Women's lives began to change significantly with the American Revolution. Every war means more women taking charge during the absence and after the deaths of husbands and fathers. After the war, talk of rights raised issues of women's rights and education. Read about some individual women whose voices were heard and about the lives of other women whose stories are known less directly.
1. A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary
1785-1812. By Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Martha Ballard's diary entries are interspersed with essays by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich on the social and medical history of New England in the decades after the American Revolution.
2. Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women
1750-1800. Mary Beth Norton's two-part history includes, in Part II, how women's lives changed in the Revolutionary War. She includes both North and South, free women and slaves, in this comprehensive account of the everyday life of women. Women, for whom talk was always important in the private sphere, began to speak out more in the public sphere, including on their own nature and rights.3. The Bonds of Womanhood: 'Woman's Sphere' in New England, 1780-1835
Nancy F. Cott's now-classic work, first published in the 1970s, documents the development of the idea of women's separate-but-equal sphere, sometimes called the Cult of Domesticity. Later women's rights organizations had their roots in the homemaking and church-going sisterhood of women of the period after the American Revolution and into the early 19th century.4. Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America
Linda K. Kerber looks at the women of the American Revolution and how that Revolution, itself a product of the Enlightenment, brought more women into the political arena. In an era of 'Republican Motherhood,' women's role became more explicitly to raise politically participating sons. As a result, women's political commentary became more acceptable and wide-spread, leading soon to other activism.5. Abigail Adams: A Biography
Phyllis Lee Levin brings to life one of the best known of the Revolutionary-era American women: wife of patriot John Adams, she was his friend as well as wife, and managed their finances and property in his frequent absences. Her commentary on politics is known through her letters to John in his absences.6. Selected Writings of Judith Sargent Murray
Judith Sargent Murray's observations on the new American Republic (late 18th century) were notable for their judgment and insight, not just that they were (shock!) written by a woman.7. Dearest Friend: The Life of Abigail Adams
This biography includes many excerpts from Abigail Adams' letters, allowing her to speak in her own voice. Lynne Whithey allows the love of Abigail and John Adams to show through clearly, and also shows the grounding of Abigail's nascent feminism.