Amazon.com
This first-rate volume on the American Revolution combines beautiful artwork with the lucid prose of Thomas Fleming. Although Liberty! The American Revolution accompanies a PBS documentary series, the book stands completely on its own; in fact, it presents one of the finest overviews of the conflict available in print. The bulk of the text focuses on the military aspect of the Revolution, but the political and social sides receive ample coverage as well. Colorful sidebars on the mysterious origins of the U.S. flag, the evolution of Yankee Doodle, and a history of tarring and feathering are great entertainment for curious intellects. If you are going to include only a single book on the American Revolution in your library, this is probably the one to own. And even if you already have several, Liberty! should be added to your collection.
Customer Reviews:
Pure genius in form.......2006-05-23
Thomas Fleming has written a most comprehensive overview of the American revolution. He gives us the causes, the players, the conflict and the outcome. Extremely well organized and very well written. Nicely illustrated. The seperate sidebar articles give the reader ample background on such issues as what America was like and what Americans were like during the period. He tells us about slavery. He tells us about the German soldiers hired out to the British by the varius greedy princes. He tells us about George III who was personally a wonderful human being but a political want to be despot and cunning politician but narrowmindedness ultimately proved his undoing. He really does a great job.
Really a great book on the subject. Combined with the video cassets of the same name, this book makes a great and entertaining means for obtaining a basic view of the American revolution.
Historical must-have for your library.......2006-01-30
I have never seen the documentary series on which this book is base. But, who needs to see it on TV when you have high-quality color photographs of war paintings and artifacts, not to mention an in-depth narrative on the history of the American Revolution? The book is enough, and money well spent, especially for the student in your home.
Give me Liberty!.......2004-07-05
The volume, 'Liberty! The American Revolution' by Thomas Fleming, is a companion volume to the wonderful PBS series by the same name, a six-part treatment of the period leading up to and including the American Revolution in the mid-to-late 1700s.
As Fleming shows in his text, the seeds of the American Revolution were planted long before the actual conflicts began. This was not an overnight decision on the part ofthe colonists or the British; intense negotiations and political attempts were made for years prior to the outbreak of hostilities. The colonists largely came from Britain; the leadership certainly looked to Britain for political, moral and cultural guidance, as well as primary trade and security vis-a-vis the Spanish, the French, and the Native Americans. American leaders were, by and large, British leaders too -- George Washington held a commission and fought with the British in the French and Indian War.
This was a family break-up in many ways -- Fleming's astute use of the actual words of the people of the time show the emotions that conflict, the love-hate relationship both sides embodied. The first chapter shows the beginnings of discontent on both sides, with the colonists beginning to be stressed over being ignored by the British leadership, and the British leadership, in the form of George III, newly ascended to the throne, and various high-powered ministers, feeling that the colonists were rather ungrateful toward their (so-they-considered-themselves-to-be) rightful lords.
Liberty, ironically, was what George III and his first minister, William Pitt, were all about. The Seven-Years War was won as a fight for liberty; the colonies in America and elsewhere were won over to Britain, who had a parliamentary democracy (however poorly enacted) as opposed to absolute monarchy (such as in France). So, the break-up between Britain and the American colonies becomes all the more troublesome -- not only were the opposing sides practically family, but largely believed the same things.
Fleming never makes the direct comparison, but one can get the sense of Jonathan Swift here, that the battles are fought over relatively minor things (like which side of the egg to crack) -- in the scheme of world politics then and now, the controversies were relatively slight. However, the issues of taxation, governance and respect were important, not perhaps so much for what they were, but for what they did portend as future treatment, and the colonists did not like being second-class citizens in a British-dominated world, even if, to the British leadership, being second-class British was better than being almost anything else. There was also the spectre of the Irish tyranny, perpetrated by the English, that loomed large as a possibility. Sadly, one cannot say that these fears were unjustified.
Fleming's book is intriguing, introducing sides to the conflict that one doesn't recall from grade-school and high-school civics classes -- the conflicts among the colonies themselves; the dissent among the colonies who often wanted a repair rather than a break with Britain; and the personal reflections and fears of the founding fathers and mothers (yes, there were many women involved in this process). Using diaries, correspondence, official documents and media reports of the time, Fleming weaves together a narrative history that achieves a good popular balance between historical detail and narrative reporting.
Fleming's admiration for the founding Americans, their bravery and their intelligence, is very apparent. Fleming's concern to present the British in a fair and balanced light is also apparent, and often portrayed as trying to be reasonable and responsive to many of the colonial concerns, if not always pleasant and courteous to the colonial leaders themselves. The writing is interesting and thoughtful, and done in a popular tone that gives personality to the people who figure in the events.
