Women of Colonial America: 13 Stories of Courage and Survival in the New World

by Brandon Marie Miller

Overview

New York Public Library Teen Book List

In colonial America, hard work proved a constant for most women—some ensured their family's survival through their skills, while others sold their labor or lived in bondage as indentured servants or slaves. Yet even in a world defined entirely by men, a world where few thought it important to record a female's thoughts, women found ways to step forth. Elizabeth Ashbridge survived an abusive indenture to become a Quaker preacher. Anne Bradstreet penned her poems while raising eight children in the wilderness. Anne Hutchinson went toe-to-toe with Puritan authorities. Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse built a trade empire in New Amsterdam. And Eve, a Virginia slave, twice ran away to freedom. 

Using a host of primary sources, author Brandon Marie Miller recounts the roles, hardships, and daily lives of Native American, European, and African women in the 17th and 18th centuries. With strength, courage, resilience, and resourcefulness, these women and many others played a vital role in the mosaic of life in the North American colonies. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781556524875
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/01/2016
Series:	Women of Action Series , #14
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Brandon Marie Miller is the author of Benjamin Franklin, American Genius, George Washington for Kids, and Women of the Frontier. She has received a dozen national awards for her writing. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

A Word About Language xi

1 The Natural Inhabitants 1

2 In This New Discovered Virginia 11

Pocahontas, A Life in Two Worlds 21

Cecily Jordan Farrar, "Ancient Planter" of Virginia 36

3 Goodwives to New England 43

Anne Hutchinson, "A Woman Unfit for Our Society" 53

Anne Dudley Bradstreet, Puritan Poet 67

The Captivity of Mary Rowlandson 75

4 Weary, Weary, Weary, O 87

Elizabeth Ashbridge, From Indentured Servant to Quaker Preacher 98

5 Up To Their Elbows in Housewifery 107

Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse, She-Merchant of New York 122

The Journey of Sarah Kemble Knight 129

6 Daughters of Eve 137

Martha Corey, Accused of Witchcraft 157

7 A Changing World 167

Eliza Lucas Pinckney, A Glimpse Through Her Letterbook 179

Eve, and Others, Belonging to the Randolphs 188

Christiana Campbell & Jane Vobe, Keeping a Busy Tavern 196

8 A Tapestry of Lives 203

Notes 207

Bibliography 221

Index 227

Editorial Reviews

11/30/2015
In this addition to the Women of Action series, Miller (Women of the Frontier) examines European, indigenous, and African women who lived, worked, and raised families in colonial America. Familiar individuals like Pocahontas and poet Anne Bradstreet appear alongside lesser-known women, such as Martha Corey, who was accused of witchcraft and hanged, and Christina Campbell and Jane Vobe, successful tavern owners at a time when few women owned property. Other chapters focus on broader topics like the rigid societal and marital expectations for women and the lives of indentured servants in the colonies. Miller maintains a balance between objective historical accounts and personal biographies, offering insight into what it meant to be a woman in America’s fledgling days. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"A valuable and entertaining resource for both budding historians and those seeking biographical information on a few of the many nearly forgotten women of that time.” —Kirkus Reviews


“[Author Brandon Marie] Miller maintains a balance between objective historical accounts and personal biographies.” —Publishers Weekly


"A strong option for those looking for more materials on women's contributions to American history." —School Library Journal


“The biographies in this book offer an in-depth look at the roles, hardships, and daily lives of women in Colonial America.” —Learning


"A worthy addition to women's history shelves." —VOYA


“Readers of all ages will find these meticulously researched biographical profiles fascinating and inspirational.” —The Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

01/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Miller highlights prominent women—whose contributions have often been left out of traditional history texts—in this thoroughly researched and engrossing look at Colonial America. The book covers nearly 200 years of history and consists of 13 chapters, each of which contains biographical sketches of several women, making the subtitle a little misleading. Miller begins with a description of the gracious hospitality of a 16th-century Native American woman who welcomed explorers employed by Sir Walter Raleigh in what is now North Carolina and concludes in the 1770s with accounts of successful businesswomen in Virginia. The intervening decades are packed with narratives of Native American women who navigated their rapidly changing world with bravery and skill and women who left (willingly or by force) their familiar lives in Europe for the unknown in the colonies. There are women who were born in the colonies and grew up to be successful planters, authors, and theologians. Among the topics covered are servitude, slavery, childbearing, marriage, education, and housewifery. Where historical records are silent about the specifics of a woman's life, Miller skillfully weaves in what is known about women in general who shared a similar background. For instance, few established facts exist about Pocahontas, so Miller creates a substantial portrait of her using what is known about Algonquin women of the time. Miller incorporates excerpts from period letters and government records. Serviceable black-and-white illustrations are interspersed. VERDICT A strong option for those looking for more materials on women's contributions to American history.—Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC

School Library Journal

2015-11-11
A collection of brief yet informative biographies of American women of the Colonial era. Most of the women described in this effort were exceptional for their time. Some, such as Pocahontas, Puritan lay preacher Anne Hutchinson, and poet Anne Dudley Bradstreet, may be familiar to readers. The brief biographies of others will provide new revelations regarding the lives of the women of the era. Elizabeth Ashbridge started as an indentured servant and became a respected Quaker leader; Mary Rowlandson heroically survived being taken prisoner by Indians during King Philip's War; and Eliza Lucas Pinkney, whose letters reveal much about her life, managed her father's plantation at the age of 16. With literacy still relatively uncommon among women of the time, and since they only rarely rated the attention of male record keepers, it becomes the exceptional woman for whom biographical information survives. However, each chapter includes enlightening history of the time and place, and the biographies make it clear that these women were not always typical of their time. Parts of the book were originally published in 2003 as the much shorter, juvenile nonfiction work Good Women of a Well-Blessed Land: Women's Lives in Colonial America. Detailed endnotes and an extensive bibliography round out an excellent nonfiction offering for sophisticated readers. A valuable and entertaining resource for both budding historians and those seeking biographical information on a few of the many nearly forgotten women of that time. (index not seen) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews