Women in American history to 1880 - Carol Faulkner

Women in American History to 1880 presents a collection of primary source documents that illuminate the rich diversity of women s experiences from the colonial period through Reconstruction. Carefully chosen readings reveal the simultaneous processes of constructing gender and national identity, and examine how women viewed colonization, slavery, the American Revolution, industrialization, sectional conflict, and emancipation from very different –– and often clashing –– religious, ethnic, racial, and national perspectives. The readings show not only how politicians, businessmen, and writers utilized abstract images of women as symbols for a variety of causes, but also reveal the ways in which many women articulated their own political perspectives.

With images, poems, newspaper articles, and personal letters, many of which are collected here for the first time, Women in American History to 1880 illuminates the ways women contributed to and challenged the gender roles that emerged with the young nation and helped shape America
s future national identity.