Fleming's final chapter looks at the aftermath of the war, and the struggle for unity as a nation. George Washington's statement that liberty could be both a blessing and curse was taken to heart -- when the Constitutional Convention met to amend the Articles of Confederation, it went far beyond its original mandate, and it was telling that not all colonies sent representatives, and not all that were sent agreed to stay through the proceedings.
The format of the book is quite nice to read -- there are pull-quotes, text boxes, full-colour pictures, drawings, maps, and charts. There are 'visual interest' items on every page, from grand paintings of conventions and major persons, to small details, such as the 'dove of peace' weathervane Washington installed at Mount Vernon prior to his depature to become President. The book is well-indexed, and matches the companion television series very well, but is also perfectly suitable as a stand-alone volume.
A great read in many ways, it makes a great gift for anyone (or to oneself) with an interest in history.
Great Introduction to the Revolutionary War.......2002-06-22
Too often our knowledge of the Revolutionary War is maimed by our simplistic grade school education. This introduction to this subject gives us a wall-to-wall view of the era. Both the British and Colonial sides of the conflict are given. In addition, the excellent illustrations and Mr. Fleming's great writing keeps us reading and looking at this book.
If you can find it and afford it, get it.
Fleming continues lively "Revolutionary" writing..........2001-12-27
I continue to be surprised with these movie "companion" books (the Civil War by Geoffrey Ward and Panther by Mario Van Peebles are other notable works). This is an excellent summary of the Revolution and, at some levels, exceeds other more celebrated accounts. We get all kinds of "context" presented with the numerous pictures and paintings as well as little "side-bars" that richly describe,among other things, life in the 13 colonies, the Liberty Bell story and the truth concerning Betsey Ross and the American Flag. Fleming's writing is good, if not a tad "dry", but some details are covered better here than in other histories (the little-known battle of Monotomny as the British are retreating from Concorde is given excellent coverage, for example...). The post-war era up to and including the development and the signing of the Constitution is remarkably detailed and, from which, I learned much. The biggest critique that I'd discuss is the almost criminal lack of maps...these types of books generally make their reputations on the inclusion of excellent battle maps (again, Ward's "Civil War" is the standard), but they are very noticably lacking here. Finally, as other reviewers have stated, this should not be viewed as a comprehensive covering of the war, but it is an excellent introduction and, notwithstanding the movie, completely stands on it's own.
Customer Reviews:
Great starting point........2006-02-07
The is a great book for ages 6-10 about the events that led up to, and the beginning of the Revolutionary War. My children really enjoyed the detailed illustrations, and it is written in a way that keeps their interest. I highly recommend it for homeschool families as a starting point for learning about the birth of our country.
Excellent, informative, captivating, & fun!.......2006-01-19
My dd 9yo and ds 8yo LOVE this excellent review of the events leading up to the American Revolution. Many interesting antidotes make the stories come alive. We finished reading the book and they have begged to reread it again. We are homeschooling and covering American History - and have gotten many books on the topic from the library. None of the other books has had the ability to hold their interest as does "The Liberty Tree". Excellent illustrations - my children have asked me to find more books illustrated by David Wenzel. The text by Lucille Penner is very well done. You and your family will not be disappointed!
Wonderful educational book material.......2001-02-12
I am a new middle school teaching asst. and have used this book in the classroom to help teach the American Revolution. If possible, anyone who can, I would appreciate as many copies as possible, to give to students who can not afford to buy them, themselves. I have very little money, but found this book would be great for future use and just can't find enough copies to seve a class of 25. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
This fun picture book captures more information.......1998-10-13
than my daughter's fifth grade history text. An excellent book, this interesting Landmark History uses vivid pictures and lively text to kindle a flame of interest in the American Revolution. As a homeschooling mother I have watched my sons grow in their fascination for American history. My daughters, however, have found it dull. While my sons enjoyed listening to the Landmark Book series as much as they enjoyed the Hardy Boys, my daughters found it all quite uninteresting. I stumbled across this new (1998) book, The Liberty Tree:..., (a Picture Landmark Book) and read it to my daughters and my four-year-old son. Finally! A twinkle.
Written in short "chapters", this book is very easy to follow. With bursts of information containing cause and effect relationships, even the youngest could see how the French and Indian War led to events which led to events which led to the American Revolution. The bold-faced captions provide additional information which, when read alone at another sitting, enhance the usefulness of the book.
