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susiemeister's review against another edition
Berkin provides rich narratives of specific colonial women to describe their varied experiences, and it is within the variation that she believes one can bring these women to life. First Generations approaches the subject of colonial women and their experiences from a feminist perspectives. Much of what we know comes from legal documents and it seems that with marriage (and its significance as a gateway to adulthood), women's rights diminished as they were treated as "children, idiots, and criminals." Public order was a priority, and to transgress family fules and norms was to upset public order. The difference in gender roles and relationship among Quakers upset the Puritans. The witch trials, Berkin points out, took place during the transfer of power from a Puritan to a royal regime and the transition between agrarian and industrial economies, which created great tension. In contrast to the settlers, many Indians held women in esteem, some even following matriarchal hierarchy. The middle colonies had a varied expressions of women's proper work roles creating a "Babel of Confusion." Slaves too lacked uniformity in structure and treatment. Virginia and Maryland plantations preserved African folk traditions of magic etc... Immigration increased the diversity of colonial experience. "A rural white woman's daily life, then, was shaped by her race, her social class, and by where she was in the socially defined life cycle." (141) The Revolution changed the role of women, and indeed their mobilization efforts were vital to success.
fallona's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting introduction to the lives and social conditions of women from various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds in different regions of colonial America, but it does not go into great depth on any of them.
jannyslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Really enjoyed this book! Examines the lives of seventeenth and eighteenth century Indian, European and African women in America.
I really liked the way that the book is laid out, each chapter starts with a specific story of a woman and then branches out to the collective experiences of women like her. You get a sense of the varieties of female lives that were lived and defined by their gender but separated by their region, class and race.
Very interesting to learn about history and not dry at all. I think I got this recommendation from White Fragility. This book made me more curious about my own Ojibwe roots which was something I've rejected until now. So that is cool!
I love reading about the rituals and experiences that are new. There was more information about Salem and the Goodwives of New England. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the most intense chapter was "In a "Babel of Confusion" : Women in the Middle Colonies" because the amount of variation was so extreme and some of the stories so brutal, it was shocking to read about.
I really liked the way that the book is laid out, each chapter starts with a specific story of a woman and then branches out to the collective experiences of women like her. You get a sense of the varieties of female lives that were lived and defined by their gender but separated by their region, class and race.
Very interesting to learn about history and not dry at all. I think I got this recommendation from White Fragility. This book made me more curious about my own Ojibwe roots which was something I've rejected until now. So that is cool!
I love reading about the rituals and experiences that are new. There was more information about Salem and the Goodwives of New England. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the most intense chapter was "In a "Babel of Confusion" : Women in the Middle Colonies" because the amount of variation was so extreme and some of the stories so brutal, it was shocking to read about.
iymain's review against another edition
4.0
This book is outstanding! The only thing that kept it from being a 5 star is that I felt the chapter on African American women's experience was too light.
I loved how this book fleshed out my basic understanding of colonial life. Even though some of the information was somewhat shocking (some Indian communities responded to the threat of English rape/sexual relations with the women in their groups by providing designated women to provide for the English male "needs") it never conflicted with conventional history. The difficulties of early colonial life and the effect of the sexual imbalance as men outnumbered women explains much of later gender roles as well as a lot of early society. Revolutionay women and their response to war on the home front sheds light on what civilians in any war experience. I never understood how Sacagewea and Pocahontas played such important roles as intermediaries between colonists and Indians. Berkin explains that in the early days, though, women held powerful roles in their tribes as leaders, so this connection makes more sense. Also, Berkin explains how the communities interrelated as some Indians took in white refugees from colonial rule and took in captured white children to replace their own children whom they had lost to disease or war. She also explains that some Indians were kidnapped and taken to Europe as curiosities and, in a sense, ambassadors. Suddenly it makes sense that there were bilingual Indians to help the Pilgrims when they settled in Massachusetts! The rise of consumerism in the mid-1700s was news to me. I just never granted it much significance. But Berkin explains how this influenced social roles and political and economic developments. The descriptions of the women and children war camp followers were really eye opening. It also made the idea of female soldiers less outrageous than a natural occurance. Fascinating!!
The cover of the book is a perfect symbol for the history inside: the author (and the rest of us) are direct descendents of all the women who came before us. I am hugely in debt to the Carol Berkin for collecting many of the historical documents from these women and putting them together in a history that reveals herstory--our story.
New (to me) Fact: Quakers kept slaves. This was in the chapter about women's work.
I loved how this book fleshed out my basic understanding of colonial life. Even though some of the information was somewhat shocking (some Indian communities responded to the threat of English rape/sexual relations with the women in their groups by providing designated women to provide for the English male "needs") it never conflicted with conventional history. The difficulties of early colonial life and the effect of the sexual imbalance as men outnumbered women explains much of later gender roles as well as a lot of early society. Revolutionay women and their response to war on the home front sheds light on what civilians in any war experience. I never understood how Sacagewea and Pocahontas played such important roles as intermediaries between colonists and Indians. Berkin explains that in the early days, though, women held powerful roles in their tribes as leaders, so this connection makes more sense. Also, Berkin explains how the communities interrelated as some Indians took in white refugees from colonial rule and took in captured white children to replace their own children whom they had lost to disease or war. She also explains that some Indians were kidnapped and taken to Europe as curiosities and, in a sense, ambassadors. Suddenly it makes sense that there were bilingual Indians to help the Pilgrims when they settled in Massachusetts! The rise of consumerism in the mid-1700s was news to me. I just never granted it much significance. But Berkin explains how this influenced social roles and political and economic developments. The descriptions of the women and children war camp followers were really eye opening. It also made the idea of female soldiers less outrageous than a natural occurance. Fascinating!!
The cover of the book is a perfect symbol for the history inside: the author (and the rest of us) are direct descendents of all the women who came before us. I am hugely in debt to the Carol Berkin for collecting many of the historical documents from these women and putting them together in a history that reveals herstory--our story.
New (to me) Fact: Quakers kept slaves. This was in the chapter about women's work.
aprileclecticbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
A little scattershot jumping between women, time and area. It bounced around back then back again so that it muddied which were doing what at the end. It was as diverse as possible given surviving records so you did get a taste of different tribes, races, and social economic backgrounds.
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