3.6 - Historians on women and the American Revolution
In your response, be sure to address all parts of the question. Use complete sentences; an outline or bulleted list alone is not acceptable.
Using the excerpts above, answer (a), (b), and (c).
“The revolutionary moment was neither radical nor a watershed for American women. Those who disregard America’s commitment to patriarchal rule and plead for a historical interpretation that favors enlightened exceptionalism have overlooked the conditions that made large-scale change all but impossible at that time and place.”
Elaine Forman Crane, historian, Ebb Tide in New England: Women, Seaports, and Social Change, 1630–1800, published in 1998
“The coming of the American Revolution . . . created new opportunities for women to participate in politics. Responding to men’s appeals, women engaged in a variety of actions in support of the revolutionary cause, which led women to experience a greater sense of connection to and involvement with the polity. After the war their political contributions were praised, celebrated, and remembered. . . . Women now were seen as political beings who had the capacity to influence the course of war, politics, and history.”
Rosemarie Zagarri, historian, Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, published in 2007
Elaine Forman Crane, historian, Ebb Tide in New England: Women, Seaports, and Social Change, 1630–1800, published in 1998 | Rosemarie Zagarri, historian, Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, published in 2007
Question 1
Briefly describe ONE major difference between Crane’s and Zagarri’s historical interpretations of the immediate impact of the American Revolution on women.
Question 2
Briefly explain how ONE event, development, or circumstance from the period 1765 to 1800 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Crane’s argument.
Question 3
Briefly explain how ONE event, development, or circumstance from the period 1765 to 1800 that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts could be used to support Zagarri’s argument.
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