Eleanor Roosevelt once said: "A woman is like a tea bag: you can't tell how strong she is until you put her not in hot water. » Carol Berkin's book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America's Independence, explores this very idea of ​​the strength of women revealed in hardship. Berkin begins the book by giving the reader a brief overview of the typical life of a woman before the Revolutionary War. She notes the lack of information in general history regarding the role of women in different historical events, particularly the War for Independence. Defining this concept as “gender amnesia,” Berkin explains that “the Revolutionary War is generally presented as an exclusively male event” and how this has altered modern thinking about history. Throughout the book, she uses short character sketches to illustrate different perspectives of women in this period, grouping them by race, social status, and economic class. Ultimately, she ties all the stories together in a final chapter that explains how all women, regardless of their point of view, experienced a change in their definition of "normal life" after the war. Although there are some flaws in this book, overall it is a good basic read for anyone interested in women's history, especially in America's early years. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay To explain the general lack of knowledge about women's roles in early America—or, as Berkin calls it, "gender amnesia"—the introduction and first chapter gives the reader information fundamental generalities about women before and during the Revolutionary War. Dispelling certain popular myths, it wipes the slate clean to eliminate prejudices and preconceived ideas. For example, she notes, "only three women seem to be readily associated with the Revolutionary War," and one of them, Molly Pitcher, "simply did not exist" but rather symbolized the many unknown women who played a role in the revolution. . Berkin challenges traditional stereotypes in order to open the reader's mind to his work, a particularly important step given the fundamental nature of the book. For example, she introduces the widely known idea of ​​the wife as her husband's companion, but ends the first chapter by questioning its traditional definition. She states: "When wives put themselves in their husbands' shoes, performing men's tasks...however radical their actions may have been, these women were fulfilling their obligations as companions." By introducing this idea of ​​a change in the definition of "companion" at the beginning of the book, she allows the reader to ponder how traditional roles for women have changed and remained the same as the stories unfold. of different women take place. After the first chapter, Berkin systematically works her way through a series of different groups of women and describes their duties and feelings before, during and after the war. One of the overarching themes is that every group, regardless of their differences, faced challenges and difficulties during the war. Categorizing women of the era into different racial groups, she notes that each group overcame different obstacles. The lives of Native American women changed as settlers “imposed their gender roles on the Indians who remained within their borders» and thus limited the influence they had, even within their own tribes. On the other hand, African American women initially seemed to find a glimmer of hope in the war; however, this often brought no real freedom. The British offered freedom to a number of Patriot-owned slaves if they joined the army, but they often did not keep their promises. Slave women faced a unique situation, as they were often faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to leave due to their children's dependence on them. Whether they stayed or fled, they rarely found relief from the rigors of slavery and, even more rarely, found true freedom. Berkin notes: "Ultimately, there would be no winning side for...the many anonymous African-American women who died of starvation and enemy attacks." Many African-American women who won their freedom lost it again….” In addition to race, Berkin distinguishes the experience between settlers with different social statuses. Although one might assume that people with higher social status experienced fewer problems than those with lower social status, Berkin disputes this assertion by giving the example of elite women such as Caty Greene and Frederika Charlotte Louise von Massow who moved all their lives because of the war. By grouping women by race, social status, and even war camp, Berkin appears to have all of his bases covered. However, as Martha Saxton notes, Berkin leaves out a "central ingredient in the mixed heritage of the Revolution: religion." With religion having a great influence on every aspect of most settlers' lives, women reacted differently during and after the war because of their beliefs. By omitting this, Berkin misses a major opportunity to distinguish the reactions of different groups of people. While this oversight may lead to questions about Berkin's reliability, his track record firmly establishes his credibility on the subject. Berkin is currently Presidential Professor of History, Emeritus at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, a title awarded only to individuals who publish outstanding research and demonstrate extraordinary experience in their field. She wrote a number of other books on early America and even received a Bancroft Dissertation Award from Columbia University for her doctoral work. Although Berkin has a wealth of high-level academic knowledge about early America, she chooses to keep Revolutionary Mothers more basic. Overall, the book provides a masterful overview of the different ways women contributed to the Revolutionary War efforts. As Susan Klepp noted in Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, "Revolutionary Mothers is an easy read, a good quick introduction to some of the prominent American and British activists, writers, and patriots of the late 18th century." » Instead of using relatively obscure examples, such as anonymous girls who "chewed and swallowed documents rather than have them discovered by the enemy", Berkin also includes stories about many well-known women. Showing how even prominent women faced disruptions in their daily lives, she recounts how Martha Washington followed George Washington to Valley Forge and served the soldiers during the freezing winters before finally having to return home due to illness. By mixing examples both familiar and obscure, Berkin asserts without question that the social effects of war.”