The reading level is not appropriate for 4 - 8 year-olds. (Lucille Recht Penner has done nice works for that age group, but this is not one of those.) As a read aloud, however, it does appeal to that age. My four-year-old was interested and remained seated for most of the book.
The girls insisted that I read parts to their older brothers -- especially the part about Paul Revere using a woman's petticoat to soften the sound of his oars during the first part of his famous ride. (They giggled when I read ..."it was still warm.")
Wonderful introduction to the American Revolution.......1998-07-07
This non-fiction picture book is wonderfully illustrated and provides a BRIEF introduction to the beginnings of the American Revolution. It covers the various taxes and Acts imposed on the colonies, the Boston Masssacre, the Tea Party, the forming of the militias, women in the war, spies, etc. and ends with the signing of the Declaration.
Each section has a large illustration and about 8-10 short paragraphs supplemented with smaller pictures and captions to provide more detail and interesting anecdotes.
I think the Amazon-recommended reading level is misleading. I don't know any four-year-olds who would enjoy this book and none who could read it. I think the actual reading level is about grade 2-3.
I read it to my almost-six year old and she loved it. My nine-year old (who is an avid reader of history with a special interest in this time period) still enjoyed listening and managed to learn a (very) few new details.
There are 18 2-page sections and the book is indexed (a nice touch for this format). I will definitely get the other books in this series.
Book Description
Revisiting the origins of the British antislavery movement of the late eighteenth century, Christopher Leslie Brown challenges prevailing scholarly arguments that locate the roots of abolitionism in economic determinism or bourgeois humanitarianism. Brown instead connects the shift from sentiment to action to changing views of empire and nation in Britain at the time, particularly the anxieties and dislocations spurred by the American Revolution.
The debate over the political rights of the North American colonies pushed slavery to the fore, Brown argues, giving antislavery organizing the moral legitimacy in Britain it had never had before. The first emancipation schemes were dependent on efforts to strengthen the role of the imperial state in an era of weakening overseas authority. By looking at the initial public contest over slavery, Brown connects disparate strands of the British Atlantic world and brings into focus shifting developments in British identity, attitudes toward Africa, definitions of imperial mission, the rise of Anglican evangelicalism, and Quaker activism.
Demonstrating how challenges to the slave system could serve as a mark of virtue rather than evidence of eccentricity, Brown shows that the abolitionist movement derived its power from a profound yearning for moral worth in the aftermath of defeat and American independence. Thus abolitionism proved to be a cause for the abolitionists themselves as much as for enslaved Africans.
Book Description
It began in Boston, with angry colonists objecting to the tyranny of a king who ruled from an ocean away.
It was voiced by patriots such as Sam Adams and Patrick Henry and echoed by citizens from New England all the way to the Carolinas.
It was fought by many -- colonists and patriots, Loyalists and slaves, Frontiersmen and Indians, British and French soldiers.
Over more than ten years, sides were taken, guns drawn, lives lost. But through it all, one man -- a general from Virginia named George Washington -- held the young colonies together and led them to victory, beating almost impossible odds.
History lovers Betsy and Giulio Maestro tell this true story of extraordinary times, incredible drama, and the birth of a new nation.
Book Description
The astounding story of runaway slaves during the American Revolution and the lives they forged on four continents
Customer Reviews:
A Most Amazing Book.......2006-08-29
The first three "official" reviews of this book fail to convey the sheer original, revealing, even emotional nature of this book. Many Americans now accept that their patriotic Revolutionary ancestors--including the Founding Fathers--owned slaves. Some Americans are aware that many of these slaves fled to the British controlled areas and cities under the promise of gaining freedom. A few Americans may then know of what happened to these former slaves--how many were take off to Nova Scotia with thousands of white Loyalists. What Cassandra Pybus reveals in this book opens all this up into dimensions undreamed of by all but perhaps a literal handful of historians. And in fact, what she presents is more like a nightmare than a dream. In an impeccably researched and footnoted narrative, she first investigates those three relatively "knowns" that I referred to above, providing details that will astound most of us. And when she goes onto present the story of what happenened to most of these former slaves as they movd on not only to Nova Scotia and London but then on to Sierra Leone and Australia--well, it is history as revelation. Although Pybus stays rooted in the strictest procedures of the historian, the end effect is to feel you are reading a novel. But a novel describing events of such unnmitigated misery, of human suffering, of human cruelty, that no novelist would dare invent these happenings. I defy any reader to put the book down saying (a) "Oh, I had suspected all this might have happened" and (b) "In any case I can't see getting especially worked up over it." The end result is a book that both charges far more human beings than we have imagined with being cruel to African-Americans and at the same time informs us of how many of these same African-Americans endured these cruelties and utimately prevailed. In a word, I found it spellbinding!
