Women in the Early American South reading list

        Study of the early American frontier cannot be focused on solely men and their activities. Likewise, living history should pay as much attention to women and their roles. And not just domestic activities! As this reading list suggests, women played an integral role in shaping society and politics on the early American frontier. 





Kerrison, Catherine. Claiming the Pen: Women and Intellectual Life in the Early American South.
Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2006. Kerrison presents an intellectual history of women in the south. She explains why and how women began to educate themselves and the ways they used education to help their social status.


Kierner, Cynthia A. Beyond the Household: Women’s Place in the Early South, 1700-1835. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998. Kierner explains the transformation of women’s roles within the public sphere during the 18th and early 19th centuries. She argues that a number of factors influenced the changes, including politics and religion.


Salmon, Marylynn.Women and the Law of Property in Early America. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1986. Salmon details the history of women’s property rights in America. She traces the changes in property rights and focuses on specific regions.


Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth. Within the Plantation Household: Black and White Women of the Old South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. Fox-Genovese details the relationship between African American and white women to highlight the social differences between the two groups. She focuses on the women’s daily lives and how the women defined their own identity.


Scholten, Catherine M. Childbearing in American Society 1650-1850. New York: New York University Press, 1985. Scholten explains the evolution of childbearing in America. She contends that childbirth began as a communal experience, but as family size decreased, childbearing became more sacred and isolated.
 

Kerber, Linda K. Women of the Republic: Intellect & Ideology in Revolutionary America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1980. Kerber outlines women’s participation in the Revolution. She argues that women had to develop their own ideology while still being restrained by traditional patriarchal notions.



Norton, Mary Beth. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996. Norton focuses on family life to explain how the American Revolution altered the lives of women. She includes women of all social classes to show the beginnings of women gaining equality.














Partially adapted from: http://www.gunstonhall.org/library/guides/Women%20in%2018th%20Century.pdf