23 English eng Waterman, Bryan Contributor <p>This article presents and analyzes the correspondence <span data-start="163" data-end="184" style="">Elizabeth Whitman</span> wrote to <span data-start="194" data-end="218" style="">Joel and Ruth Barlow</span> between <span data-start="227" data-end="244" style="">1779 and 1783</span>. The letters provide valuable insights into the intellectual, emotional, and social life of an educated woman during the <span data-start="366" data-end="396" style="">American Revolutionary era</span>. They discuss friendship, family, literature, religion, education, and the political climate of the newly emerging United States. The correspondence also illustrates the importance of letter writing as a means of maintaining personal relationships and participating in the cultural and intellectual networks of early America. As historical documents, the letters deepen our understanding of women's experiences and the social world of the late eighteenth century.<br></p> University of North Carolina Press 2011 pdf ISSN 0012-8163 American Literature The Letters of Elizabeth Whitman to Joel and Ruth Barlow, 1779-1783 mixed material University of North Carolina Press