A side of the American Revolution little known until now.......2006-04-05
While most American schoolchildren in the U.S. are taught of the American Revolution as a glorious struggle of backwoods colonials fighting for their freedom and independence against the world's most powerful empire, few, if any, are taught of the great tragedy experienced by African-Americans, many of them former slaves, who fought with or sided with the British in the hopes that they would secure their individual freedoms. I was one of those many schoolchildren inculcated in the myth of the Revolution, but I have since expanded my knowledge of the Revolution beyond the history texts. Despite this, I was not aware of the globe-circling stories of former slaves of the American Revolution as carefully documented and researched by Cassandra Pybus in "Epic Journeys of Freedom". But now that I am, I hope these stories become more widely known as examples of not only the failure of the American Revolution to live up to its ideals, but more important, as examples of the unquenchable human desire for freedom and the extent to which brave men and women will go to find it.
I cannot do justice to any of the individual stories in "Epic Journeys of Freedom" in this or any review, and much of the immediacy and drama of the stories come from the first-hand sources of the era that Pybus has collected and orchestrated into compelling narratives. By retelling the history of individual lives set within the context of the American Revolution and its aftermath, Pybus reduces a mythic, seminal event in America's founding to a personal level. The eyes through which we see the Revolution, however, belong not to the victors, but to the disenfranchised and dehumanized; America's victory meant their enslavement, so they fled the land of liberty to seek their own freedom across distant borders and oceans.
Some may ask why bring up more stories of America's past injustices when we have come so far in addressing them. We read these stories and remember their lives because they remind us why men and women have risked all and died for their freedom. They remind us of both our worse and better natures, and offer hope for a more just and free world.
Book Description
Through courtroom dramas from 1865 to 1920, Recasting American Liberty offers a dramatic reconsideration of the critical role railroads, and their urban counterpart, streetcars, played in transforming the conditions of individual liberty at the dawn of the 20th century. The three-part narrative, focusing on the law of accidental injury, nervous shock, and racial segregation in public transit, captures Americans' journey from a cultural and legal ethos celebrating manly independence and autonomy to one that recognized and sought to protect the individual against the corporate power, modern technology and modern urban space.
Customer Reviews:
Review of Recasting American Liberty (E.J. Chaput).......2007-01-24
With the keen judgment for which she is so well known within law and society circles, Barbara Young Welke has produced a compelling and engaging work centering on the restructuring of the notions of liberty in the American polity from the end of the Civil War to the Progressive Era that will attract a wide audience. "The era of steadfast commitment to American ingenuity and independence," according to Welke, "was replaced by the era of ordered liberty, liberty assured through restraint" (4). It was through the injuries that women often suffered alighting from trains and streetcars that "the transition from an outmoded ethos of a nation of free men to one that recognized the reality of human vulnerability" occurred (124). Those familiar with her seminal articles, "When All the Women Were White, and All the Blacks Were Men: Gender, Class, Race, and the Road to Plessy, 1855-1914" (winner of the ASLH Surrency Prize) and "Unreasonable Women: Gender and the Law of Accidental Injury, 1870-1920" will be deeply satisfied with this monograph that couples her earlier analysis of gender, race, and class with the development of the modern regulatory movement. Thoughtfully argued and gracefully written, Recasting American Liberty is a valuable contribution to the Cambridge University Press Historical Studies in American Law and Society series which includes works from many outstanding scholars such as Tony Freyer, Andrew Cohen, Michael Grossberg, and David Rabban. Welke's analysis forces the historical community to reconsider the ordering of social relations, institutions, individual identity, and power arrangements within American society. As Welke notes, "Railroads and streetcars transformed accidental injury from unconnected, individual events into a shared American experience, a shared discourse of injury, suffering, and human vulnerability" (80). Welke brings historical depth and philosophical perspective to her narrative and, as a result, truly furthers the understanding of the law of accidental injury, the law of nervous shock, and the law of racial segregation. The traditional subsidy and economic theories of tort law that dominate legal literature say little about "whether individual liberty was increased or decreased by the methods companies adopted to prevent alighting injuries: enclosed cars, gates, pneumatic doors, and limited, marked stops" (105). Recasting American Liberty thoroughly enriches the literature surrounding the impact of the railroads on American society.
Book Description
In this follow-up to her debut, Diana Norman spins a vivid new tale of two women as they begin a journey through life, love, and liberty...
