A richly woven biography of the beloved patriot Betsy Ross, and an enthralling portrait of everyday life in Revolutionary War-era Philadelph... read full description
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Mar 20, 2011
Jonathan
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Every American schoolchild knows the legend of Betsy Ross, the humble Philadelphia seamstress who received a surprise visit from George Washington in the summer of 1776 when the great general and his young nation needed a new flag.
But in "Betsy Ross and the Making of America," the first full-length biography of this beloved figure from the Revolutionary era, University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor Marla R. Miller shows that Ross' role in creating the original Stars a More...
But in "Betsy Ross and the Making of America," the first full-length biography of this beloved figure from the Revolutionary era, University of Massachusetts, Amherst professor Marla R. Miller shows that Ross' role in creating the original Stars a More...
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Feb 22, 2011
Carl
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A bit of a disappointment. There isn't much direct primary source information known about Betsy Ross. So this "biography" bounces between family history, tediously written traditional history of Philadelphia during the Revolution, family stories (sometimes critical of them, other times swallowing them whole sale for no clear reason either way), and this kind of chatty, slangy, informal soap opera version of Ross' life that is popular today. "No," I want to tell Marla Mill
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Mar 21, 2011
Jessie
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I had a love-hate relationship with this book. Actually, love is too strong a word. And hate is too strong as well. The things I liked about it were the same things that annoyed me about it, but I suppose it depended on my mood.
One thing I liked was that it gave tremendous detail to the intricate lives of Betsy and her family and friends. The author successfully created the environment for us and made it possible to visualize a time that we didn't experience first hand. At times I became an More...
One thing I liked was that it gave tremendous detail to the intricate lives of Betsy and her family and friends. The author successfully created the environment for us and made it possible to visualize a time that we didn't experience first hand. At times I became an More...
Jul 20, 2010
Marie
rated it:
This is one tough book to crack. Instead of being focused on Betsy Ross, it is a portrait of Philadelphia and how the colonies reacted to British authority before and during the American Revolution of 1770's. For the first twenty years of Betsy's life, the book comprises of about 100 pages of the aforementioned history of America with accounts of the extended ancestry of Betsy Ross. It is very wordy, but once a chapter winds down, we get a small morsel of what could have been with an entertainin
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Jun 17, 2010
Oldroses
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Normally when I review a book, I first read the book and write my review, then I read reviews written by other people. In the case of Betsy Ross and the Making of America, my introduction to the book was via a review in the New York Times Book Review dated May 9, 2010. It was not a flattering review. The reviewer, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a professor at Harvard, accuses the author, Marla R. Miller, a professor of American History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, of "sentimenta
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Jul 22, 2010
Scot
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I've reviewed this elsewhere, so I won't write too much here. This is a social/labor history approach to understanding Betsy Ross--the real woman as opposed to the legend that would take hold around her as a powerful symbol in American civil religion from the age of American imperialism through the 20th century, and to a gradually lessening extent, an influential legend still today. It is thorough and thoughtful, and as the author is a leading expert on Revolutionary era female craft workers,
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Jul 29, 2011
I started this book feeling like I had read a dozen books on Betsy Ross before, but in reality, this is the first scholarly biography of the woman, and the reason appears to be that there is very little in the written record to go on. So the author compensates for what must remain speculative about her life and her influence by examining what in fact we do know ( which is not nothing) and then what we know about tradeswomen at the time she lived and what Philadelphia was like when she lived the
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Oct 12, 2010
Nathan
rated it:
Somewhere in here is an interesting book, but it sure ain't about Betsy Ross, a woman about whom, it seems, nothing definite can really be said. So much of the book, therefore, ends up being a (sometimes interesting, sometimes tedious) treatment of the context or peripheries of her life and then wondering (with no answer) what she might have made of it all. So lots of annoying rhetorical questions, and guesswork, but very little fact to back anything up. Still, it's an interesting look at cra
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Mar 07, 2011
Melanie
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This was one of the most challenging books to read I've ever attempted. I got it on a whim from the new books section of my local library and did not realize what a beast I had checked out. It took me a renew and 2 weeks of overdue fines to finish it and I almost gave up, twice.
I'm sort of glad and proud I stuck it out. The book is dense and insanely detailed -- it reads much more like a textbook than a narrative. This is compounded by the fact that women's history is so diaphanous More...
I'm sort of glad and proud I stuck it out. The book is dense and insanely detailed -- it reads much more like a textbook than a narrative. This is compounded by the fact that women's history is so diaphanous More...
Aug 23, 2010
Phoebe
rated it:
In the end I skimmed parts of this lengthy book. In her foreword the author shares the fact that there are no full-length biographies of Betsy Ross for adults, but many for children. Her family capitalized on the legend of Ross and her somewhat foggy connections to the first flag. What is true is that Ross' upholstery shop was a major business in Revolutionary Philadelphia, but there is only a tiny shred of archival evidence connecting her to George Washington. The real Betsy Ross was an inter
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Sep 07, 2011
Rhonda
rated it:
This book was more informative than any history class coverage given to Betsy Ross (at least the classes I've taken). I doubt there exists enough remaining historical documentation to piece together a more accurate view of her life. Miller does a good job describing the ebbs and flows of colonial life, including the economic status of Ross and her family. If you like history, then this book will satisfy your curiosity. If you're looking for superb, dramatic storytelling--this isn't the book for
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Dec 14, 2011
Benita
rated it:
Oh,gads, I read a whole lot more than I record on Goodreads. Must take my game to another level...
