A Midwife’s Tale
The American Revolution affected the lives of many people, including those living ordinary lives on the Maine frontier. Martha Ballard was a midwife during the years following the American Revolution. Through studying Martha Ballard’s recorded thoughts on life and her surroundings, she provides a description of the daily life of those living on the Maine frontier during this time. Citizens during this time period were greatly influenced by their jobs, concerns, religion, gender differences, customs, and changes after the American Revolution.
Living in Maine after the American Revolution brought frontier land disputes, troubles in connecting with the outside world, and declines in deference. According to Martha Ballard’s …show more content…
Trade was made possible through the Kennebec River, which connected Maine and the Atlantic Ocean. Food was received through trading and the people of Maine would give goods in return. However, it is recorded that there was often trouble when trading, due to inclement weather. Maine often faced icing, earthquakes, and droughts. These natural encounters proved to be troublesome when using the Kennebec river for traveling. Such setbacks resulted in hardships when connecting with others in the world. Martha regularly writes about these difficult encounters. One example is when she shared the terror of traveling through very dangerous parts of the river in an attempt to help someone who had a stroke. Aside from connections with the outside world, there were many other conflicts arising after the American Revolution. After the American Revolution, there was a new political order on the Maine frontier that resulted in a social order. The people of the Maine frontier became immensely disrespectful to authority, often …show more content…
Many concerns were common due to the many hardships of that era. Martha explains the hardships in her diary and gives personal background to provide a better explanation of the difficulties pressed against those during this time. Illness was a common struggle during this time as many deadly diseases were fatal and cures were difficult to come by. Tuberculosis is known to have taken many lives. Those who suffered from tuberculosis were often subject to death. Scarlet fever is also recorded by Martha to have had fatal outcomes among those living in Maine. Martha writes about a patient she treated who suffered from scarlet fever and documents the slow death of the patient. The patient is seen to develop a severe rash and suffer a very difficult death. Many were struck by scarlet fever and the disease is recorded to have taken the majority of lives during this time. Another daily concern the people of Maine faced was the struggle with crime. In the documentary, there were two specific crimes that had their consequences. Martha shares about a man who was caught stealing and that he was whipped as punishment. She also shares about an individual who committed the crime of rape and was placed in jail as a result. Childbirth was an obvious concern during this time and being a midwife, Martha provides a lot of feedback on how childbirth affected lives. Childbirth can be inferred