Where are the Women?
The first thing I did to begin my research was Google “women American Revolution.” I kept this Google search broad and not too specific because I had not formulated my topic question yet, and I wanted to investigate the general topic of women, rather than their roles specifically. I found results and selectively picked two of the most scholarly secondary sources from the websites listed. They led me to other primary sources because the article referenced or cited several primary sources; some of these I used in my research paper. In addition, from these articles, I was able formulate my topic question by understanding subtopics mentioned by both sites derived from my first Google search. The best source I found was an informative and detailed description of the roles of women as camp followers, nurses, and soldiers. The article was an excerpt from a book by Kaia Danyluk called “Women’s Service with the Revolutionary Army.” The source, found on History.com, gave a deep and thorough analysis of the significance of their roles, not just data or facts. Another source where I found much of my information was the book Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence by Carol Berkin. This book source was extremely helpful because each chapter had extensive research and information on all aspects of women during the American Revolution. In addition, the book had a citations page for every page at the back of the book, and by skimming through I was able to find almost all of the primary sources I needed. I first found all of my necessary secondary sources and used only scholarly websites. A site that had almost all of the different primary sources I wanted to use was the Gilderman Lehrman Institute of American History. When I wanted to access a primary source that I already knew about from my secondary book source, I was able to look up them up on that site.
However, during my search I encountered many challenges and frustrations. At first, Googling “women American Revolution” was enough to lead me to my initial sites, but I wanted to find specific information in addition. For example, I really wanted to know about the life of a camp follower and I kept trying Google, ABC-Clio, and the Gilderman Lehrman Institute website. But no matter what search terms or websites I searched, I could not find the information I wished to discover. This roadblock was very challenging for me, but I decided to not let one bump mess up the rest of my research and for the better of my paper, I eliminated that question. Another obstacle I overcame was the lack of information about women’s actions at home. Because women were considered the less important gender, there is a lack of articles and primary sources about any women, especially the numerous, but nameless ones, who were at home during the Revolutionary War. I searched the web for a very long time trying to find a trustworthy site to use on the general topic of women at home. Eventually, I reassessed what I was doing and decided to instead look for letters written by women during the war because it would be a perspective that would give me a firsthand account on being at home. Sure enough, after diligently searching through the Gilderman Lehrman Institute of American History’s large collection of letters, I found some quotes from women like Abigail Adams and Lucy Knox that were exactly what I needed. During my research, my initial assumptions both confirmed what I thought I knew and drastically changed my preconceptions. I knew that women were disregarded and under-appreciated, and during my search, when it was difficult to find information online about my topic, it reinstilled the idea that many people did not commemorate or even note the roles of women during this critical time. However, I also turned away from my assumption that the work women did during the war was simple and/or easy. The letters of women I read in my research opened my eyes to see that women were lonely and that because they were doing so much, they were stretched thin in everything that they did.
One “Eureka” moment I had was when I was struggling to find any primary sources and also could not find what I wanted online, which was information about women’s work at home. I looked and looked, and finally, I realized that the book source I had been using all along had references and citations for every page in the back of the book! All the information and pieces of evidence the book used were fully cited in the back with the website and everything. This new information allowed me to breakthrough and find not just one, but three or four, primary sources, simply by looking through the sources and investigating which ones were primary, based on the date and title. My book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence, not only helped in providing most of my research, but led me to all of my primary sources. Along the way, I also received help from my teacher, Ms. Gleason. She advised me on how to organize my subtopics and the shape of my reading target questions; she recommended my most important book source, which was extremely beneficial; and she also allowed me to borrow the book so I did not have to buy it. Without her help, my research would have been more difficult and the final product developed from all my notes probably would not have been as good. Another person who helped me a lot was my wonderful mother. Once I was done writing, she edited my entire paper and spent a long time helping me with revisions.
However, during my search I encountered many challenges and frustrations. At first, Googling “women American Revolution” was enough to lead me to my initial sites, but I wanted to find specific information in addition. For example, I really wanted to know about the life of a camp follower and I kept trying Google, ABC-Clio, and the Gilderman Lehrman Institute website. But no matter what search terms or websites I searched, I could not find the information I wished to discover. This roadblock was very challenging for me, but I decided to not let one bump mess up the rest of my research and for the better of my paper, I eliminated that question. Another obstacle I overcame was the lack of information about women’s actions at home. Because women were considered the less important gender, there is a lack of articles and primary sources about any women, especially the numerous, but nameless ones, who were at home during the Revolutionary War. I searched the web for a very long time trying to find a trustworthy site to use on the general topic of women at home. Eventually, I reassessed what I was doing and decided to instead look for letters written by women during the war because it would be a perspective that would give me a firsthand account on being at home. Sure enough, after diligently searching through the Gilderman Lehrman Institute of American History’s large collection of letters, I found some quotes from women like Abigail Adams and Lucy Knox that were exactly what I needed. During my research, my initial assumptions both confirmed what I thought I knew and drastically changed my preconceptions. I knew that women were disregarded and under-appreciated, and during my search, when it was difficult to find information online about my topic, it reinstilled the idea that many people did not commemorate or even note the roles of women during this critical time. However, I also turned away from my assumption that the work women did during the war was simple and/or easy. The letters of women I read in my research opened my eyes to see that women were lonely and that because they were doing so much, they were stretched thin in everything that they did.
One “Eureka” moment I had was when I was struggling to find any primary sources and also could not find what I wanted online, which was information about women’s work at home. I looked and looked, and finally, I realized that the book source I had been using all along had references and citations for every page in the back of the book! All the information and pieces of evidence the book used were fully cited in the back with the website and everything. This new information allowed me to breakthrough and find not just one, but three or four, primary sources, simply by looking through the sources and investigating which ones were primary, based on the date and title. My book, Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence, not only helped in providing most of my research, but led me to all of my primary sources. Along the way, I also received help from my teacher, Ms. Gleason. She advised me on how to organize my subtopics and the shape of my reading target questions; she recommended my most important book source, which was extremely beneficial; and she also allowed me to borrow the book so I did not have to buy it. Without her help, my research would have been more difficult and the final product developed from all my notes probably would not have been as good. Another person who helped me a lot was my wonderful mother. Once I was done writing, she edited my entire paper and spent a long time helping me with revisions.