbreaking history, the author (Carol Berkin) educates her readers on how the women were responsible for playing a significant role through the entire time of conflict.
Right from the first chapter of the book, titled “ The Easy Task of Obeying,” it talks about the place of Englishwomen in the colonial society. In this chapter, the author writes about Abigail Adams, who is urging her husband to “ remember the ladies” at the time he was involved in drafting the new laws of the nation and modifying on the harsh restrictions of coverture. Through this coverture, the married women had no legal control of the property, the earnings, or the children. In the same chapter, another woman, Riendel, travels to North America together with her three daughters to join her husband, who was serving as a German general in the British Army. Her work here was wounding soldiers that suffered injuries from the wars. 1
The decision to use this chapter as the center of the analysis is that it emphasizes more on the role of women in the colonial society. Berkin presents the general view that these women of revolution were particularly active at their homes, whereby they were organizing boycotts of the British goods, helping in raising funds to aid the fledging nation, and eventually managing family businesses while at the same time struggling into maintaining a modicum of normalcy upon the death of their husbands, brothers, and fathers. The inclusion of these women as presented in this chapter illuminates a fascinating, together with detailing the unknown side of the struggle for the American independence.
Conclusion
Looking at the entire book, I find the book to be an elegant and well-written book. The book meets almost all standard criteria with profound command of language and minimal or no grammatical errors. I find Barkin to be even-handed, who devotes space to the activities of the Loyalist women and the American patriots while she does not neglect on the lives of the black and the Indian women. The entire book adds immeasurable value to the study of American History. It is a book that is worth reading, and I am sure that every reader will be surprised and delighted at his or her own findings of the book.
Reference
Berkin, Carol. 2005. Revolutionary mothers: women in the struggle for Americas independence. New York: Knopf.