Carol Berkin's 'Revolutionary Mothers'

Britny Valdez
Professor LeClaire
U.S. History 1301
23 July 2015
Revolutionary Mothers Book Report
When people talk about the revolutionary war, they think of a bunch of men fighting. Not many people know that women actually did take part in the war and had a great influence in it. In “Revolutionary Mothers” by Carol Berkin, she writes about all of the different ways that women were affected by the war and how they influenced the war. Berkin explains with detail about the enormous workloads that women had before the war and the way it doubled during the war. The wives and sisters had to step up and take on the role of their men who left to fight in the war. Women were not only emotionally disturbed but physically as well due to the raids and
Men were angered and wanted to join the militia to defend their new nation while women were afraid of the dangers of war. They knew about war but only from afar. Women understood this was a home front war and their husbands, brothers, and fathers were going to participate. Many women opposed this and blamed the draft workers for convincing their men to leave and basically commit suicide because they weren’t sure if they would make it. Aside from worrying about their husbands, they still had to tend to their everyday duties, add their husband’s duties, and make sure that their children and homes were safe from the relentless British men. The British men would enter the American women’s homes and raid them. Many even threatened to kill them. And just like any other situation, many other women encouraged men to fight and pushed for the revolution. Whichever they chose, to encourage or oppose, they all faced the unbearable loneliness at the end of the day. They all struggled to maintain their homes and have something for when the men came home. They even went to extremes to get whatever little resources they could get. The British soldiers were violent when they invaded the homes. Some soldiers would arrive drunk and shooting their guns, which resulted in many accidental deaths. Although, that quickly escalated to more dangerous situations, “British forces committed conscious acts of fierce brutality”
One reason English men didn’t like Indians was because of their culture. Indian women had a voice and position in political affairs. “To the English colonists, this division of labor defied all they knew to be true of male and female aptitudes and appropriate roles” (page 108). Yet through the very different cultures, a woman and a man came to love each other. They opened a hope that the two cultures could coexist with each other. But, the revolutionary war only forced them to choose sides. British or Colonial. Indians became accustomed to the ways of the white men and women power gradually faded. “Indian women’s political voice was rarely acknowledged by American governments, and thus women’s power and authority waned” (page