revolutionary backflash questions

5. According to chapter two, what two major political roles for elite and middle

class white women emerged immediately after the American Revolution? What

kinds of activities characterized each role?

6. According to chapter two, what is the relationship between women’s literacy,

print culture, and the post-Revolutionary debate about women’s rights? In what

ways did women participate in this debate?

7. According to chapter two, how did non-voters (a category that included most

women) generally participate in politics in post-Revolutionary America?

8. Write a paragraph summarizing the central point and argument of chapter two.

How does the central point of the chapter relate to the thesis of the book?

9. According to chapter three, in what ways did the development of political

parties (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans) affect women’s political

participation? In what ways did the development of political parties affect

women’s personal lives?

10. According to chapter three, what activities did Federalist and (Democratic-)

Republican women undertake during the War of 1812? How did the portrayal of

women’s activities during the War of 1812 differ from the portrayal of their

activities during the American Revolution? Why?

11. According to chapter three, how did Federalists and Democratic-Republicans

depict actual women in words and images? How does Zagarri explain the

differences between the two parties’ portrayals? How did Federalists and Democratic-Republicans depict women symbolically or metaphorically? How

does Zagarri explain the similarities between the two parties’ depictions?

12. Write a paragraph summarizing the central point and argument of chapter

three? How does the central point of the chapter relate to the thesis of the book?

13. According to chapter four, what was the new Liberal approach to politics that

emerged in the 1830s? What new role for women emerged to complement this

new conceptualization of politics? How did it differ from earlier “political” roles

for women?

14. According to chapter four, what was the ideology of “Separate Spheres”?

15. According to chapter four, how did women’s reactions to the Panic of 1819

differ from their reactions to the American Revolution, the Quasi-War with France,

and the War of 1812? Why?

16. According to chapter four, as activities of “female politicians” were more

frequently criticized, into what new arena did elite and middle class white women

channel their public activities?

17. Write a paragraph summarizing the central point and argument of chapter four.

How does the central point of the chapter relate to the thesis of the book?

18. According to chapter five (pp.164-173), as the right to vote expanded for free

white men, a new rationale was found for excluding women from electoral politics.

What was it?