Super Short Summary

Published in 2004, Cokie Roberts’s Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation is a non-fiction historical study focusing on the contributions women made to the founding of the United States. Through primary sources, Roberts highlights the lives of high-status women such as Eliza Lucas Pinckney, Deborah Read, and Abigail Adams, detailing their efforts in managing households, supporting their husbands, and advocating for women's rights amidst the Revolutionary War. The book discusses themes of duty, equality, and the evolving roles of women in society, positioning these women as essential to the birth of the nation and the early feminist movement. The book contains discussions of childbirth, death, and the hardships endured by women during the period.