Tory’s Wife

Cynthia A. Kierner is Professor of History at George Mason University and the author of Scandal at Bizarre: Rumor and Reputation in Jefferson’s America.

• PrefaceIntroduction: Woman on the Verge1. Settling the Backcountry2. An Enemy to His Country3. William's War4. Jane's World5. The Tory's Wife6. The Common Rights of Other CitizensPostscript: Remembering the Revolution

“Cynthia Kierner gives us the mesmerizing story of Jane Spurgin, an abandoned wife in the Carolina backcountry who could have appealed for sympathy but instead defied centuries of patriarchal precedent by demanding the 'common rights of other citizens.' More broadly, The Tory’s Wife persuades even a skeptic like me that the American Revolution’s influence on nominally-free women was positive and powerful.” - Woody Holton, University of South Carolina, author of Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution“Can focusing on an obscure North Carolina woman provide novel insights into the American Revolution? In a study of Jane Welborn Spurgin and her family, Cynthia Kierner answers that question with an emphatic yes! Thoroughly researched and well written, this engaging narrative brings to life the Spurgins' experiences amid the chaos of backcountry warfare--and reveals the untiring efforts of the indomitable Jane to claim her rights as a citizen of the new republic.” - Mary Beth Norton, Cornell University, author of Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women