SuitabookThe American twins of the Revolution
Lucy Fitch Perkins
- Reading
- Reading aloud may help with the reported dialect and syntax, but pause to explain unfamiliar wording without imitating it as a performance. Discuss enslavement directly before or during the relevant scenes rather than leaving the framing unchallenged.
- Themes
- Enslavement and household belonging: Aunt Hitty and Uncle Jude are described as enslaved people who are treated as members of the household and care for the twins. The book presents competing or mixed signals about this.
- Women’s agency and gendered responsibility: Mrs Priestly is described as taking charge during the crisis, while one account says Roger receives more mature or responsible tasks than his twin Sally. The narrative appears to value Mrs Priestly’s decisiveness, but the twins’ assignments may still reproduce gendered expectations about who acts and who stays safe.
- Patriotic historical storytelling: The family hides and transports money intended to pay American troops while British forces approach; the framing includes gratitude for ancestors’ sacrifices. The available framing celebrates the family’s endurance and the cause for which they act, making patriotism and sacrifice prominent values.
- Worth knowing
- Notice whether Sally and Roger are given genuinely equal responsibilities. One account reports that Roger is treated as older and more responsible, while Sally is assigned a protective role; compare this with Mrs Priestly’s independence.