Description
Book SynopsisExplores the life and work of political publicist and strategist Esther DeBerdt Reed, who, in a life highly structured by conflict, national identity, religion, and the overall importance of being a wife and mother, gave eloquent expression to the political aspirations of female patriots in Revolutionary America.
Trade Review“A love story worthy of William Shakespeare, a snapshot of family life in catastrophic times, and a guide to what went wrong between Britain and its American colonies from 1764 to 1783.”
—Edith Gelles The William and Mary Quarterly
“A beautifully written biography of a strong-willed, smart, and forgotten heroine. . . . Adding to the still scant scholarship on women in early America, Ireland’s book is enthusiastically endorsed.”
—B. B. Pfleger Choice
“Ireland's sharp analysis of Esther Reed's "Sentiments of an American Woman" shows her ideas and aspirations in action—as she was acting politically, using social acumen, employing strategic thinking, and enacting "the politics of image, or the politics of self-representation.””
—Lucia McMahon Early American Literature
“Ireland draws on rich collections of DeBerdt and Reed family letters to produce this excellent biography. He argues perceptively that, while in some respects, the life of his subject was extraordinary, in others her experiences were much like those of other smart, politically engaged, and affluent wives and mothers in revolutionary America.”
—Cynthia A. Kierner Pennsylvania Heritage
“In a comprehensive and moving study, Owen Ireland brings to light the important but little-known story of Esther DeBerdt Reed, one of the most powerful female figures to emerge during the American Revolution. Ireland chronicles the grand love affair between Reed, a privileged Londoner, and her husband, an American lawyer and patriot, and also explores how Reed became the leading organizer of the Philadelphia Ladies Association, a group that provided critical financial assistance to Washington’s troops. Improbable, inspirational, and instructive, Reed’s life is a tale of female self-invention and of love played out in the shadows of the Revolutionary crisis.”
—Rosemarie Zagarri,author of Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic
“Historian Owen Ireland’s gracefully written full-fledged biography of Esther DeBerdt Reed, a British-born American patriot, is a welcome and necessary addition to Revolutionary Era history. Based on deep research, Ireland makes a compelling case for understanding the rich but tragically short life of Esther DeBerdt Reed, an important female politician and American founder.”
—Alison M. Parker,author of Articulating Rights: Nineteenth-Century American Women on Race, Reform, and the State
“This exciting book is a significant contribution not just to our understanding of revolutionary-era America but also to our understanding of global history itself. Esther Reed is a fascinating protagonist, and her transatlantic life—and especially her intercontinental courtship with her eventual husband, Joseph Reed—sheds light on the complex ties that connected the North American colonies to England and the wider world.”
—Tonio Andrade,author of The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History
“Sentiments of a British-American Woman is an exciting story of how Esther DeBerdt Reed negotiated the challenges of immigration, marriage, and Revolutionary politics. As an eminent political historian, Owen S. Ireland marshals his command of Pennsylvania politics and women’s history and, in quoting her substantial correspondence, allows DeBerdt Reed to speak for herself.”
—Jean Soderlund,author of Lenape Country: Delaware Valley Society Before William Penn
“Despite Reed’s importance, this is the first full biography of this pioneer politician. It is, in Ireland’s telling, an engaging tale that mingles the drama and romance expected of a novel with the politics, finance, and suffering of Reed and her husband during the struggle for American independence.”
—Susan E. Klepp,author of Revolutionary Conceptions: Women, Fertility, and Family Limitation in America, 1760-1820
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter One: Esther: Imprudent and Impatient Love
Chapter Two: Joseph: Love and Calculation
Chapter Three: A Willful Girl Matures
Chapter Four: Responsibilities and Schemes
Chapter Five: Politics: Old World Patronage
Chapter Six: Love Defeats Prudence
Chapter Seven: Exiled Where Women “stooped like country girls.”
Chapter Eight: A New Political Identity: “They” becomes “We”
Chapter Nine: “Unleash the Dogs of War”
Chapter Ten: Politics: New World Democracy
Chapter Eleven: America’s Female Politician
Chapter Twelve: Triumph and Tragedy
Bibliographical Essay
Notes
Index
