Carol BerkinCritiques

Examines the role of women in the Revolution, an aspect of the conflict that got almost no serious historical attention until recently. Not only does this book show how women played an important role in the war, it shows the position(s) held by various groups of women in that time and place. It also added to my overall knowledge of the Revolution. Written in a very readable style.

Carol Berkin examines the roles women played in the American Revolutionary War. She looks at their contributions through the lens of allegiance, class, and origin. The book is well-organized into groups involved in the war, such as active participants, camp followers, generals’ wives, spies, and exiled women. She looks at the Revolution from the viewpoints of English, American, and even Hessian women. She reserves separate chapters for informative stories of tribal and enslaved women.

She articulates the fears and challenges these women faced. They transcended their traditional roles – which were severely restrictive from a modern standpoint. Many women took over the running households and properties, and some descended into poverty and starvation.

She relies on letters, diaries, news articles, and published material from the time period and cites all sources. I very much enjoyed reading about these women. This book offers are more well-rounded picture of the people and culture of Revolutionary times.

Very interesting biography of a very interesting woman, who refused to bow to the conventions of her time. Ambitious Baltimore beauty and heiress who married a younger Bonaparte and was cast off by Napolean, she made her way and her fortune according to her own standards. This well written little biography captures her life beautifully and succinctly.



Advanced reader copy provided by edelweiss.

Another one from the DAR book club list. A good, basic primer on women‘s roles and some of their accomplishments during the Revolutionary War. Patriot women, Loyalist women, African-American women, Native-American women are discussed. Some thumbnail sketches of individuals. The author is an academic and it shows in her writing style and approach. But this is a short book.½

I am so happy that someone wrote a book about the founding mothers of the United States. This history book has several sections devoted to the wives of famous patriots, the wives of loyalist men, slave women, Native American women, camp followers, and general's wives. We read about their contributions to our society before the war broke out, during the war and after the war.

It was interesting that although these women managed their husbands' businesses while they were gone from home fighting, they were still considered to just be helpmates for their husbands. The women's roles were preached to them by ministers and lawmakers and they followed what they were told to do. When the colonial men decided to free themselves from English rule, it was up to the women to handle the practical aspects of freedom. Many had to learn how to spin and weave fiber into clothing when English resources were cut off. They also had to ensure that their families had the food and products they wanted without buying goods from England. If the women had failed in this endeavor, I doubt their would have been a Revolutionary War. I was sad to read that at the end of the war, the only achievement that the ladies accomplished was that they would be entitled to the same education as the men.

This is a short, 166 page book but it contains a ton of history. I highly recommend it.

Nice little succinct book on the creation of the Constitution. The end of the book includes short biographies of everyone who took part in the convention (whether he signed or not), and the text of the Articles of the Confederation and the Constitution itself.

An excellent biography of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, onetime wife of Napoleon's younger brother, and the story of her children and grandchildren as they navigated their relationship with the Bonaparte family. Recommended.½

I found the process of getting what's now known as the Bill of Rights through Congress, and then ratified through the states to be far less interesting than than of the process of declaring our independance. Not that this is a bad book, it just didn't seem to hold my interest quite as well as, say, "Our Lives, Our Fortunes and Our Sacred Honor: The Forging of American Independence, 1774-1776," by Richard R. Beeman.

Also, while this is a pretty short book, it's really even moreso as about 25% of the end is dedicated to a short biography of every House and Senate member of the First Congressional Congress. I would rather have spent more time with the thoughts behind the amendments and why Madison chose those 12 (two were ultimately rejected) from the hundreds that were recommended by the states.½

Great book. Well researched biographies of Angelina Grimke Weld (whom I'd never heard of until now - but very interesting character), Varina Davis, Julia Grant.

A decent, if very basic, narrative overview of the debate over the early amendments to the Constitution that would become known as the Bill of Rights. Berkin doesn't get into much depth, though, and I was very surprised to find that sixty pages of this already-slim book are given over to capsule biographies of the members of the First Congress. A more detailed analysis and study would have been most welcome.

Being born and raised in Maryland, this book gave great insight into our local "celebrity" Betsy Patterson Bonaparte. Very interesting tale of her marriage and annulment from Napoleon's younger brother. Also, her relationship with her father, son and various luminaries of the day. Even though the book is set in days past, Betsy shares a very contemporary outlook on life. Read this in one weekend! Highly recommend for anyone interested in Baltimore and American history.

