Eliza Lucas Pinckney: An Independent Woman in the Age of Revolution

by Lorri Glover

The award-winning biography of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, an innovative, highly regarded, and successful woman plantation owner during the Revolutionary era

“Glover not only recovers the life of a remarkable eighteenth-century woman, she also issues a challenge to the gendered narrative of the Age of Revolution. Eliza Lucas Pinckney would undoubtedly approve!”—Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence
 
Winner of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic's James Bradford Biography Prize and the South Carolina Historical Society's George C. Rogers Jr. Book Award

Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722–1793) reshaped the colonial South Carolina economy with her innovations in indigo production and became one of the wealthiest and most respected women in a world dominated by men. Born on the Caribbean island of Antigua, she spent her youth in England before settling in the American South and enriching herself through the successful management of plantations dependent on enslaved laborers. Tracing her extraordinary journey and drawing on the vast written records she left behind—including family and business letters, spiritual musings, elaborate recipes, macabre medical treatments, and astute observations about her world and herself—this engaging biography offers a rare woman’s first-person perspective into the tumultuous years leading up to and through the Revolutionary War and unsettles many common assumptions regarding the place and power of women in the eighteenth century.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

344 pages, Hardcover

Published August 25, 2020

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very complete and well-researched study of Eliza Lucas Pinckney. The biographical narrative comprises about 60% of the book, with the remainder being notes and an index. I found it to be an interesting read and I learned a good deal about 18th Century life in the Southern United States, much of which occured before the American Revolution. The issue of slavery was dealt with in most of the narrative, and I learned some horrible things that I had not previously known. This book also dispells the myth that women in the American Revolution era were frail housewives who had no concept of business or world affairs. I would recommend this book to history buffs of all ages who wish to enlarge their knowledge of our founding ancestors.

[Regina · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were times when it seemed this book was more about slavery than it was about Eliza Pinckney. However, the author was attempting to make a very unbiased and balanced look at life in the South. Several of the things that stood out to me were my previous misconceptions about women's roles in that day. Clearly I had misjudged how capable and even powerful they were in their value and influence to commerce. I was also surprised to see how much Americans' lives were completely upended and even decimated by the Revolutionary War. Yet their ability to quickly rebound and rebuild made me proud of our rich heritage as Americans.

[Nancy D. Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

rich with detail

I enjoyed the rich detailed descriptions that made the women and her era come alive for me. Having recently read Indigo Girl (which glossed over Eliza’s role in the cruel practices of human ownership)), I deeply appreciated the authors’ avoidance of whitewashing Eliza’s role as an enslaver and intentional clarity around gender and racial dynamics allowing history to stand accurately and the heroine to stand on her amazing legacy - simultaneously transcending and reinforcing the standards of her time.

[pianogal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say I really enjoyed this one. With historical bios, there's always the chance it will be overly dry and academic, but this one wasn't. It pulled me in and kept me engaged throughout. My only complaint is that I wish I'd read it before we to Charleston, but better late than never.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent research.