What a wonderfully written early American history book! Ms. Berkin did an amazing job outlining the differences in women's roles in the various geographic areas of the colonies. She includes Caucasian, African, and Indigenous women.
I applaud her writing skill and her intimate knowledge.
Grab this book! It's a great read!
As someone who loves history, especially American history, I read many books about women's roles in it. After all, if you don't then you miss 50% of history.
This book added to my knowledge in many ways. I was particularly interested to learn that from 1790 to 1800 in New Jersey, white women and free black women had the vote.
Not all the men thought this was a good idea. As stated in the book, "Many critics of formal educational institutions for women voiced concern that intellectual pursuits would have a de-feminizing effect on women As one Boston minister bluntly put it, 'Women of masculine minds have generally masculine manners.'" But it continues with, " However... if a good education prepared a women to be a good mother and wife, an exemplar and conveyor of moral character, then it was an asset to the republic."
The gains women made during the Revolution were lost in less than two decades, "In my opinion," wrote one young women in 1801, "[political subjects] are altogether out of a women's sphere."
Bobbie L. (nascargal) reviewed First Generations : Women in Colonial America on + 352 more book reviews 