Before reading this biography of Betsy Patterson Bonaparte I didn’t realize Napoleon Bonaparte had a Baltimore connection, but it’s a fascinating story, well told in this book, that encompasses both European and early American history and culture. Betsy met Napoleon’s younger brother Jérôme in 1803 while he was in Maryland avoiding military service and the two teenagers fell in love and married within that year, against the wishes of their families and governments. Betsy’s strict controlling father did not trust the aristocratically unemployed foreigner, but Betsy was eager to escape the limiting and prosaic social strictures she felt awaited her if she was forced into a more conventional match. Because Betsy and Jérôme were courting during the unsettled period while Americans debated whether to choose sides or remain neutral in the conflict between France and Britain their romance became a political event monitored closely on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the early days of their marriage Betsy and Jérôme enjoyed mingling with the major political players of Washington, where Betsy scandalized party goers with her risqué French fashions, but their happy days did not last long. Napoleon wanted to further his empire building ambitions by arranging a royal marriage for Jérôme, so when the young couple arrived in Europe Napoleon declared their marriage annulled. Unable to stand up to his older brother Jérôme abandoned Betsy, then pregnant with their child, and married the highly titled but much less scintillating Princess Catherine Fredericka Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg to become the king of Westphalia.

Betsy still managed to live a fascinating and intellectually rich life, spending as much time as possible in the great cities and salons of Europe where she was welcomed by luminaries that included Madame de Staël, Madame Récamier, and the goddaughter of Voltaire Marquise de Villette. She taught herself to be a shrewd manager of what fortune she had to support her chosen lifestyle and had high expectations for her son’s future, goals he unfortunately for her did not share. Author and history professor Carol Berkin treats Betsy with sympathetic but clear eyed respect by not downplaying her shortcomings. For me one of the most interesting aspects of this very readable book is the way it highlights the evolving differences between European and American cultures.

This book appeared in the bibliography of every single book I've read on women in colonial America. I figured, I should read it. I'm glad I did. Organized by subjects, each chapter each chapter beings with a short exposition of the subject and the general overview. It's followed by reprints of a variety of documents, each with a short explanation. This makes it easy to understand what you are reading, as colonial English can be a bit challenging to the modern reader. I enjoyed Berkin and Horowitz opinions, and the way they attempted to included everyone, not just the white elite. They were honest about the lack of documents from Native American and Negro sources, doing their best to include what they had. I recommend this book as a good starting point for study about colonial females.

Much praise is given to Carol Berkin for this important addition to our American Revolutionary War history shelves. It is a fascinating history of women that may surprise some readers and raise questions for others. Often overlooked and forgotten, the women who lived and died while the struggle for our independence was fought are recognized in REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS: WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

Some may be surprised to learn that Martha Washington and many other officers wives accompanied their husbands in battle. British and Hessian officers adopted a temporary substitute wife, while the average soldier, had numerous women to pick from the hoards of camp followers who tagged along. What Berkin points out is that it was only natural for women to follow men into battle, because men needed someone to care for them. Whether to do laundry, cook, nurse the sick or carnal pleasure, the men were better soldiers with their women along, and their leaders knew it.

Whether the women were involved in actually fighting, which they were or travelling along side their spouse, women of all races had numerous roles to satisfy. Chapters detail the various roles women played in Colonial Society and during and after the war. There were those who were left home, others who followed, some were General’s wives, or loyalists in exile, Indian Women, African American Women and many women became spies or couriers.

This book evokes a penchant to read more about forgotten and omitted women who have historical relevance. The endnotes and bibliography offer a place to begin. Readers will no doubt recognize famous men from this war, but those who find it difficult to name any famous women, will devour with fervor, REVOLUTIONARY MOTHERS: WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

Wisteria Leigh
December 2013

As I've been gathering and reading books on Women in the American Revolution, Berkin's work (this book and others) consistently show up in the bibliographies. I had to read it. I'm very glad I did. Berkin clearly knows her history and how to impart the information. Each chapter centers on a different group of women - including First Nations and African-American. Berkin gives an excellent overview of the many different roles women played in this war - some good, some bad, some for Britain, so for the USA. I highly recommend this work as a starting point for more in depth research or reading about Women in the Revolution. I'm also eager to get my hands on more books by Berkin. She has several I mostly eagerly want to read.½

