Sheila L. Skemp's Books

The Making of a Patriot

Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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The Making of a Patriot

Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit

By: Sheila L. Skemp

In The Making of a Patriot, renowned Franklin historian Sheila Skemp presents a insightful, lively narrative that goes beyond the traditional Franklin biography--and behind the common myths--to demonstrate how Franklin's ultimate decision to support the colonists was by no means a foregone conclusion.

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201

Publisher

Critical Historical Encounters

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195386574

ISBN 13

9780195386578

William Franklin

Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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William Franklin

Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King

By: Sheila L. Skemp

A biography of Benjamin Franklin's son, William, who remained a loyalist.

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Page Count

385

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195057457

ISBN 13

9780195057454

First Lady of Letters

Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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First Lady of Letters

Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence

By: Sheila L. Skemp

Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820), poet, essayist, playwright, and one of the most thoroughgoing advocates of women's rights in early America, was as well known in her own day as Abigail Adams or Martha Washington. Her name, though, has virtually disappeared from the public consciousness. Thanks to the recent discovery of Murray's papers—including some 2,500 personal letters—historian Sheila L. Skemp has documented the compelling story of this talented and most unusual eighteenth-century woman. Born in Gloucester, Massachussetts, Murray moved to Boston in 1793 with her second husband, Universalist minister John Murray. There she became part of the city's literary scene. Two of her plays were performed at Federal Street Theater, making her the first American woman to have a play produced in Boston. There as well she wrote and published her magnum opus, The Gleaner, a three-volume "miscellany" that included poems, essays, and the novel-like story "Margaretta." After 1800, Murray's output diminished and her hopes for literary renown faded. Suffering from the backlash against women's rights that had begun to permeate American society, struggling with economic difficulties, and concerned about providing the best possible education for her daughter, she devoted little time to writing. But while her efforts diminished, they never ceased. Murray was determined to transcend the boundaries that limited women of her era and worked tirelessly to have women granted the same right to the "pursuit of happiness" immortalized in the Declaration of Independence. She questioned the meaning of gender itself, emphasizing the human qualities men and women shared, arguing that the apparent distinctions were the consequence of nurture, not nature. Although she was disappointed in the results of her efforts, Murray nevertheless left a rich intellectual and literary legacy, in which she challenged the new nation to fulfill its promise of equality to all citizens.

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Page Count

508

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812203526

ISBN 13

9780812203523

Judith Sargent Murray

A Brief Biography with Documents

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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Judith Sargent Murray

A Brief Biography with Documents

By: Sheila L. Skemp

An accomplished essayist, playwright, and poet, Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820) was America's first notable feminist. This brief study of her life and work takes a novel topical approach to provide a window on the gender issues that were being debated in the United States and Europe during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In the first half of the book, nine thematic chapters examine Murray's experience of and pronouncements on marriage, motherhood, religion, women's education, writing, and the construction of gender in American society. The biography is followed by fifteen primary documents - letters, poems, and essays, many of which have never been published before - that give readers firsthand access to Murray's views. A chronology, a bibliography, and an index are also included."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Page Count

228

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0312115067

ISBN 13

9780312115067

Judith Sargent Murray

A Brief Biography with Documents

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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Judith Sargent Murray

A Brief Biography with Documents

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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Page Count

228

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0312115067

ISBN 13

9780312115067

William Franklin

Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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William Franklin

Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King

By: Sheila L. Skemp

When Benjamin Franklin flew his kite in a thunderstorm in his famous experiment, his illegitimate son William was his only companion. Together they traveled through the western wilds of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War, fought in the colony's fractious political battles. Ben helped his son attain the post of Royal Governor of New Jersey, and William's government hired Ben to represent the colony in London. But when war came, father and son were split: one acclaimed as a patriot hero, the other a loyalist condemned by his countrymen. In William Franklin, Sheila Skemp tells the story of this fascinating and complex man, a man with a foot in both worlds--he loved both King and country, and saw the interests of both as inextricably intertwined. She follows William's early years as a militia officer in the wars with the French, his life as a law student in England, and his long tenure as Royal Governor of New Jersey. Skemp highlights the close personal and political relationship between father and son, depicting such ironic episodes as William's defense of his father against charges that Ben was the author of the infamous Stamp Act. But as the years passed, Ben, in London, grew increasingly bitter toward the Crown, while William, in America, remained devoted to the King. By the time war came, their loyalties were divided, their relationship destroyed. Skemp traces William's career through the tumult of revolution and exile. Refusing to follow his fellow royal governors into asylum, he was arrested by the patriots and jailed; his wife soon died, and his property was confiscated. Upon release, William became president of the Board of Associated Loyalists in New York, where--neglected by the British and despised by the revolutionaries--he authorized one of the most notorious atrocities of the war, the hanging of Joshua Huddy. At war's end, Franklin fled into exile in England, hated by his countrymen, and disowned by the father he still venerated, and even loved. Sweeping and authoritative, William Franklin captures some of the great issues and personalities of the Revolutionary era, and the bitterness of a family split between father and son, patriot and loyalist.

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Page Count

385

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195363396

ISBN 13

9780195363395

First Lady of Letters

Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence

By: Sheila L. Skemp

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First Lady of Letters

Judith Sargent Murray and the Struggle for Female Independence

By: Sheila L. Skemp

Average ratings

N/A

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

508

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812203526

ISBN 13

9780812203523

Book's by Sheila L. Skemp

The Making of a Patriot

The Making of a Patriot

William Franklin

William Franklin

First Lady of Letters

First Lady of Letters

Judith Sargent Murray

Judith Sargent Murray

Judith Sargent Murray

Judith Sargent Murray

William Franklin

William Franklin

First Lady of Letters

First Lady of Letters

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