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The Sentiments Of An American Women Summary

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The year is 1780, the United States is in the middle of its Revolutionary war, and General George Washington’s troops are starving, cold, exhausted and out of supplies. The first lady of Pennsylvania, Esther DeBerdt Reed, then decided to take action, forming the Ladies of Philadelphia to raise funds for the soldiers. When Mrs. DeBerdt Reed had taken on this position she had broken a boundary for wartime women. Not only did she take leadership after giving birth but she had supported the revolution as a British woman who had married an American lawyer and then moved to the states. Defending this feminine activism, she published her Sentiments of an American Women on June 10, 1780 in the Pennsylvania Packet¹. Mrs. DeBerdt Reed had written this document with the purpose of encouraging women to be actively patriotic during war just as men were and proved that women could act politically through stating historical examples of heroic women. DeBerdt Reed’s document was written in the midst of the Enlighten Era, when women’s roles at home had begun to change to a more socially and …show more content…

She begins by reminding the nation about the promise that all women had made to contribute to the war effort and then continues to say that they have not made good on that promise, but that now is the time to do so (Berkin, 144). Mrs. DeBerdt Reed intentionally called out women and spoke to their hearts for she knew they were all struggling with their homes as most of the men were in battle. The document then goes one to make an argument that women are meant to do much more when their nation is in a crisis, to even risk their lives for the cause. DeBerdt Reed then assures the audience that no one should fight against women on such a noble cause to fight for their natural right, especially during a time of

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Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin is about woman in the time of the Revolutionary War that were affected by this event. When writing this monograph, Berkin focuses on the Patriot and Loyalist, American and British, and Indian and African American women. When Berkin writes in this way she makes the war seem more diverse to different groups of women and families. Although, there was a mixture of women they had similar qualities about them the author made clear she appreciates. All the women were tough, physically and emotionally along with being brave.

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In Carol Berkin’s book, Revolutionary Mothers, she provides detail into the world of the women who played an active and vital role during the Revolutionary War. Over the years historians have downplayed the effect that these women have had on our nation. She emphasizes the effect of these women by speaking from the viewpoint of not only Colonial white women, but also Native-American and African-American women. Berkin also chooses to focus on portraying to the reader how the people of this time were affected. She accomplishes this by balancing the perspective between rich and poor, patriot and loyalist, and American and British.

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In the book Revolutionary Mothers, author Carol Berkin discusses women’s roles in the American Revolution. She separates out the chapters so that she can discuss the different experiences and roles of women during the period. She utilizes primary and secondary sources to talk about how women stepped into their husband’s shoes and maintained their livelihoods and how they furthered the war effort on both sides, as well as how classes and race effected each woman’s experience. Berkin’s main goal was for the reader to understand that although women’s roles aren’t traditionally discussed when talking about the American Revolution, nevertheless, they played a major part in it.

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Even some women would go so far to gather money to put clothes on the soldier’s back or sew their clothes. Others would travel with the men, whether it is camp followers, who were women who washed, cooked, nursed, sew, gather supplies, and even in some cases be sex partners or spies. Women dressed up as men and changed their name to fight as a soldier, or General’s wives who just wanted to be with their husbands like Martha Washington or Caty Greene. Not only do we see the point of the war through the women’s eyes that resisted British rule, but also from the eyes of Frederika von Residesel whose husband, Fritz Residesel, who fought for Britain. Indian women also felt the effects of the war, because they thought that “if America won their social roles would be changed and their power within their communities diminished” (Berkin.107).

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