Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
by Cokie Roberts
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Book Summary Information
Author: Cokie RobertsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-02-15
ISBN: 006009026X
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
Book Review: A Wonderful Book!
Summary: 5 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed Founding Mothers: The Women Who raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts. The book was informative and while told with respect and reverence, there just enough of a sense of humor to convey that we are all the same in human nature, whether of the 18th or 21rst centuries. The timeline was such that the reader can see and to a large extent feel the unfolding of rebellion, war, independence, and a new, tentative, national government. In reading the notes and introduction I hadn't appreciated just how difficult it would be to navigate the longhand of the day and to "translate" its intent into enough modern day usage and spelling so we can easily understand what the women of the day were trying to say. Some museums I have been to have displayed large examples of such writing and I find myself going cross-eyed trying to read it. I thank Cokie Roberts and whoever assisted her in these endeavors. (I also find myself talking and writing in 18th century-ese.)
I want to posthumously shake some of our female ancestors for having destroyed too much of their correspondence. Didn't they realize that I, much less Cokie Roberts, would want to read every word? Well maybe they did but I imagine they were thinking more of their contemporaries and how they might choose to use their letters. Still and all how I wish we could read more of the thoughts of Martha Jefferson, Martha Washington, Betsey Hamilton than we have.
I have recently taken a huge interest in early American history and I have some thoughts, comments, and questions about the substance of the book. In Chapter Two the author asks if Abigail was being playful in regard to her "remember the ladies" letter. I think she was being playful in one sense and most deadly serious in another. The substance and intent of the letter was as serious as could be, don't leave the ladies out of all political consideration! But her line, "we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation" shows she knew it would probably make her husband grin at the ironic references to his own similarly written grievances against the British Crown. The fact that John answered in a joking manner indicates to me that he knew at least in part she was trying to make him smile. The references were playful to soften the letter although the intent was serious. And one wonders just how seriously Abigail actually thought she and her contemporaries could foment a rebellion. Was she referring to posterity? I would like to think so. I believe many of the letters of the day were written with future generations of readers in mind and we can only assume that Abigail envisioned the women's movement that would begin--when, where? Here is where my reading fails me. With Emmeline Pankhurst in Britain in the 1870's? I don't know.
As I have progressed with my other reading, various questions have occured to me which have not been answered to my satisfaction. One among them, Why did the British give up after Yorktown? I understand in general why they must have come to realize that to continue the effort at so great a distance and expense was ultimately useless. But which British official first thought, felt, wrote, it's time to change our thinking? I would like to know of any book that goes into the British thinking after Yorktown. The books I have read so far tell of Yorktown, then of peace negotiations and the peace treaty. But what took place in the confines of the British ministry between Yorktown and the beginning of serious peace negotiations? It is the details which fascinate. Just as many American women of the time encouraged their husbands to continue to resist, which English politician's wife whispered in her husband's ear, "Enough is enough!"
Another question--When was the "U" in United States first capitalized? Jefferson, or someone, chose not to capitalize it in the Declaration of Independence which indicates to me that they didn't think of the united States as an official name yet.
I assume everyone in America has an idea for a television series and so do I. Cokie Roberts has written so many stories of early American women, each one more fascinating than the next. Why not a series based on these stories? The woman who dressed as a man--Robert Shurcliff (Deborah Sampson), the spies and aids, Nancy Hart, Ann Gwinnett, the fundraisers, Esther DeBerdt, and more.
I want to conclude by once more thanking Cokie Roberts for Founding Mothers. What a wonderful book that I look forward to rereading.
Summary of Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Cokie Roberts comes New York Times bestseller Founding Mothers, an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic and passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families?and their country?proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it.
While much has been written about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, battled the British, and framed the Constitution, the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters they left behind have been little noticed by history. #1 New York Times bestselling author Cokie Roberts brings us women who fought the Revolution as valiantly as the men, often defending their very doorsteps. Drawing upon personal correspondence, private journals, and even favoured recipes, Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials and extraordinary triumphs of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Read Franklin, Eliza Pinckney, Catherine Littlefield Green, Esther DeBerdt Reed and Martha Washington?proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.
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