In the chaos of wartime Plymouth, in the early days of the American Revolution, two women come together in their search for missing loved ones. Together they face social outrage, public scandal, and even arrest. Amidst docks and prisons, government bureaucracy and brothels, they forge an unlikely and unshakable friendship. And in freeing others, they discover their own splendid liberty.
Customer Reviews:
Not great, but not that bad either.......2007-09-11
This book continues the story of Makepeace Burke and her family as the Revolutionary War begins. Her daughter is missing off a ship headed back to England and her journey to find Phillippa ends up dragging her into treatment of the American prisoners and smuggling. I'm in agreement with another reviewer, it took at least 300 pages to get things cooking, and with a 450 page book that's way too long for me. I also felt there were too many secondary characters, I had a hard time keeping track of some of the villagers. And while I enjoyed the snappy dialogue between Makepeace and Diana, to me it felt that it sounded a bit more 20th century than 18th century.
I did finish it, but not one I'm likely to pick up again, nor search out other books by this author. If you are dead set on continuing Makepeace's story, get it from the library first. Then if you love it, buy it.
(3.5) Poor start, bleak setting, but the ending picks it up.......2006-10-15
The second book in Diana Norman's ongoing series set during the American Revolution is nowhere near as good as the first, "A catch of consequence" was. While this book does star our old heroine, Makepeace, a surly, tempestuous, tavern owner turned aristocrats wife turned coal miner millionaire, she is only part of a story that involves smuggling, another tragic aristocrat who only recently was released from a terribly abusive marriage, and the terrible conditions of the British prisons that held American and French prisoners during the revolution.
All of this sounds good, but the sad fact is that this book is boring. Not all of it, just maybe the first 300 pages. I had to force myself to slog through them. Mostly the characters are annoyingly unemotional and self contained and the setting is portrayed in a way which only seems bleak, not reminiscent of the time period or circumstance (terrible as they may have been, this book made everything seem grey.) The book does pick up and become rather good in the end, but with such a poor beginning I have to admit I have doubts about reading any of this authors other works.
In the end, three and a half stars. Mostly for the ending.
A Chance to Travel Back in Time........2006-03-18
I loved this book and cried when it was over. Makepeace and Diana are two forces to be reckoned with. I loved the idea of strong women on the brink of war in a time where women were expected to keep quiet. This book reminds me a little of Frenchman's Creek, but it was so wonderful. You must read it. It is awesome.
Didn't grab me.......2006-03-03
I finally gave up half way through the book. Didn't find the characters particularly interesting and the plot was too predictable.
Best historical fiction I've read in a while.......2006-01-18
While I like reading about times past, I've never been thoroughly sold on the way most historical genre fiction is written. Books by authors like Anya Seaton or Philippa Gregory that other people swoon over generally leave me cold. I prefer classics, like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, or I Claudius, where the writing and the story are a level above the usual.
So I read this expecting to sigh over improbable melodrama and stilted dialog. Instead, the first page made it clear that the book was very well-written, so I kept going with interest. The story had me hooked. In some ways, and I'm not sure why, the action scenes and story twists kind of reminded me a little of Outlander. The characters are sympathetic and generally well-developed, the action scenes are exciting, and the story never flags. There were times when plot twists were a little improbable, but I was totally along for the ride and never sighed once.
My only gripe - and this is a personal one (I've complained about this before with other books) - was her use of French without translations. (If the author is reading this: I would have liked very much to know what the French characters were saying to one another.)
But like I said, that's a very personal gripe. I don't like to be kept out of things. It didn't really detract from the story much (though of course I can't be certain). And it didn't occur so often that I felt as though huge chunks of the book were missing.
As other reviewers have said, this is a ripping good yarn. That's the best way to describe it! It's about two women from vastly different backgrounds who team up and become fast friends because they share a common goal: freeing two young men from a terrible English prison during the Revolutionary War. If you're able to put it down, it will constantly bug you to pick it up again and get on with it!
