Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: December 8, 2020 at 2:16:04 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Nationalism]: Sheets on Oberg, 'Women in the > American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Barbara Oberg, ed. Women in the American Revolution: Gender, > Politics, and the Domestic World. Charlottesville University of > Virginia Press, 2019. 280 pp. $39.50 (cloth), ISBN > 978-0-8139-4259-9. > > Reviewed by Jessica J. Sheets (Pennsylvania State University - > Harrisburg) > Published on H-Nationalism (December, 2020) > Commissioned by Evan C. Rothera > > The American Revolution left few lives untouched, and that included > women of all demographics--rich and poor; black, Native American, and > white; educated and illiterate; enslaved and free; loyalist, neutral, > and patriot; unknown and eminent; submissive and independent. Through > works like _Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and > the Domestic World, _edited by Barbara B. Oberg, we can truly > understand and appreciate the strengths and sufferings of the women > of that time. > > The contributors to _Women in the American Revolution_ succeed in > highlighting the everyday "lived experiences" (p. 3) of Revolutionary > women. The succinct, engagingly written chapters with a wealth of > footnotes and evidence of thorough research bring to life an array of > women. The book is divided into three sections: "Economic > Relationships," "Political Identities," and "Marriage and the > Family." > > The three chapters in the first section detail enslaved midwives in > Virginia, milliners and mantuamakers in the Chesapeake area, and a > woman apothecary in Pennsylvania. In her chapter on enslaved > midwives, Sara Collini points out two ironic elements of the work of > enslaved midwives: they were actually paid for their efforts, and by > safely delivering babies to enslaved women, the slave population > grew. Collini discusses a woman named Kate, who in 1794 requested > that her owner, George Washington, pay her for her midwife duties. > Washington complied; he also paid other enslaved midwives. Enslaved > midwives had unique experiences in that through some freedom of > movement, they established a wider network than many other slaves, > networks that even crossed typical social boundaries. Meanwhile, > because of Virginia banning the transatlantic slave trade in 1778, > slave owners cared more about the health and reproduction of their > slaves. In that awful way, midwives gained value. > > The second section of the book contains four chapters on different > topics related to women and politics: treatment of Haudenosaunee > (Iroquois) women in the political realm; poet Annis Boudinot Stockton > of New Jersey, whose husband retracted his signature on the > Declaration of Independence; Martha Washington's rising to the > occasions that her position required of her; and influences on and > the influence of Phillis Wheatley's poetry. Maeve Kane, in her > chapter on the Haudenosaunee women, notes that while the British did > not exclude Haudenosaunee women from meetings of a political nature, > Americans did (at treaty conferences), despite the Haudenosaunee > women having authority to choose their male leaders, sell land, etc. > That added insult to the injury of Americans targeting and destroying > the Haudenosaunee women's homes and crops, particularly in General > John Sullivan's campaign of 1779. Then, in political negotiations, > Americans gave gifts intended for men, such as liquor and clothing. > In short, Haudenosaunee women fared better before the Revolution than > after. > > The third and final section includes four essays on familial > attachments. Mary Willing Byrd, the widowed mistress of a Virginia > plantation, endured legal and financial hardships, devastation caused > by the war, and questioning of her loyalty, all while raising her > eight children. Before the Boston Massacre, the lives of colonists > and the British were interconnected--by courtship, marriages, and > baptism of children and the selection of godparents. Deborah Logan of > Philadelphia, wife of a Pennsylvania legislator, wrote glowingly of > her husband after his death, despite some of his political activity > surely having caused her embarrassment. Kimberly Nath's chapter > examines women loyalists in Philadelphia, specifically women who > stayed behind, often to protect property, while husbands fled for > safety. Quaker women like Sarah Logan Fisher were left behind for > another reason. Her husband was among those Quaker men exiled to > Virginia for refusing to support the patriot cause. Fisher was > pregnant when her husband was exiled and had young children. > Providing enough food for them was a constant concern. She gave birth > during her husband's absence; he was able to return home after seven > months. Loyalist women like Fisher endured the day-in-and-day-out > existence of life in an occupied city and many, Nath notes, overcame > the challenges that confronted them. Some even "exert[ed] > independence" (p. 213). > > Oberg and the thirteen other contributors have effectively drawn > attention to the everyday lives of women during the American > Revolution. "Everyday lives" during wartime consisted of protecting > family property and providing for children in the absence of > husbands; maintaining shops independently, either by choice or > necessity; or, as in the case of Martha Washington, learning a unique > role as she went. Countless women, from all walks of life, faced what > the war sent their way. Their stories deserve to be known, and these > essays, building on the solid foundation established by Linda Kerber > and Mary Beth Norton, effectively further our understanding of women > in the American Revolution. > > Citation: Jessica J. Sheets. Review of Oberg, Barbara, ed., _Women in > the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World_. > H-Nationalism, H-Net Reviews. December, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55439 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#4281): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/4281 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/78821801/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