So, what did I like about this book? Well, it gave a context for Betsy Ross's life for me. She was quite the survivor, and businesswoman--not just someone who may or may not have sewn the first U.S. flag. I had thought (if I'd thought at all about it) she was some genteel wife of an officer in the army, not a woman running a successful business. I like reading history about daily life, and More...
So, what did I like about this book? Well, it gave a context for Betsy Ross's life for me. She was quite the survivor, and businesswoman--not just someone who may or may not have sewn the first U.S. flag. I had thought (if I'd thought at all about it) she was some genteel wife of an officer in the army, not a woman running a successful business. I like reading history about daily life, and More...
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Sep 22, 2010
The Library Lady
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I can't give this a bad rating, because it is impeccably researched and has lots of interesting information.
The problem is that Betsy Ross's life is for the most part vaguely documented and there isn't that much to tell for a lot of it. So most of the book is about Betsy Ross's world, and there is endless stuff about the history of the upholstery trade, the Society of Friends, political history. Between that and the fact that there are dozens of people named either Elizabeth or Rebec More...
The problem is that Betsy Ross's life is for the most part vaguely documented and there isn't that much to tell for a lot of it. So most of the book is about Betsy Ross's world, and there is endless stuff about the history of the upholstery trade, the Society of Friends, political history. Between that and the fact that there are dozens of people named either Elizabeth or Rebec More...
Aug 15, 2010
Pamela
rated it:
This was a fabulous book from a historical basis but so detailed and chockful of facts, family relations, etc., that it was difficult reading--thus the four, not five, star rating. The book clearly places Betsy Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypoole in the middle of the turmoil of a new nation and details how her early flag making became a family business that supported a large extended family well into the next generation as her daughter Clarissa carried on the business. The book covers, too, the r
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Jul 07, 2010
Northshire Bookstore
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A trifecta of excellence. 1.)Brilliant story of a long and eventful life that historians thought could not be recovered. 2.) Vibrant portrait of a city in transition from the colonial period through the tumult of war and into the early republican era. 3.) Classic study of an extended family that made and remembered history. -- Bill L.
Dec 01, 2010
Jacki
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This biography is incredibly detailed. I read until the author examined the plausibility of Washington and Ross's oft repeated encounter. I found the history and relationship with the Quakers fascinating. Most of the book is centered on the political conflicts leading up to the Revolution, background to the occupation of Upholsterer and a general history of Philadelphia. This was not surprising, seeing as how the author has very little details of Betsy Ross's life to go on. I got bogged down in
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Jan 21, 2011
Hershel
rated it:
this book was ok. It was just not about a topic that I found interesting. I enjoyed the part about the truth behind Betsy Ross and the sewing of the American flag, but it drug on a bit too long, and I finally lost interest.
May 04, 2010
Lynne
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This is a good discussion of what is factual and what is fictional in the Betsy Ross legend. I didn't care so much for those details, but enjoyed the detailed portrayal of a craftwoman's life in the Revolutionary era.
Sep 15, 2010
Sherry
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At first this book was a bit tedious because of all the names and details involved. As it progressed I admit I skimmed it sometimes, but it is an inspiring story of Betsy Ross, not just a flag maker but a wonderful example of a thinking, productive, ambitious woman, wife and mother. She was a plucky survivor who contributed much in a day by day effort to keep her country and family forging ahead. There is interesting detail of Philadelphia as an emerging city and the craftsmen who began it, t
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Feb 02, 2011
Claudia
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In some parts I skimmed but I did enjoy the scope of the material. Most of the reviews summarize it very well. It was more than ok - but I wouldn't read it again as a novel, more as an excellent source for understanding Philly at the time of the Revolution.
Jun 03, 2010
good description of women's craft life in early america. well documented.
Jul 22, 2010
Mlg
rated it:
Beautifully researched book that attempts to separate the real woman from what may have been a myth. The author provides lots of context for Betsy's life. We follow her through three marriages, seven children, the Revolution, yellow fever epidemics, shunning by the Quakers and the rise and fall of her fortune. Betsy Ross was my great, great, great, great, great aunt and I completely enjoyed getting to know her and other relatives through this book!
Oct 20, 2011
Wendy
rated it:
This book was less of a biography of Betsy Ross and more of a descriptive history of Philadelphia and the surrounding area during a vital time in our nation's history. That being said, I enjoyed it, and I learned a lot about the culture, but it did not leave me with the feeling of really knowing who Betsy Ross was. It is an in-depth historical overview, and it is not easy reading.
Sep 30, 2010
Chrissie
rated it:
I read a glowing review of this somewhere (Jezebel, perhaps), selling it as the TRUE story of Betsy Ross. I just couldn't get into it. The author gets sidetracked on all kinds of tangents about Philadelphia and how people were related. I wanted to like it, but the writing was just too scattered.
Aug 10, 2011
George
rated it:
A stunning book. Miller's research is meticulous and her writing vivid. She not only brings to life a woman most of us know only as a legend, but she also paints an unforgettable portrait of Philadelphia in the years surrounding the Revolution.
Feb 09, 2012
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