As Promised – more on Founding Mothers

The textbook account of early American history could not have been written without the names of George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams and many others.

But after reading Founding Mothers, you’ll have to agree that room should be cleared in those same books for the deeds and accomplishments of their wives: Martha, Deborah and Abigail. For without their support, encouragement and resourcefulness, these great men would certainly have floundered.

As Washington wrote, “Not would I rob the fairer sex of their share in the glory of a revolution so honorable to human nature, for indeed, I think you ladies are in the number of the best patriots America can boast.”

Don’t think of Founding Mothers as a boring book of history. Instead, consider it an intimate peek into the lives of some of our greatest Americans.

Discussion questions for Founding Mothers can be found at: www.readinggroupguides.com.

The subdivision book club used the following questions for its discussion last month.

• Discuss the role of women in colonial America. Did you discover anything surprising? Unjust? Ridiculous?
• History regards Benjamin Franklin as a great inventor and statesman. Taking that into consideration, how would you rate him as a husband and father?
• Explain how the Revolutionary War made is possible for the female sex to move beyond the traditional ‘woman’s place’.
• Discuss how the pamphleteer, Mercy Otis Warren, and other female political writers of the day were able to ‘have it all’.
• What do the following statements tell us about the personal life of John and Abigail Adams?

‘You women don’t need power, you already have all the real power.’
‘Behind every great man there’s a great woman.’

• What events prompted General Cornwallis to say that if he destroyed all of the men in America, he’d still have the women with which to contend?
• Contrast the prim and proper Martha Washington we see in portraits to the real woman as described by Cokie Roberts in Founding Mothers.
• How did the British occupation of the southern colonies alter the lives of women living there?
• How did Peggy Shippen help her husband, Benedict Arnold, advance the British cause in the colonies? After he was arrested, how did she escape detention?
• Who suffered the most during the peace process–the statesmen: Adams, Jefferson, Franklin or their wives?
• In 1809, Chief Justice John Marshall replied to Gouverneur Morris’ inquiry by saying that Virginia opinion was divided on Nancy’s (Randolph) guilt or innocence. Where do you stand on the greatest scandal in 18th century America?

Did Nancy bear an illegitimate child?
Did she murder her brother-in-law, Richard?
Was she the mistress of slave, Billy Ellis?
Was she a prostitute? A vampire?

• Martha Washington changed her title of First Lady to Chief State Prisoner. Would modern day First Ladies agree? Explain.