Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for
American
by Carol Berkin
A Book Review by Katie Hickey Snyder
March 2009
Informed
by feminist theory, Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for
American Independence, asserts that the Revolutionary War was not a romantic time
period in our nation’s history. Rather it was a time of upheaval for both men
and woman of all classes, races and cultures. Throughout the war, the line
between home and the battle front was blurred, often putting women, willingly
or unwillingly in the center of history. In an effort to assure that after the
war their loved ones had something to come home to, these women made choices
that changed what they and others expected of their gender. Dr. Berkin asserts that living in a war zone brought complex
changes to the lives of women. These changes differed for women from various
social classes, races and cultures. The book demonstrates these differences by
examining the social histories of different groups of women and the daily lives
of women in each group.
Dr. Berkin
begins with a prologue that examines the lives of Caucasian women in 18th
century colonial society. She proceeds to explore the ways in which the war
effected women’s’ lives, which was dependent upon the women’s’ place in prewar
society. The life of a female Loyalist in Colonial society was very different
from that of a Rebel. The life of general’s wife, differed greatly from that of
a private’s. Berkin explores each group of women’s’
experiences through their individual worldview. She then further unpacks the
lives of these groups of women by exploring each woman’s experience: on the
home front, as a camp follower or as a loyalist in exile. In addition, Dr. Berkin examines the experiences of African American women,
both enslaved and free, in a separate chapter, as well as the lives of Native
American women. The gender roles of women in each of these cultures differed
greatly from those of Caucasian women, thus they experienced the war through a
different lens. Finally, Berkin ends her book by
looking at the changes, if any, in gender roles and ideologies in a post war
society.
Berkin
supports her argument with substantial primary sources. Rather than telling us
how the women of the day lived and what they thought about their lives, she
shows us by the clues they left behind. To illustrate the day-to-day life of a
colonial woman’s prewar life, she quoted from the daybook of a doctor’s wife,
who listed twenty-one chores ranging from hanging pictures to butchering a pig
in a single day (pg. 8). Berkin also used lists of
items to be boycotted to protest the Stamp Act (pg. 15) which illustrated the
wide range of items women were willing to do without in order to make their
displeasure known. She uses excerpts from newspapers the Feb 12, 1770 edition
of the Boston Post (pg15) which shows
a list of the names of gentle women willing to publically express their
willingness to boycott tea. Given the fact that women of a certain social
status did not generally allow them names to be printed in the paper except at
the time of their birth, marriage and death, this primary source illustrates
women’s willingness to make social changes for their political ideals.
Berkin uses other primary sources such as
songs and popular verse of the time to illustrate the mindset of women living
through such a horrific time. One song that has stood the test of time and was
re-popularized in the folk music of the 60s; “Buttermilk Hill” (pg. 31),
expresses the profound sadness felt by the women left behind. Another unique
way Berkin uses primary sources to changes on the
home front is through the use of recipes shared between women. One such recipe
was not for food, rather for stretching the soap supplies (pg. 31).
There are less written primary sources from the lives of
non-White women, such as Native Americans. Their stories are told through the
eyes of women such as Molly Brant, who was born a Mohawk Indian and later
married the White Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the British (pg 110).
Her life straddled the two worlds of the British Colonialist and that of the
Native Americans. Because of her connection with White culture, more artifacts
about her survive. Another Native American source for Berkin
was Mary Jeminson, a White woman who was kidnapped as
a youth and lived her life a Seneca woman. Her story illustrates the Native
Americans’ fear that the new American nation would continue to encroach on not
only their land, but their very way of life. Berkin
uses these sources to demonstrate that Native American’s valued women as equal
partners and full citizens, while rebels and loyalists romanticized women as
the “weaker sex” even as evidence to the contrary was seen throughout the
Revolutionary War.
Finally, Berkin illustrates the
lives of African American women, both enslaved and free through the use of both
primary documents, and oral histories. As most slaves were illiterate, many of
their stories were passed down through an oral tradition. Yet, a few primary
sources remain that give us clues to the lives of these women. Berkin’s sources reveal that most African Americans were
loyalists, hoping to be freed from their American masters by the British. To
illustrate this point she writes of the Ethiopian Regiment, soldiers for the
British army, who wore banners across their chests reading, “
Berkin uses primary sources previously
published in other scholarly works to support her thesis. One example of this
type of source is a letter from a wife to a husband stating what items were
destroyed and what remains in her home after a raid by the British Army after
the Battle of Trenton (pg 28). These letters from women at home to those on the
front lines illustrate the profound changes back home. The book quotes other
primary sources such as diaries, bills of fare, and newspaper articles. Each
chapter in the book has its own set of bibliographical notes. Berkin’s numerous
and varied sources twenty illustrate the world that existed during the war each
group of women she highlights.
` Revolutionary
Mothers contributed greatly to my background knowledge of Boston History. Berkin’s ability to allow the voices of the women to shine
through across the vast expanses of time brought me closer to the women who
lived through such trying times on their own soil. One cannot read this book
and walk away believing that there was but one viewpoint that encompassed the
thoughts of all women affected by this monumental moment in history. I would
recommend this book to teachers who want to expand their knowledge of the
people who lived through the Revolutionary War. When planning a project about
any war, it is imperative that teachers expose students to the viewpoints of
all the stakeholders of the time. Berkin’s book does
a commendable job of looking at the war through the eyes of women who were
loyalists, rebels, wives and daughters of high ranking officers and privates,
Native Americans, and enslaved and free African Americans. She understands that each of these groups
experienced the war in a unique way and uses primary documents to tell their
stories. The book also explores the ways in which gender roles changed for each
of these groups during the time of the war, and what, if any, permanent changes
resulted. Revolutionary Mothers is a
highly readable, yet scholarly work that can greatly inform the practice of
teachers of American History from the elementary through college years.