There is a gender amnesia that surrounds the American Revolution. For many Americans, the Revolution consisted of noble generals and brave citizen-soldiers. It is often portrayed that the American Revolution was exclusively an all-male event. When telling the story of the Revolution, one must not forget the complex role women took on during that time. Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence, writes the stories of many women and examines the view of war through the eyes of these women who played no formal role, but were a key to the American Revolution victory. Years before the fight for independence, women played a great role in the fight against taxation by the British. Women took on
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The home-front war made it difficult for women to attend to their familiar domestic duties, let alone take on the usual duties of their husbands at home. Women struggled to put bread on the table because of the shortage of supplies and food. Wives needed to develop the skill of negotiating to preserve the crops and farm land. They were also asked to provide food and shelter for the British and loyalist military men who came into their homes. Many of these men had no respect for the hostess and ransack their property, destroying fences, stealing jewelry, and stripped them of their crops and labor forces by taking slaves with. Eliza Wilkinson captured her feelings after being ambushed by these troops in writing …show more content…
For Native Americans, women played a bigger role in their tribes. They farmed while the men hunted. Many of them had a public voice and helped their tribes on deciding whether an alliance with the patriots or loyalists would be best for them. Indian women had to worry about their “social role being dramatically changed and their power within their communities diminishing” (107) if the Americans won the war. Molly Brant, a Mohawk Indian who married Sir William Johnson, had a powerful political voice and had a great influence in both the Native American tribes and British forces. Nanyehi, daughter of Tame Doe of the Wolf Clan and head of the Women’s Council, urged for compromise between white and Indian interests while other Cherokees advocated violence. Unfortunately, the American government did not acknowledge the political voice of the Indian women, and thus their power and authority soon began to
The home-front war made it difficult for women to attend to their familiar domestic duties, let alone take on the usual duties of their husbands at home. Women struggled to put bread on the table because of the shortage of supplies and food. Wives needed to develop the skill of negotiating to preserve the crops and farm land. They were also asked to provide food and shelter for the British and loyalist military men who came into their homes. Many of these men had no respect for the hostess and ransack their property, destroying fences, stealing jewelry, and stripped them of their crops and labor forces by taking slaves with. Eliza Wilkinson captured her feelings after being ambushed by these troops in writing …show more content…
For Native Americans, women played a bigger role in their tribes. They farmed while the men hunted. Many of them had a public voice and helped their tribes on deciding whether an alliance with the patriots or loyalists would be best for them. Indian women had to worry about their “social role being dramatically changed and their power within their communities diminishing” (107) if the Americans won the war. Molly Brant, a Mohawk Indian who married Sir William Johnson, had a powerful political voice and had a great influence in both the Native American tribes and British forces. Nanyehi, daughter of Tame Doe of the Wolf Clan and head of the Women’s Council, urged for compromise between white and Indian interests while other Cherokees advocated violence. Unfortunately, the American government did not acknowledge the political voice of the Indian women, and thus their power and authority soon began to