Founding Mothers & Fathers by Mary Beth Norton

Founding Mothers & Fathers by Mary Beth Norton

In this pioneering study of the ways in which the first settlers defined the power, prerogatives, and responsibilities of the sexes, one of our most incisive historians opens a window onto the world of Colonial America. Drawing on a wealth of contemporary documents, Mary Beth Norton tells the story of the Pinion clan, whose two-generation record of theft, adultery, and infanticide may have made them our first dysfunctional family. She reopens the case of Mistress Ann Hibbens, whose church excommunicated her for arguing that God had told husbands to listen to their wives. And here is the enigma of Thomas, or Thomasine Hall, who lived comfortably as both a man and a woman in 17th century Virginia. Wonderfully erudite and vastly readable, Founding Mothers & Fathers reveals both the philosophical assumptions and intimate domestic arrangements of our colonial ancestors in all their rigor, strangeness, and unruly passion.



"An important, imaginative book. Norton destroys our nostalgic image of a 'golden age' of family life and re-creates a more complex past whose assumptions and anxieties are still with us."--Raleigh News and Observer

Mary Beth Norton, the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University, obtained her B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Michigan. Harvard University is the source of this information. She teaches classes on early American history, women's history, the Atlantic world, and the American Revolution. The Society of American Historians, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, and the English-Speaking Union have all awarded her books prizes.

Her book FOUNDING MOTHERS & FATHERS (1996) was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. SEPARATED BY THEIR SEX: WOMEN IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN THE COLONIAL ATLANTIC WORLD, released in 2011, was her first book. In 2005-2006, she was Pitt Professor of American History at the University of Cambridge. Her fellowships have come from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Huntington Library, among others.

Professor Norton is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served on the National Council for the Humanities. As a commentator on Early American history, she has been on Book TV, the History and Discovery Channels, PBS, and NBC.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780679749776
ISBN 10	0679749772
Title	Founding Mothers & Fathers
Author	Mary Beth Norton
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1997-07-29
Number of pages	512
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.