Comparative book review of the forgotten fifth vs the revolutionary mothers
Part of this course is focused on developing critical thinking, reading, and writing skills. The comparative book review assignment is designed with these goals in mind. You are to read Carol Berkin’s Revolutionary Mothers and Gary Nash’s The Forgotten Fifth. Both seek to question and expand the historical narrative of the American Revolution. Rather than a book report that simply restates each main argument, you will analyze, critique, and wrestle with the historical arguments each historian posits. In your comparative book review you will summarize the key arguments of both texts. Then you will analyze the historical discussion between these two texts.
A successful review will first:
Summarize each author’s main argument
Explain how each author supports their main argument
Provide the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument
Compare and contrast the argument put forward
Discuss how or how not Berkin and Nash are in conversation with each other
Sample Solution
In Carol Berkin’s Revolutionary Mothers, she reexamines the role that women played during the American Revolution. She argues that while women were not necessarily on the front lines of battle, they were a crucial part of the revolutionary cause. They served in a variety of roles such as providing direct support to soldiers, working with civilian organizations on behalf of their families, and fighting through traditional female activities such as boycotting certain goods like tea or managing domestic labor. Berkin supports her claims by using both primary source documents from individuals involved in the American revolution as well as secondary works about women’s experiences in this time period. Through these sources she is able to effectively demonstrate how important it was for women to have an active part in supporting their family and country at this critical time.
Gary Nash’s The Forgotten Fifth makes similar arguments about how African Americans contributed significantly to winning independence for America during this period and yet are often left out of historical accounts since so much focus is placed on white male leaders like Washington and Jefferson. Nash utilizes contemporary accounts from freed slaves who fought alongside whites in several battles including Bunker Hill and Saratoga, detailing how many black men enlisted voluntarily or were conscripted into service despite facing significant discrimination at home regardless if they were free or enslaved people. Additionally, he cites various legal documents which show how levels of freedom increased for blacks further into the war due to pressures created by enlistment numbers being low amongst whites forcing them to look elsewhere for reinforcements.
Overall, both authors make compelling arguments backed up by strong evidence that challenges readers to think beyond what has been traditionally taught when looking at causes behind America’s victory during its War for Independence. While both do an effective job illustrating their respective points there are some minor weaknesses within each perspective; namely neither author discusses extensively enough why some individuals made choices contrary from those highlighted throughout their books (i .e choosing not fight, participating in loyalist activities etc). Despite these small flaws though each successfully paints a picture about how different individuals across genders and races worked together towards achieving one collective goal – gaining independence from Britain – ultimately creating a new nation founded upon freedom and equality regardless of social standing or background.