Review: A Brilliant Solution, Inventing the American Constitution - by Carol Berkin……………..7 July 2013
This book published in 2002 should be a must read for all students of American History and Civics.
The prose is clear concise and quite complete I would warrant. Quite an easy read. This book is especially good for those such as myself a long time naturalized US citizen and history buff. The author, a CUNY professor has written a most sparkling rendition of the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia over a six month period in 1787. The academic book is replete with source notes, time line, chronology, copies of the Confederation and the US Constitution Articles, plus 54 one page biographies of the state delegates. As a student of democracy, I had often questioned why the US Senate composition is so undemocratic. More-over in this age of rapid voting returns, why the current need for an electoral college to determine who will be the US President? The 1787 Connecticut Compromise has determined the make-up of the US Senate and the Two Senators per State formula was negotiated to protect the smaller states. In my view that requirement is no longer relevant. It is time to re-calculate US Senate representation. One could greatly reduce the cost of Government by combining most of the small states with a larger neighbor. However I doubt that individuals of small states would concur. Once a Wyoming always a Wyoming!
So instead we could reduce the number of Senators from States with less than 3M residents to one per state and add Senators proportional to the population of the larger states so that the State of California with a population of 40M warrants 10 Senators. As far as State ratification dates, the sequence is discussed but not all the dates are included. A most minor deficit. I list the 13 states and their ratification dates below.
1 Delaware 7 Dec 1787
2 Pennsylvania 12 Dec 1787
3 New Jersey 18 Dec 1787
4 Georgia 2 Jan 1788
5 Connecticut 9 Jan 1788
6 Massachusetts 6 Feb 1788
7 Maryland 28 Apr 1788
8 South Carolina 23 May 1788
9 New Hampshire 21 Jun 1788
10 Virginia 25 June 1788
11 New York 26 Jul 1788
12 North Carolina 21 Nov 1789
13 Rhode Island 29 May 1790

This is a concise, yet insightful look at the men and processes of developing America's constitution.

Interesting short biographies of Varina Davis and Julia Dent Grant. Angelica Grimke was also good but not as interesting. I'm not sure why it was more tedious - possibly it was the primary sources quoted in the style of the early 19th century. Anyway, once I was past Angelica the whole pace of the book picked up and I finished it rather quickly.

Historian Carol Berkin documents the lives of several different women during colonial times. I particularly enjoyed that she incorporated not just stories of white women but African American and Native American women's stories as well. The book is well written and much more interesting than your average history book as it discusses the women's roles, class, and gender through a feminist approach.

The previous reviewer mentions Berkin's lack of footnotes. While it is true, the reviewer doesn't seem to understand that this book is written for a popular audience. Hence, the narrative style. Also, any narrative account of the Convention must necessarily be based on Madison's notes and, seeing that there is no new scholarship here, the decision by the author to leave out intimidating footnotes seems prescient. Berkin's book is a great introduction to the Constitutional Convention giving both a "story" and the issues. Her character portraits are interestingly drawn and does a good job of propelling the story forward which is not an easy thing to do when chronicling a political convention.

Both books mentioned by the reviewer, by Wood and Rakove, are fundamentally different from this book and certainly are not seeking the same audience. Wood's "Creation" especially is not something most casual readers, i.e. those caught up in this resurgence of interest in the Founders, will want or even be able to tackle. Berkin makes a point of writing history for the public and she has succeeded here once again.

wish there were more

This is a very interesting, easy read. Berkin easily breathes life into historical subjects. If you ever have the opportunity to hear her speak, take advantage of it!

Excellent companion volume to the documentary by Ric Burns, this work provides a reasonable cross-section of pictures and lots of detailed text. My only reservation is that it could have provided more photographs. However, it is very long, so perhaps they sacrificed photos to writing.

A decent, if basic, treatment of the Constitutional Convention ... if it's depth you want, though, choose another book (Gordon Wood's "Creation of the American Republic" or Jack Rakove's "Original Meanings" come to mind). Berkin writes without footnotes (troublesome particularly when she makes errors, which happens at least once), in a narrative style which is readable but not great. Her biographical sketches of the Convention delegates (which follow the text) are the most interesting and useful part of the book.