Wives after the Revolution : the backbone of the republic

Abstract

The American Revolution brought major changes to every aspect of life for Americans in the late eighteenth century. Every effort from every citizen was now meant to further the republic of the United States of America. Prior to the Revolution women were valued solely as wives and mothers to take care of children, households, and husbands. Women of the newly free America still served the same roles as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters but the very thought of freedom changed how they were to carry out those roles. Women did not get a brand new role in light of the Revolution, but rather the role they had always served was revised through their relationships with their husbands, children, and even in society. In this paper I am going to argue that American independence from Britain did not change the roles of wives but it did change their motivation for completing their duties as wives and mothers due to emerging republican ideology and it became more important to their personal happiness, however, it did not satisfy all wives.