• Introduction
• 1. An Archaeology of American Monogamy
• 2. Perfecting Community Rules with State Laws
• 3. Domestic Relations on the National Agenda
• 4. Toward a Single Standard
• 5. Monogamy as the Law of Social Life
• 6. Consent, the American Way
• 7. The Modern Architecture of Marriage
• 8. Public Sanctity for a Private Realm
• 9. Marriage Revised and Revived Notes Acknowledgments Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

EWe commonly think of marriage as a private matter between two people, a personal expression of love and commitment. In this pioneering history, Nancy F. Cott demonstrates that marriage is and always has been a public institution. From the founding of the United States to the present day, imperatives about the necessity of marriage and its proper form have been deeply embedded in national policy, law and political rhetoric. Legislators and judges have envisioned and enforced their preferred model of consensual, lifelong monogamy - a model derived from Christian tenets and the English common law that posits the husband as provider and the wife as dependent. In early confrontations with Native Americans, emancipated slaves, Mormon polygamists and immigrant spouses, through the invention of the New Deal, federal income tax, and welfare programmes, the federal government consistently influenced the shape of marriages. And even the immense social and legal changes of the last third of the 20th century have not unravelled official reliance on marriage as a "pillar of state". By excluding some kinds of marriages and encouraging others, marital policies have helped to sculpt the nation's citizenry, as well as its moral and social standards, and have directly affected national understandings of gender roles and racial difference. "Public Vows" is a panoramic view of marriage's political history, revealing the national government's profound role in our most private of choices. No one who reads this book will think of marriage in the same way again.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• 1. The Tried and the True: Native AMerican Women Confronting Colonization--
• 2. The Colonial Mosaic: 1600-1760--
• 3. The Limits of Independence: 1760-1800--
• 4. Breaking New Ground: 1800-1848--
• 5. An Unfinished Battle: 1848-1865--
• 6. Laborers for Liberty:1865-1890--
• 7. New Paths to Power:1890-1920--
• 8. From Ballots to Breadlines:1920-1940--
• 9. Pushing the Limits:1940-1961--
• 10. The Road to Equality: American Women since 1962.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

This history of women in the United States will be the only comprehensive illustrated book on this topic of increasing interest. It will encompass women's experience in America from pre-contact Native Americans to the end of the 20th century. Written by some of the leading scholars in the field, the text is nevertheless narrative, anecdotal, and accessible. Illustrations are drawn from primary sources.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

EWe commonly think of marriage as a private matter between two people, a personal expression of love and commitment. In this pioneering history, Nancy F. Cott demonstrates that marriage is and always has been a public institution. From the founding of the United States to the present day, imperatives about the necessity of marriage and its proper form have been deeply embedded in national policy, law and political rhetoric. Legislators and judges have envisioned and enforced their preferred model of consensual, lifelong monogamy - a model derived from Christian tenets and the English common law that posits the husband as provider and the wife as dependent. In early confrontations with Native Americans, emancipated slaves, Mormon polygamists and immigrant spouses, through the invention of the New Deal, federal income tax, and welfare programmes, the federal government consistently influenced the shape of marriages. And even the immense social and legal changes of the last third of the 20th century have not unravelled official reliance on marriage as a "pillar of state". By excluding some kinds of marriages and encouraging others, marital policies have helped to sculpt the nation's citizenry, as well as its moral and social standards, and have directly affected national understandings of gender roles and racial difference. "Public Vows" is a panoramic view of marriage's political history, revealing the national government's profound role in our most private of choices. No one who reads this book will think of marriage in the same way again.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

EWe commonly think of marriage as a private matter between two people, a personal expression of love and commitment. In this pioneering history, Nancy F. Cott demonstrates that marriage is and always has been a public institution. From the founding of the United States to the present day, imperatives about the necessity of marriage and its proper form have been deeply embedded in national policy, law and political rhetoric. Legislators and judges have envisioned and enforced their preferred model of consensual, lifelong monogamy - a model derived from Christian tenets and the English common law that posits the husband as provider and the wife as dependent. In early confrontations with Native Americans, emancipated slaves, Mormon polygamists and immigrant spouses, through the invention of the New Deal, federal income tax, and welfare programmes, the federal government consistently influenced the shape of marriages. And even the immense social and legal changes of the last third of the 20th century have not unravelled official reliance on marriage as a "pillar of state". By excluding some kinds of marriages and encouraging others, marital policies have helped to sculpt the nation's citizenry, as well as its moral and social standards, and have directly affected national understandings of gender roles and racial difference. "Public Vows" is a panoramic view of marriage's political history, revealing the national government's profound role in our most private of choices. No one who reads this book will think of marriage in the same way again.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

This twentieth anniversary edition of Nancy F. Cott's acclaimed study includes a new preface in which Cott assesses her own and other historian's development of the concept of domesticity from the 1970s to the 1990s. "Nancy Cott's Bonds of Womanhood is not just a pioneer work in women's history. It is a classic. Despite all the work published since, it is still an essential starting place for understanding New England in the early republic."-Laurel Thatcher Ulrich "Cott, still the best historian of women's bonds and bondage, foresaw twenty years ago the tendency of domesticity's bonds to lead both to feminism and the far right. An essential book for understanding today's women."-Carolyn Heilbrun Reviews of the earlier edition: "A lovely, gentle, scholarly, and valuable book."-Doris Grumbach, New York Times Book Review "Women's history at its best."-Phyllis Kriegel, New Directions for Women.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction
• Work
• Domesticity
• Education
• Religion
• Sisterhood
• Conclusion: On "woman's sphere" and feminism
• List of women's documents consulted
• List of ministers' sermons consulted.

