Sarah Benjamin went before the deposition on the twentieth day of November, 1837 in the Court of Common Pleas of Wayne County, Pennsylvania. This deposition intended to validate claims for receiving pension benefits owed to Mrs. Benjamin from a previous marriage; an Aaron Osborn, veteran of the Revolutionary War. Her case founded itself on the numerous acts of Congress over the previous decade--in particular the Comprehensive Pension Act of 1832 and subsequent acts of Congress from July 4, 1836 and March 3, 1837--allowing for the first time yearly grants to all who served in the Continental Army for a period of six months or more. These acts supplanted Sarah Benjamin's case because applicants no longer required disability or monetary status for approval, as well as allowing widows married at the time of the war to be eligible for full payments1. While the history of Revolutionary War pensions is quite rich and intriguing, what is most enriching over the course of the study of this document is the incredibly vivid and accurate account of life in Continental Army camps Mrs. Benjamin–known as Sarah Osborn during this period of time and henceforth in this study-deposes. Through the study of this document, with the aid of works giving accounts and the significance of other women involved in the Revolution, this work will attempt to present a well-rounded and complete picture of life during wartime can be achieved. Not only is Sarah Osborn's deposition a wonderfully personal and astoundingly accurate story, it remains as one of the best known accounts of a woman living with soldiers in the camps. The efforts she underwent to help keep them fed, clean, organized, and together alone astound as feats of remarkable courage and devotion. Sa... ... middle of paper ... ...ity Of Chicago Press, 1980. Ellet, E. F., and Lincoln Diamant. Revolutionary Women in the War for American Independence: A One-volume Revised Edition of Elizabeth Ellet's 1848 Landmark Series. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1998. Engle, Paul. Women in the American Revolution. Chicago: Follett, 1976. Gundersen, Joan R.. To Be Useful to the World: Women in Revolutionary America, 1740-1790. Rev. ed. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. Lewis, Jan. "Women and the American Revolution." OAH Magazine of History, Summer 1994, 23-26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162982 (accessed February 20, 2011). Waska, Frank E. “Mrs. Patience Lovell Wright. A Famous Modeler in Wax.” Brush and Pencil 2, no. 6 (Sept. 1898): 249-52. Young, Alfred Fabian. Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier. New York: Alfred A. Knopf :, 2004.
1776 by David McCullough is a non-fiction historical book that historically accounts an in depth view of The American Revolution. The book starts from late 1775 and spans to the end of 1776. The book includes the Battle of New York, the Battle of Brooklyn, the Battle of Boston, the Battle of Fort Washington, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the ending Battle of Trenton in 1776. David McCullough adds a sense of emotion and color to this book where it 's more than a history book that lists facts. Not only does he add a sense of enjoyment to read, 1776 provides detailed accounts of the military life during the end of 1775 to the end of 1776 and detailed accounts of the battles. The author, David McCullough, is trying to make a point that 1776 is
The book of “Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence” is written by Carol Berkin, a professor of American history at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She has been considered as an expert on the subject of women's history in colonial America. Through her research, Professor Berkin has provided vivid interpretations of seventeenth and eighteenth-century women as active participants in the creation of their societies in addition to the existing stories regarding the American Revolution.
James, Edward, Janet James, and Paul Boyer. Notable American Women, 1607-1950. Volume III: P-Z. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print.
In Carol Berkin Revolutionary Mothers, Berkin goes beyond the history books, and argues that the Revolutionary period was not just a romantic period in our nation history, but a time of change of both men and women of race, social class, and culture. Berkin describes women involvement in boycotts, protest, and their experiences during the war and on the home front. She goes into a whole different level and focuses her views on women of lower social classes, the Native Americans and African Americans – groups whom faced difficult obstacle during the Revolution. She brings to life the importance of Revolutionary Women. Berkin gives us true stories introducing us to ordinary women of all social classes who were involved and affected by the Revolution War.