Book Description
By examining how ordinary Virginia citizens grappled with the vexing problem of slavery in a society dedicated to universal liberty, Eva Sheppard Wolf broadens our understanding of such important concepts as freedom, slavery, emancipation, and race in the early years of the American republic. She frames her study around the moment between slavery and liberty—emancipation—shedding new light on the complicated relations between whites and blacks in a slave society. Wolf argues that during the post-Revolutionary period, white Virginians understood both liberty and slavery to be racial concepts more than political ideas. Through an in-depth analysis of archival records, particularly those dealing with manumission between 1782 and 1806, she reveals how these entrenched beliefs shaped both thought and behavior. In spite of qualms about slavery, white Virginians repeatedly demonstrated their unwillingness to abolish the institution. The manumission law of 1782 eased restrictions on individual emancipation and made possible the liberation of thousands, but Wolf discovers that far fewer slaves were freed in Virginia than previously thought. Those who were emancipated posed a disturbing social, political, and even moral problem in the minds of whites. Where would ex-slaves fit in a society that could not conceive of black liberty? As Wolf points out, even those few white Virginians who proffered emancipation plans always suggested sending freed slaves to some other place. Nat Turner's rebellion in 1831 led to a public debate over ending slavery, after which discussions of emancipation in the Old Dominion largely disappeared as the eastern slaveholding elite tightened its grip on political power in the state. This well-informed and carefully crafted book outlines important and heretofore unexamined changes in whites' views of blacks and liberty in the new nation. By linking the Revolutionary and antebellum eras, it shows how white attitudes hardened during the half-century that followed the declaration that "all men are created equal." AUTHOR BIO: Eva Sheppard Wolf is an assistant professor of history at San Francisco State University.
Book Description
First published in 1980 and recently out of print, Liberty's Daughters is widely considered a landmark book on the history of American women and on the Revolution itself.
Customer Reviews:
Liberty's Daughters.......2000-11-20
Liberty's Daughters is really the combined collection of two books. Part I: The Constant Patterns of Women's Lives, sets the reader up for Part II: The Changing Patterns of Women's Lives. In a way, Part I explains the life of the prewar colonial woman. Part II discusses the changes that would occur for women during and immediately following the war. Norton makes a convincing argument that women's lives were forever changed by the Revolutionary War. Chapter 1 was extremely interesting as Norton details the differences between rural women of the colonies with urban women. She details the lives of rural women of the North in comparison to women of the rural South. Plus, Norton discusses the even harsher life of the female slave. In a way, there is an underlying sentiment that life was very difficult for both men and women during this period of time. I appreciated Norton's realization that men also experienced plenty of toil during this time in history. In other words, there was plenty of hardship to go around. One main theme that the reader quickly notices is how important spinning was to the women of colonial America. The first chapters detail how women would have to spin to make clothes for themselves and their families (and sometimes very large families). To pass the time, women would often spin in groups. This activity gave them a sense of companionship. This community would lay the important groundwork for their support of the men during the Revolutionary War. The second part of the book informs the reader how women formed formal spinning groups that actively worked to help the patriots. In a way, women now took up spinning as a part of the campaign for freedom against the British. Sewing gave women a sense of nationality as they could actively contribute to the defense of colonial liberties. Norton explains in the first chapters how women needed a certain degree of conversation. Women loved to talk, most particularly while they spun. In Part II, Norton explains how politics is all anyone could talk about during this era, so why would women want to be left out? Indeed, they were not left out of the conversation, and they were even more than willing to take part in the action. After all, it was their families who were at stake. Women actively took part in the mobs and spoke out against loyalists - partially to avoid from themselves becoming targets of the patriotic fever that swept much of the colonies. Just as in any other civil war, not all women agreed. Political differences caused breakups and differences in friendships and marriages. Though we read from other sources that Washington held contempt for the women who traveled with his army - taking precious rations and supplies, Washington also displays his gratitude to Ester Reed and her girls for this organization's contributions. He put these girls, "to an equal place with any who have preceded them in the walk of female patriotism." The significant sign of change in the lives of colonial women is found midway through Part 2 when the postwar female generation led political discussion and even took part in activism. This was completely alien to most women born before 1760. Nineteenth-century women took pride in the contributions that members of their sex had made to the winning of independence. The existence of such public-spirited models showed that women could take active roles in politics without losing their feminine identity. It was not by chance that in 1848 the organizers chose to use the Declaration of Independence as the basis for their calls for reform in women's status. They understood the relevance of the revolutionary era to their own endeavors. This is a far cry to the woman detailed in Chapter 1 who had no idea about even the financial state of her husband. Here is another profound change from Chapter 1: As time went on, women learned more about the family's finances while at the same time their husband's knowledge became increasingly outdated and remote. In a way, the soldiers increasingly delegated responsibility of the finances to their wives. Women received freedom from the British - just as did men. However, women also gained certain freedoms for their gender. Following the war, female children consequently began to expect the right to decide for themselves in marital matters if they so desired. Many girls continued to seek their parents' and friends' assessments of potential spouses. However, some women made up their own minds, and this is a revolutionary concept. After all, even today in some countries, women have yet to acquire this freedom. Not only were they given more choice in who they were to marry, the increasing use of contraception in the last two decades of the century can also be seen as a reflection of women's improved status within marriage. This came as quite a surprise to me as I had not been aware of any such methods of contraception at this early period of time. I had always assumed that people of this era had only one method of contraception: do not do anything! After the war, women grew increasingly willing to challenge the conventional wisdom about feminine faults. Women finally stood up against the arguments about their nature - particularly against negative aspects of their nature. They were less inclined to allow remarks about their "natural state" pass without harsh comment. This is, in my opinion, the true birth of a P.C. culture! Norton's argument is successful. The lives of women were forever altered by the Revolutionary War. Further, women had just begun to seek liberties for their own gesture. In a way, this book should be read before one begins to study and attempt to understand the feminist movement of the 1840's, before the Suffrage movement that gained women's right to vote, and before the feminist movement that would begin in the 1960's. Indeed, we still live with the consequences of the changes in women's society during the Revolutionary War.
