To Be Useful to the World: Women in Revolutionary America, 1740-1790

by Joan R. Gundersen

Offering an interpretation of the Revolutionary period that places women at the center, Joan R. Gundersen provides a synthesis of the scholarship on women's experiences during the era as well as a nuanced understanding that moves beyond a view of the war as either a "golden age" or a disaster for women. Gundersen argues that women's lives varied greatly depending on race and class, but all women had to work within shifting parameters that enabled opportunities for some while constraining opportunities for others.

Three generations of women in three households personalize these Elizabeth Dutoy Porter, member of the small-planter class whose Virginia household included an African American enslaved woman named Peg; Deborah Franklin, common-law wife of the prosperous revolutionary, Benjamin; and Margaret Brant, matriarch of a prominent Mohawk family who sided with the British during the war. This edition incorporates substantial revisions in the text and the notes to take into account the scholarship that has appeared since the book's original publication in 1996.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

344 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 1996

Reviews

[Aisha Manus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to the topic, wish it divulged more on things. Kind of boring to read though. The revised edition definitely has more information on black and native women which is good. I appreciate they included them since they are also women.

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gundersen's "To Be Useful in the World" offers both a synthesis, an overview, and an analysis for the three generations of women bookending the Revolutionary War. She follows specific strains of woman's study such as marriage, education, child-raising, traveling, but her gem is in augmenting these studies with specific case histories for women of three races and multiple classes. Gundersen makes a note to compare and contrast her findings for Caucasian, American Indian, and African American women of the time, ensuring that the reader never draws any conclusions that these case studies represent women as a whole in Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary America.
In terms of book structure, Gundersen also offers one of the best conclusions I have read, retracing and wrapping up her findings in concise, coherent prose that was both a beauty and a joy to read. Whether you agree with her conclusions or not (I do), Gundersen paints a picture that is both not too general and not too specific at once, presenting her findings in such a way that you would be hard pressed not to consider her work as one of the definitive answers for the question: "Were womens' lives changed for the better or for the worse by the Revolution?" POSSIBLE SPOILER: Her conclusion that the Revolution brought "both promise and new restraints to women's lives" is well researched and presented and I would most definitely add this book to my bookshelf!

[William Guerrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with fascinating information about women's lives in 18th century America.