Mothers of Invention
Drew Gilpin Faust, 1997. New York: Random House. 326p.

Subtitled “ Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War,” Dr. Faust has written a griping story of the lives of this group of rich (or at least well-to-do) women. The large majority of them had been brought up in the first half of the nineteenth century to be beautiful, demanding toward slaves but submissive to males of their class, ignorant of all homemaking skills yet highly proficient in dancing, entertaining, embroidery, music and small talk. White male slave owners ran the economy; women of that class had slaves to fill the tasks of wet-nurses and nannies, to cook and sew and clean
It is easy to draw similarities to the Chinese foot binding culture that allowed rich women to be hobbled in childhood and unable to walk as adults. One difference is that soon after the outbreak of war in 1861 when it became apparent that victory for the South would take more than 6 months, the American slave-owning women were suddenly directed to assume lives of active support to the Confederate cause. When plantation owners joined the army, their women were told to manage and make decisions, to feed and clothe and manage the slaves who did not desert. Letters to family members and friends, diaries, complaints to President Davis and other officials tell their stories of inability to cope and also tales of necessary decisions, including fleeing from danger. The entire elegant life style of opulence vanished as did their very homes as northern armies swept through. The great need for nurses was answered by a relatively few, for the concept of unpleasant duty was foreign to the mindset of these women and also their men. When President Davis beseeched the women to spin and weave and make homespun cloth when blockades prevented arrival of other material, many women refused, writing that homespun material was fit only for slaves.
As the war dragged on and the causalities of dead and wounded hit almost every family, the southern slave-owning women began expressing their desire for peace at any cost. Some encouraged their men to desert, as they were badly needed at home. With peace many southern women had to support their children and husbands. Many turned to teaching and writing novels and memoirs. Many turned to honoring the dead – notably the United Daughters of the Confederacy who raised money for statues and parades.
I have gained a small understanding from “Mothers of Invention” of why male legislators in southern states failed to ratify ERA in the 1980s and why these states failed to ratify the 19th amendment in 1920 which provides suffrage to women. It is true that Tennessee became the final state to ratify, but the young man who broke the tie was not returned to office in the next election. This thoughtful, well-researched book is a great choice for Women’s History Month in March and for all other months.