First Generations Women in Colonial America

Carol Berkin's multicultural history reconstructs the lives of American women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries-women from European, African, and Native backgrounds-and examines their varied roles as wives, mothers, household managers, laborers, rebels, and, ultimately, critical forces in shaping the new nation's culture and history. Carol Berkinis Professor of History at the City University of New York Graduate Center. She is the author ofA Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American ConstitutionandWomen's Voices/Women's Lives: Documents in Early American History, and is co-editor, with Mary Beth Norton, ofWomen of America: A History. This widely celebrated multiculural history reconstructs the lives of American women in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: women from European, African, and Native American backgrounds.First Generationsexamines their varied roles as wives, mothers, household managers, laborers, rebels, andultimatelycritical forces in shaping the new nation's culture and history. "A revision, amplification, and synthesis of a rich succession of studies about every aspect of colonial society and culture. [Berkin] brings her subject down to earth . . . and shows sensitivity to the experiences of individual women. [First Generations] offers what Mary Beth Norton rightly calls 'the best available introduction to the lives of women in colonial and revolutionary America.'"Edmund S. Morgan,The New York Times Review of Books "Berkin's focus on ethnic differences in historical patterns provides an unusual cross-cultural approach to gender studies, tracing and contrasting everything from economic and political developments to birthing and mothering patterns."Midwest Book Review "This academic study by Berkin . . . examines the lives of 17th- and 18th-century women from a feminist perspective that focuses on gender and class. Employing excellent research skills, the author documents the lives of white as well as Native American and African American women in their diverse roles as wives, mothers, widows, employed workers, and slaves . . . Berkin has made a notable contribution by utilizing recent scholarship to address family life in the mid-Atlantic and Southern colonies as well as in the much studied New England settlements. Her analysis of Native American and African American women, as well as of how the American Revolution affected female roles, is enlightening."Publishers Weekly "In this exciting, scholarly, and multicultural work, history professor Berkin skillfully portrays the lives of American colonial women from all segments of that society. Using biographical sketches, diaries, and other records, Berkin reconstructs the lives of wives, mothers, sisters, rebels, loyalists, slaves, Native Americans, and immigrants, revealing the important (but often overlooked by historians) roles that women played in the formation of this country. By introducing the characters in a dramatic fashion and using the climactic events of the time to hold the reader's attention, Berkin has done a fantastic job re-creating their experiences and made enjoyable reading out of what could have been dry, academic fare. Although this book may be of particular interest to those concerned with women's history, it will also have definite mainstream appeal."Kathleen Hughes,Booklist "A marvelously readable yet scholarly history of women's social, economic, religious, and political roles in America from the founding of the Chesapeake Bay colonies through the Revolution . . .First Generationsis a careful, detailed study of colonial life with something morea personal touch, an easy narrative style, and a comprehensive approach. Not that this slim volume offers the last word on the subj

Carol Berkin is Professor of History at the City University of New York Graduate Center. She is the author of A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution, Women's Voices/Women's Lives: Documents in Early American History, and coeditor, with Mary Beth Norton, of Women of America: A History.