Reading and Writing Workshop
Revolutionary America and the Early Republic
Session 1: Women's Roles in the American Revolution
Reading:
Session 2: Republican Motherhood and the Rise of Women's Education
Reading:
Session 3: Abigail Adams and the Question of Women's Political Representation
Reading:
Session 4: The Legal Status of Women in the Early United States
Reading:
This workshop blends historical readings, discussion, and creative writing to explore Women's History in the United States.
Session 1: Women's Roles in the American Revolution
Reading:
- Mercy Otis Warren, History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution (1805)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23893 - Letters of women during the Revolution (Letters of Women in the American Revolution, edited by Elizabeth Ellet)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29854
- How did women like Mercy Otis Warren contribute to the Revolution?
- Write a journal entry from the perspective of a woman involved in the war as a writer, soldier, or spy.
Session 2: Republican Motherhood and the Rise of Women's Education
Reading:
- Benjamin Rush, Thoughts Upon Female Education (1787)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25006 - Catharine Beecher, Essay on the Education of Female Teachers (1835)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55224
- How did the idea of Republican Motherhood shape women's roles in education?
- Write a letter to a newspaper editor arguing for or against women's education in the early 1800s.
Session 3: Abigail Adams and the Question of Women's Political Representation
Reading:
- Abigail Adams’ Letters to John Adams (Remember the Ladies letter, 1776)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16780
- How did Abigail Adams challenge gender roles?
- Rewrite Abigail’s Remember the Ladies letter as a modern-day op-ed about women's political rights.
Session 4: The Legal Status of Women in the Early United States
Reading:
- Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (on coverture, 1765)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30802 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments (1848)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21827
- How did coverture laws limit women's rights?
- Write a short story about a woman in early America fighting for property or legal rights.
This workshop blends historical readings, discussion, and creative writing to explore Women's History in the United States.