Author: Melissa Lukeman Bohrer.
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Revolutionary War Period.
Plot: Contained in this book's 248 pages {not counting the end-notes and index of course} are eight mini-bios on eight women who influenced American history. The first chapter introduces us to young Sybil Luddington as she and her siblings stand guard late one night when their father is away and scare off a large party of Tories up to no good. A brief rundown of who Sybil was leads us to the grand adventure which she is most famous for: a midnight ride to alert her father's troops to impending battle that outdistanced Paul Revere's own famous ride. Sybil was a good rider, a fierce Patriot and a loyal daughter with a keen eye to her father's safety, which was what most impressed me while reading her story. The second chapter gives us a fairly in-depth acquaintance with the well-known Phillis Wheatley who, at the tender age of five, was kidnapped from her native Africa and shipped to America where she was purchased by the kindhearted Wheatleys. Phillis was raised in a loving household with a white family that loved and supported her, especially when they discovered she had an appetite and talent for writing. Her poems, letters and essays were destined to become famous as a slave, for the first time in history, took up her pen in defense of her fellow slaves and in favor of freedom not just for the colonists in general but for the slaves as well. She would live a divided life, never quite slave and never quite a freewoman, yet she was eventually freed at the request of her English friends.
The third rather lengthy chapter tells the story of America's first advisor Abigail Adams who was not only intelligent and well educated for a woman of those times but also the wife of America's second president and the mother of America's sixth president. During the long years of the Revolution, Abigail was separated from her husband who was very busy setting up the new government but their letters were lengthy and seemingly frequent; in them Abigail would advise her husband on his various tasks and he in turn would seek her advice and the two would discuss at length the various processes of various problems the new nation was faced with in its governing system. However, freedom for the Americans was not to be the stopping point for Abigail; her goal was freedom for the slaves and women as well. An early feminist while also a supportive and loving wife and mother, Abigail pushed for a vote for the women yet her request and dream were not to be realized at that stage in time. The fourth chapter covers Abigail's good friend Mercy Otis Warren who had grown up in a large family surrounded by lots of siblings. She formed a special bond with her older brother James who was mainly responsible for her education. She married James Warren who was good friends with her brother and who also influenced her education and outlook on life. Mercy, overflowing with opinions and Patriotism, would soon take up her pen and use it as a sword to help motivate the weary soldiers under General Washington; she wrote sarcastic plays belittling and mocking the redcoats which made Washington's men rock with laughter and laughter, she knew, was the best way to keep the spirits of the soldiers high in the midst of all their struggles.
The fifth chapter introduces us to the relatively little known Lydia Darragh who was a feminine Quaker, supportive wife and loving mother. Her firstborn, a son, broke away from the Quakers' neutrality of all things relating to bloodshed and joined Washington's army, believing that freedom for all men was worth fighting and dying for. Once she had realized this, Lydia also joined wholeheartedly but quietly in the war and had a splendid opportunity to aid her country's fight as well as save her son and Washington's army from a surprise attack by the British. Living in Philadelphia with her family when the British rode into it, Lydia first had the opportunity of watching the redcoats' headquarters which had been set up in the house directly across from her and then when several soldiers moved into her own house, she chanced to overhear plans of an attack upon the continental army and did the only thing she could have done: set out on foot and told the right person what was up. The sixth chapter might be considered a mini-bio on two women, not one since experts are reportedly rather confused as to whether it was Mary Hays McCauley or Margaret Corbin who was the real Molly Pitcher or if it might have been someone altogether whose name is now lost to history forever. Whoever this enigmatic female figure was, this chapter is well worth reading for it delves into the little known account of the dirty crass camp-followers who trailed Washington's army during the war. Many followed their husbands, fathers and brothers, the only male protection they had, and would help take care of the soldiers by washing, cooking, and doing other such chores. They were reportedly a very low class of women and yet a very rough and tough class also which seems to have really confused many of the men at that time period who had certain ideas as to what a lady should and should not be like. Molly Pitcher, whoever she really was, apparently wasn't one of those brave bold young ladies who found a task to do and did it well; she was described in this chapter as crass, crude, dirty and bearing a strongly feminist viewpoint formed through long suffering.
The seventh chapter tells the interesting story of Deborah Sampson who had a very rough childhood and grew to be very tall at almost six feet during a time when women rarely grew above five feet in height. Longing for something useful to do regarding the war for freedom which had captured her imagination and fired her fierce Patriotism, Deborah finally found the ideal opportunity and seized it: donning a man's garb and cutting her hair, Deborah ran away and joined the army under her dead elder brother's name. For nearly a year and in spite of a musket ball to the leg which she later removed herself, Deborah passed as a man and fought loyally until the end of the war. Still in the army and now working on tidying up the loose ends of the bloody war, a mutiny broke out in Philadelphia and Deborah, along with four other soldiers, were sent down to quell it but by the time they arrived the mutiny was over. The rampaging fever wasn't however and Deborah became deathly ill. A kindly doctor unsuspectingly discovered her secret and took her to his house where he nursed her back to health and then sent her back to her commander with a letter disclosing her real identity in the kindest manner possible. Instead of being severely punished as she'd feared, Deborah was escorted through the camp and reintroduced to her soldier buddies as the woman she was. Later, after her marriage, Deborah would tour the country talking to people about her experiences in the war.
The final chapter, to me, is the best and most remarkable. It covers the story of Nancy Ward, a Cherokee woman warrior. Nancy had a close relationship with her loving and supportive brother Longfellow and uncle the great chief Attakullaculla. At a young age she married a warrior of the Deer clan by name of Kingfisher and at the age of seventeen she was left a widow and mother of two young children, Fivekiller and Catherine. The tribe of the Creeks, the Cherokees' bitter enemies, had killed her husband and, enraged, Nancy took her husband's place and motivated her people to take part in and win the fiercest battle ever fought between the two tribes. In the course of her life, Nancy would become the first slave owner and cattle owner of her people. In recognition of her bravery in the battle, Nancy was made a Beloved Woman of her tribe {in translation: a female chief with a voice in the weighty matters of governing the tribe} and, as history would show, she was the last Beloved Woman. The Cherokee women were more respected than the women of Europe and America in that they were in the unique position of having "voting rights" while still being under submission to their husbands, fathers and brothers. "But the Cherokee men's respect for women did not translate into gentleness with others: the Cherokee were one of the most feared and ferocious tribes living in the southeastern section of North America." Nancy second husband was a white man named Bryant Ward who was handsome and dashing; however, he doesn't seem to have been the best kind of husband for he would later return to his white wife, signifying that he was already married when he married Nancy which goes against God's commandments. Anyway, her marriage to Ward and raising their half-breed daughter Elizabeth was important to Nancy and would convince her that the white men were here to stay and that peace was the only option open for the Cherokee. However, many of her tribesmen didn't feel the same and much blood on both sides was spilled. An uneasy peace was finally arrived at and Nancy, in her old age, made one last call for peace before she died at the age of eighty-four.
Likes/Dislikes: Wonderfully well researched and highly captivating. I greatly enjoyed this book, but it had a very strong undertone of feminism to it which slightly annoyed me.
Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for reading level.
Date Report Written: Not available.
