Rebecca Dickinson: Independence for a New England Woman

by Marla Miller

Overview

Rebecca Dickinson's powerful voice, captured through excerpts from the pages of her journal, allows colonial and revolutionary-era New England to come alive. Dickinson's life illustrates the dilemmas faced by many Americans in the decades before, during, and after the American Revolution, as well as the paradoxes presented by an unmarried woman who earned her own living and made her own way in the small town where she was born. Rebecca Dickinson: Independence for a New England Woman, uses Dickinson's world as a lens to introduce readers to the everyday experience of living in the colonial era and the social, cultural, and economic challenges faced in the transformative decades surrounding the American Revolution.

About the Lives of American Women series: selected and edited by renowned women's historian Carol Berkin, these brief biographies are designed for use in undergraduate courses. Rather than a comprehensive approach, each biography focuses instead on a particular aspect of a women's life that is emblematic of her time, or which made her a pivotal figure in the era. The emphasis is on a 'good read', featuring accessible writing and compelling narratives, without sacrificing sound scholarship and academic integrity. Primary sources at the end of each biography reveal the subject's perspective in her own words. Study questions and an annotated bibliography support the student reader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813347653
Publisher:	Westview Press
Publication date:	08/06/2013
Series:	Lives of American Women
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	730,602
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Marla Miller is a professor of history and director of the Public History Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. An award-winning author, Miller is best known for her essay on Rebecca Dickinson, "My Part Alone," as well as the books The Needle's Eye: Women and Work in the Age of Revolution, and Betsy Ross and the Making of America.

Series editor Carol Berkin is a well-known women's historian and the author of many popular and scholarly books, including Civil War Wives. She is Professor of History Emerita at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and she is a member of the Society of American Historians.

Table of Contents

SERIES EDITOR'S FOREWORD AUTHOR'S PREFACE : READING AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY DIARY Introduction: The Independence of Rebecca Dickinson 1 Origins and Awakenings 2 Entering the Female Economy 3 A World at War, a Soul at Peace 4 The Unraveling 5 Revolutionary Hatfield 6 Rebellion, Redux 7 Reproducing the Nation 8 Singlehood and the "Bar in the Way" 9 The "Most Dark and Puzzling Affair" 10 Twilight Conclusion: Remembering Independence Primary Sources STUDY QUESTIONS NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY INDEX

Editorial Reviews

Working at the intersection of the history of the American Revolution and women’s history, Miller, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, adds to the Lives of American Women series (edited by Carol Berkin) this effective biography of Massachusetts seamstress and “ordinary woman” Rebecca Dickinson. Born in the farming village of Hatfield in 1738, Dickinson received a basic education and at the age of 12 took an apprenticeship with a gownmaker—work that would provide her with decades of economic independence. As an adult working woman, Dickinson couldn’t and didn’t ignore the growing rift between the colonies and England. During the 1760s, patriots launched boycotts on British-made cloth, and as a seamstress she understood the impact they would have on her livelihood. Miller (Betsy Ross and the Making of America) makes good use of the documents Dickinson left behind, portraying her as an intelligent woman who knew what was at stake in the Revolution, who was drawn in to the cause, and who remained thoroughly independent till the end: unable to find a man who suited her and unwilling to lower her standards, Dickinson lived her life as a bachelorette. She was a realist, not a romantic, and knew her choice meant that others would always consider her odd. Luckily, the lives of odd folks make for interesting stories. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Just what any professor wants: books that will intrigue, inform, and fascinate students! These short, readable biographies of American women—specifically designed for classroom use—give instructors an appealing new option to assign to their history students."
—Mary Beth Norton, Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History, Cornell University

"For educators keen to include women in the American story, but hampered by the lack of thoughtful, concise scholarship, here comes ‘Lives of American Women,' embracing Abigail Adams's counsel to John—‘remember the ladies.' And high time, too!"
—Lesley S. Herrmann, Executive Director, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

"These books are, above all, fascinating stories that will engage and inspire readers. They offer a glimpse into the lives of key women in history who either defied tradition or who successfully maneuvered in a man's world to make an impact. The stories of these vital contributors to American history deliver just the right formula for instructors looking to provide a more complicated and nuanced view of history."
—Rosanne Lichatin, 2005 Gilder Lehrman Preserve America History Teacher of the Year

"Miller makes good use of the documents Dickinson left behind, portraying her as an intelligent woman who knew what was at stake in the Revolution, who was drawn in to the cause, and who remained thoroughly independent till the end."
—Publishers Weekly

“Miller's weaving of the narrative of the American Revolution and its aftermath with the story of Dickinson's life is commendable . . . It [is] well suited for use in general surveys of US history, women's history, or the era of the American Revolution. Readers with more general interests will simply enjoy the story of a women's interesting life in interesting times.” —The Historian

Praise for the Lives of American Women series

"Finally! The majority of students—by which I mean women—will have the opportunity to read biographies of women from our nation's past. (Men can read them too, of course!) The ‘Lives of American Women' series features an eclectic collection of books, readily accessible to students who will be able to see the contributions of women in many fields over the course of our history. Long overdue, these books will be a valuable resource for teachers, students, and the public at large."
—Cokie Roberts, author of Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty

From the Publisher