Joy Day Buel Way Of Duty Analysis

Joy Day Buel and Richard Buel Jr., documented the life of Mary Fish, daughter of Reverend Joseph Fish and wife Rebecca Fish, in the book Way of Duty. Buel’s study was an in-depth analysis of how Mary Fish lived in New England during the eighteenth century. Mary Fish had to survive the tough times while her husband was off fighting during the Revolutionary War. She was left to raise two children while worrying if she would ever be able to see her husband again. The Revolutionary War was a tough period of time because it was the deciding factor if the American colonies would be separated from English rule. It was an especially hard time on the women because they had more duties now that their husbands have left the household to fight for the

This occurred when Mary was able to decide who she would like to marry instead of having her parents arrange a marriage for her. Mary was able to choose John Noyes to become her first husband. “John’s parents made no objection; on the contrary, they were eager for the marriage to take place before another winter came down. Mary’s parents responded with markedly less enthusiasm” . One can tell by the reaction of Mary’s parents that they respected her opinion on who she wanted to marry however did not fully like the idea of who she was marrying. They wanted to let her decide who she would marry instead of following the puritan way and deciding for her who she would marry. This passage proves that Mary’s parents indeed decided not to follow the religion in this time. This was fairly uncommon in the eighteenth century as most of the times, the women’s parents would decide who they would want their daughter to marry and the daughter was not capable of deciding who she would live with for the rest of her life. Mary’s family did not follow religion when it came to marriage as Mary was able to decide to marry John Noyes as her first husband. There were also instances when there was a heavy presence of interest in Nathan Cole’s autobiography in Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History. Nathan Cole was heavily influenced

Mary Fish was involved in puritanism primarily because her father was a reverend. However, Mary also had her own personal views that were rooted within religion. Nathan Cole also observed religion when he enthusiastically attended a religious rally held by George Whitefield during the Great Awakening. Nathan Cole was excited for this event to occur and made sure to attend to learn about religion and how it is important to follow. Mary Fish attended many public affairs during her lifetime. One public affair she was involved with was going to see and spend time with her friends for her honeymoon. On the other hand, Nathan Cole attended a public affair as part of a religious gathering to see George Whitefield. Many friends and family members decided to go together to the event and in all, there were thousands of people attending for George Whitefield. Overall, the eighteenth century was full of religious beliefs and public