“Deborah Sampson, the daughter of a poor Massachusetts farmer, disguised herself as a man and in 1782, at age twenty-one, enlisted in the Continental army. Ultimately, her commanding officer discovered her secret but kept it to himself, and she was honorably discharged at the end of the war.” She was one of the few women who fought in the Revolution. This example pictured the figure of women fighting alongside men. This encouraged the expansion of wife’s opportunities. Deborah, after the Revolution along with other known female figures, reinforced the ideology of Republican Motherhood which saw the marriage as a “voluntary union held together by affection and mutual dependency rather than male authority.” (Foner, p. 190). This ideal of “companionate” marriage changed the structure of the whole family itself, the now called Modern Family in which workers, laborers and domestic servants are now not considered member of the family anymore. However even if women thought that after the war they would have been seen from the society in a different way it never happened. The revolution haven’t changed the perception of the woman and the emancipated ideal
The time before the Revolutionary War, women’s main role was in the home. They were the manufacturers of the home, taking raw materials and turning them into household goods. The women were the consumers and before the Revolution they led the boycotts against British goods. During the Revolutionary War, they became the men at home on top of the roles they already had. They became spies, nurses, propagandists, and even took over the battlefield.
Education did not form part of the life of women before the Revolutionary War and therefore, considered irrelevant. Women’s education did not extend beyond that of what they learned from their mothers growing up. This was especially true for underprivileged women who had only acquired skills pertaining to domesticity unlike elite white women during that time that in addition to having acquired domestic skills they learned to read a result becoming literate. However, once the Revolutionary War ended women as well as men recognized the great need for women to obtain a greater education. Nonetheless, their views in regards to this subject differed greatly in that while some women including men believed the sole purpose of educating women was in order to better fulfil their roles and duties as wives and mothers others believed the purpose of education for women was for them “to move beyond the household field.” The essays of Benjamin Rush and Judith Sargent Murray provide two different points of view with respects to the necessity for women to be well educated in post-revolutionary America.
Women had a role in the forming of our country that many historians overlook. In the years leading to the revolution and after women were political activists. During the war, women took care of the home front. Some poor women followed the army and assisted to the troops. They acted as cooks, laundresses and nurses. There were even soldiers and spies that were women. After the revolution, women advocated for higher education. In the early 1800’s women aided in the increase of factories, and the changing of American society. Women in America were an important and active part of achieving independence and the framing of American life over the years.
Often historical events leading up to the twentieth century are dominated by men and the role of women is seemingly non-existent outside of reproduction. When one thinks of notable and memorable names and events of the Revolution, men are the first to be mentioned. The American Revolution was mainly dominated by men including George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. There is no denying that men were vitally important to the American Revolution, but what were the women doing? Often overlooked, the women of the Revolution played a key role in the outcome of the nation. The women of the American Revolution, although not always recognized, were an influential society that assumed risky jobs like soldiers, as well as involvement
To begin with, there are many events in United States history that have shaped our general understanding of women’s involvement in economics, politics, the debates of gender and sexuality, and so forth. Women for many centuries have not been seen as a significant part of history, however under thorough analyzation of certain events, there are many women and woman-based events responsible for the progressiveness we experience in our daily lives as men, women, children, and individuals altogether. Many of these events aid people today to reflect on the treatment of current individuals today and to raise awareness to significant issues that were not resolved or acknowledged in the past.
Robbins, Caroline. Book Review: Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women. Vol. 104. (Rosemont Pa: Pennsylvanian Magazine of History and Biorgraphy, 1980), 517-519.
MacLean, Nancy. A. The American Women's Movement, 1945-2000. A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, a.k.a.
The American revolution was the colonist’s fight against their mother country for freedom. Most people think of the american revolution as a war that only had an impact on the men. However, women had just as big of responsibilities during the war. In the novel Revolutionary Mothers, Berkin recounts the involvement of women’s experiences on their home fronts and during the war through their involvement in protests and boycotts. Before the revolution took place women had nearly no rights. They were used to stay home and take care of the house and family. Although men were a big part of the revolution, Berkin’s focal point is on the women’s roles during the revolution. She specially fixates on the native americans, native americans, and the lower
Many women decided not to stay at home and, rather, accompany their husbands or male relatives with the army. They "traveled with the army to sew, nurse, and wash clothes (Volo 170)." Again the women did the dirty work to ensure the men were always relatively ready for battle. The women that traveled along provided cle...
Eds. Applewhite, Johnson, Levy. Women in Revolutionary Paris, 1789–1795. “Women’s Participation in Riots over the Price of Sugar, February 1792”. University of Illinois Press, 1979.