This twentieth anniversary edition of Nancy F. Cott's acclaimed study includes a new preface in which Cott assesses her own and other historian's development of the concept of domesticity from the 1970s to the 1990s. "Nancy Cott's Bonds of Womanhood is not just a pioneer work in women's history. It is a classic. Despite all the work published since, it is still an essential starting place for understanding New England in the early republic."-Laurel Thatcher Ulrich "Cott, still the best historian of women's bonds and bondage, foresaw twenty years ago the tendency of domesticity's bonds to lead both to feminism and the far right. An essential book for understanding today's women."-Carolyn Heilbrun Reviews of the earlier edition: "A lovely, gentle, scholarly, and valuable book."-Doris Grumbach, New York Times Book Review "Women's history at its best."-Phyllis Kriegel, New Directions for Women.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• ""Contents""; ""Series Preface""; ""Introduction""; ""Hull-House as Womenâ€?s Space""; ""Hull House in the 1890s: A Community of Women Reformers""; ""Poverty, Respectability, and Ability to Work""; ""The Bonds of Belonging: Leonora Oâ€?Reilly and Social Reform""; ""Feminism or Unionism? The New York Womenâ€?s Trade Union League and the Labor Movement""; ""Motherâ€?s Day: The Creation, Promotion and Meaning of a New Holiday in the Progressive Era""; ""Early Community Work of Black Club Women""

• ""School Reform in the New South: The Womanâ€?s Association for the Betterment of Public School Houses in North Carolina, 1902-1919""""Organized Women as Lobbyists in the 1920â€?s""; ""Social Feminism in the 1920s: Progressive Women and Industrial Legislation""; ""After Suffrage: Southern Women in the Twenties""; ""The National Womenâ€?s Relief Society and the U.S. Sheppard-Towner Act""; ""The Southern Summer School for Women Workers""; ""The Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching, 1930-1942""

• ""The Ladies and the Lynchers: A Look at the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching""""Women against Prohibition""; ""Ladiesâ€? Day at the Capitol: Women Strike for Peace Versus HUAC""; ""The Gender Basis of American Social Policy""; ""Copyright Information""; ""Index""

• v. 1. The tried and the true / John Demos
• v. 2. The colonial mosaic / Jane Kamensky
• v. 3. The limits of independence / Marylynn Salmon
• v. 4. Breaking new ground / Michael Goldberg
• v. 5. An unfinished battle / Harriet Sigerman
• v. 6. Laborers for liberty / Harriet Sigerman
• v. 7. New paths to power / Karen Manners Smith
• v. 8. From ballots to breadlines / Sarah Deutsch
• v. 9. Pushing the limits / Elaine Tyler May
• v. 10. The road to equality / William Chafe
• v. 11. Biographical supplement and index / Harriet Sigerman.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

The first 10 volumes of The Young Oxford History of Women in the United States trace the path women traveled in the past four centuries and tell the stories of individuals--famous and unknown--who pushed forward the cause of women's rights. This Biographical Supplement and Index rounds out the series with the personal histories of many of these women. Some are well known, at least by name and deed, but there are many things that will surprise, fascinate, and inspire the reader. Maya Angelou is acclaimed for her poetry and other writings, but it is a delightful surprise to learn that she was the first woman streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Molly Pitcher is a familiar American Revolution heroine, but it is interesting to read that she was really Mary McCauley, a rural charwoman awarded an annual pension by the Pennsylvania legislature for her service during the war. Each biography is a "snapshot" of the woman--what she accomplished, how she lived, and what she believed. Bella Abzug, feminist activist since the early 1970s, is followed by Abigail Adams and a discussion of the role of women in the founding of our country, followed by Jane Addams, social reformer and founder of Hull House. These women lived in different times and used different methods to wield influence, but in the Biographical Supplement and Index, the contributions of talented and admirable women throughout all of our history become strikingly clear.The Young Oxford History of Women in the United States is an extraordinary achievement in scope, scholarship, and accessibility. With the publication of the final volume and the completion of the series, an invaluable resource is available for young adults and all who treasure our distinct and remarkable past.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)
Written by distinguished American historians, each of these 11 diverse volumes describes women of varying ethnic backgrounds and economic circumstances. The authors make extensive use of primary sources, the books are profusely illustrated, and each includes a complete chronology, suggestions for further reading, and index.-- Real-life stories, diary entries, and short character sketches bring complex issues to life-- Supplements and enriches standard history by offering feminine and feminist viewpoints and insights-- Bears the authority of leading scholars of women's history-- Intriguing, rare illustrations from news media and family scrapbooks-- Biographical supplement covers a wide range of women who were major influences on the history of the United States.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Part of a fully indexed 20-volume collection which gathers together significant research contributions on the social, religious and political history of women in the United States, from colonial times to the 1990s.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)