Martha Washington First Lady of Liberty
From Virginia Tobacco Farm to the Presidency: Book Review
Aug 6, 2008
Culture shock is the exploding ambiance first encountered when reading this book. The stage for Martha's life is set during the era of the tobacco growing south (Virginia--1700's), with plantations worked by slaves, and the rigid laws designed to maintain the slave economy.
Helen Bryan's meticulous facts allows the reader to glimpse into the lives of the slaves and how the societal culture bent on maintaining the slave economy molded the lives of the people, specifically, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington.
Martha's Early Training
Formal schooling was not a mandated requirement for women during this time period. Martha's education was cut short to allow her to learn how to manage the home and her areas of the plantation.
First, there was the cooking and preparing of foods. Modern refrigeration was unkown during this time period. Food was prepared in such a way so as not to spoil during the hot, Virginian, summer months.
Company was almost always present. Visitors stayed in one location for days. It was inconcievable during that time period to visit and leave in the same day due to distance and transportation constraints. People walked or traveled by horseback or carriages. A young woman needed to know how to manage guests and their needs before she left her parents' home to enter a home of her own.
Not only was a woman responsible for the running of the immediate household (supervising the inhouse slaves), but she tended to the care of the slaves who worked the plantation. Soundly educated doctors were few and far between. Martha learned to make and store homemade remedies to care for the sick.
Martha's Character
Martha destroyed most of the letters she wrote to her husband, George, as well as the letters he wrote to her after his death. However, through the letters of family, friends, and testimonies of those associated with Martha, the reader learns that this woman was loyal to those she loved. She took into her home orphaned relatives. Additionally, her devoted public service during the Revolutionary War, beside her husband, George, was not fully appreciated during her lifetime.
Helen Byran's Writing Style
There are numerous facts presented within this book (though well written). The information would have been easier to absorb mentally, if presented in two books. There are the names to consider, for instance.
It was the practice of the day to name children after members of the family. Therefore, one can become confused with different people of the same or similar names, even though the author painstakingly tries to avoid confusion.
Virginian Slave Culture 1700's
The abundance of facts are necessary. Bryan paints the rustic, plantation, slave owning culture meticulously. Her own Virginian ancestry undoubtedly enhances her insights to the conditions slaves endured publically as well as on the plantation.
These facts emerge:
- In order to work the large tobacco plantations manpower was needed (men, women and children);
- Slaves were cheap manpower, and were considered property(chattel), like horses or dogs;
- The plantation owners were to some degree fearful of the slaves, especially groups of freed slaves; therefore,
- Slaves endured harsh penalties for any acts of rebellion and freedom was rare.
This is a book well worth reading, especially if you are a Colonial History aficionado or a student of womens' issues.
Source
Helen Bryan, First Lady of Liberty Martha Washington, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY., New York, 2002, ISBN 0-471-15892-5.
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