Liberty's Daughters.......2000-11-20
Liberty's Daughters is really the combined collection of two books. Part I: The Constant Patterns of Women's Lives, sets the reader up for Part II: The Changing Patterns of Women's Lives. In a way, Part I explains the life of the prewar colonial woman. Part II discusses the changes that would occur for women during and immediately following the war. Norton makes a convincing argument that women's lives were forever changed by the Revolutionary War. Chapter 1 was extremely interesting as Norton details the differences between rural women of the colonies with urban women. She details the lives of rural women of the North in comparison to women of the rural South. Plus, Norton discusses the even harsher life of the female slave. In a way, there is an underlying sentiment that life was very difficult for both men and women during this period of time. I appreciated Norton's realization that men also experienced plenty of toil during this time in history. In other words, there was plenty of hardship to go around. One main theme that the reader quickly notices is how important spinning was to the women of colonial America. The first chapters detail how women would have to spin to make clothes for themselves and their families (and sometimes very large families). To pass the time, women would often spin in groups. This activity gave them a sense of companionship. This community would lay the important groundwork for their support of the men during the Revolutionary War. The second part of the book informs the reader how women formed formal spinning groups that actively worked to help the patriots. In a way, women now took up spinning as a part of the campaign for freedom against the British. Sewing gave women a sense of nationality as they could actively contribute to the defense of colonial liberties. Norton explains in the first chapters how women needed a certain degree of conversation. Women loved to talk, most particularly while they spun. In Part II, Norton explains how politics is all anyone could talk about during this era, so why would women want to be left out? Indeed, they were not left out of the conversation, and they were even more than willing to take part in the action. After all, it was their families who were at stake. Women actively took part in the mobs and spoke out against loyalists - partially to avoid from themselves becoming targets of the patriotic fever that swept much of the colonies. Just as in any other civil war, not all women agreed. Political differences caused breakups and differences in friendships and marriages. Though we read from other sources that Washington held contempt for the women who traveled with his army - taking precious rations and supplies, Washington also displays his gratitude to Ester Reed and her girls for this organization's contributions. He put these girls, "to an equal place with any who have preceded them in the walk of female patriotism." The significant sign of change in the lives of colonial women is found midway through Part 2 when the postwar female generation led political discussion and even took part in activism. This was completely alien to most women born before 1760. Nineteenth-century women took pride in the contributions that members of their sex had made to the winning of independence. The existence of such public-spirited models showed that women could take active roles in politics without losing their feminine identity. It was not by chance that in 1848 the organizers chose to use the Declaration of Independence as the basis for their calls for reform in women's status. They understood the relevance of the revolutionary era to their own endeavors. This is a far cry to the woman detailed in Chapter 1 who had no idea about even the financial state of her husband. Here is another profound change from Chapter 1: As time went on, women learned more about the family's finances while at the same time their husband's knowledge became increasingly outdated and remote. In a way, the soldiers increasingly delegated responsibility of the finances to their wives. Women received freedom from the British - just as did men. However, women also gained certain freedoms for their gender. Following the war, female children consequently began to expect the right to decide for themselves in marital matters if they so desired. Many girls continued to seek their parents' and friends' assessments of potential spouses. However, some women made up their own minds, and this is a revolutionary concept. After all, even today in some countries, women have yet to acquire this freedom. Not only were they given more choice in who they were to marry, the increasing use of contraception in the last two decades of the century can also be seen as a reflection of women's improved status within marriage. This came as quite a surprise to me as I had not been aware of any such methods of contraception at this early period of time. I had always assumed that people of this era had only one method of contraception: do not do anything! After the war, women grew increasingly willing to challenge the conventional wisdom about feminine faults. Women finally stood up against the arguments about their nature - particularly against negative aspects of their nature. They were less inclined to allow remarks about their "natural state" pass without harsh comment. This is, in my opinion, the true birth of a P.C. culture! Norton's argument is successful. The lives of women were forever altered by the Revolutionary War. Further, women had just begun to seek liberties for their own gesture. In a way, this book should be read before one begins to study and attempt to understand the feminist movement of the 1840's, before the Suffrage movement that gained women's right to vote, and before the feminist movement that would begin in the 1960's. Indeed, we still live with the consequences of the changes in women's society during the Revolutionary War.
