Mary Beth Norton's Analysis

“Eighteenth-Century American Women in Peace and War: The Case of the Loyalists” is an innovative essay written by acclaimed professor and historian Mary Beth Norton. Throughout her work, Norton effectively weaves an intriguing and extensive portrait of the late eighteenth-century American female loyalist and the rigid domestic sphere she was bound to. Norton argues that numerous loyalist women lacked the financial and economic knowledge necessary to receive adequate reparations from the British government both during and after the American Revolution. Norton further asserts that these domesticated women predominantly viewed themselves as powerless females who possessed far less control over their own lives as opposed to their superior male

The claim documents reveal that most women were wholly domestic and possessed insufficient knowledge of their family’s financial holdings. Only a small percentage of urban women had earned their own money. Consequently, the vast majority of female loyalists relied on their husbands to financially support them and deal with all financial matters. Norton stresses that although the female claimants were capable of providing an extensive list of their household possessions, they lacked the necessary financial tools to efficiently pursue their wartime losses claims. As a result, a significant portion of the women claimants were rewarded “a smaller return than their male counterparts” (p. 170). Norton’s argument is strongly supported per the use of primary and secondary sources. The essay’s rich bibliography reveals Norton’s extensive research into the domestic lives of eighteenth century American women. Norton’s bibliography contains a plethora of primary and secondary documents, including the claims and testimonies of various loyalist women, works from peer historians, and numerous journals, magazines and historical