Book Description
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Table of Contents. Read the
Introduction.
”[A] provocative collection of essays.”
—Boston Globe
"This fascinating collection of essays makes a gripping display of the American historian's efforts to construct a more inclusive, nuanced vision of the Revolutionary War era. . . . A social historian committed to rounding out our cultural memory, Young includes traditionally marginalized groups (women, the poor, the working class, African Americans and Native Americans), but is interested neither in adding token representations nor in replacing the founding fathers. Rather, Young seeks to re-imagine the Revolutionary War era holistically, and what emerges is not only a first look at key but forgotten Revolutionary players, but also a fresh look at figures like Hamilton, Revere and Adams, portrayed here with a richness and humanity lacking in more celebratory treatments. Although these are serious academic essays, Young's prose is clear and concise, and he judiciously relegates the more technical, scholarly matters to end notes. The result is a work that will be of equal interest to professional scholars and amateur historians."
—Publishers Weekly
“Young assists the construction of a fuller historical picture of the Revolutionary American era by focusing on the Â`common peopleÂ'Â…to gain a more complete understanding of the interplay between the political and social elite and these groupsÂ….Highly recommended.”
—Choice
"To read these eloquent essays by one of the wisest historians of our time is to be drawn into a remarkable conversation: practical, eloquent, decent, and shrewd. Behind Alfred Young's mesmerizing prose lies dazzling detective work that finds courageous people in all the fullness of their lives, who made a revolution as surely as did more famous leaders. Within the lively stories he tells is also a sharp skepticism of the ways that, over the years, tales of the Revolution have been spun to serve selfish political needs. And throughout Al Young's interpretations there sings a humane vision for our future, as readers of history, as tourists, and as citizens."
—Linda K. Kerber, author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship
"In these finely honed essays, Alfred Young brings together more than a half-century of scholarship on the revolutionary era. America's E. P. Thompson, Young has done more than any other historian of his generation to give ordinary people their due as historical actors of consequence. Deep scholarship, lucid writing, and a high-spirited sympathy for the people 'out of doors' are the hallmarks of this massive contribution to our understanding of Revolutionary America."
—Gary B. Nash, author of The Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America
"Drawing on his unsurpassed knowledge of the American Revolution, and his powerful commitment to the idea of 'history from below,' Alfred Young gives us a stirring reminder of the role of 'the people' in the Revolution. He challenges the orthodox emphasis on the 'great men' of that time, and with vivid specificity provides an analysis which is subtle, complex, and bold."
—Howard Zinn, Professor Emeritus, Boston University and author, A People's History of the United States
With the publication of
Liberty Tree, acclaimed historian Alfred F. Young presents a selection of his seminal writing as well as two provocative, never-before-published essays. Together, they take the reader on a journey through the American Revolution, exploring the role played by ordinary women and men (called, at the time, "people out of doors") in shaping events during and after the Revolution, their impact on the Founding generation of the new American nation, and finally how this populist side of the Revolution has fared in public memory.
Drawing on a wide range of sources, which include not only written documents but also material items like powder horns, and public rituals like parades and tarring and featherings, Young places ordinary Americans at the center of the Revolution. For example, in one essay he views the Constitution of 1787 as the result of an intentional accommodation by elites with non-elites, while another piece explores the process of ongoing negotiations would-be rulers conducted with the "middling sort;" women, enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans. Moreover, questions of history and modern memory are engaged by a compelling examination of icons of the Revolution, such as the pamphleteer Thomas Paine and Boston's Freedom Trail.
For over forty years, history lovers, students, and scholars alike have been able to hear the voices and see the actions of ordinary people during the Revolutionary Era, thanks to Young's path-breaking work, which seamlessly blends sophisticated analysis with compelling and accessible prose. From his award-winning work on "mechanics," or artisans, in the seaboard cities of the Northeast to the all but forgotten liberty tree, a major popular icon of the Revolution explored in depth for the first time, Young continues to astound readers as he forges new directions in the history of the American Revolution.
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