Ulrich's A Midwife's Tale.

For this discussion, I'd like you to reflect on the first few chapters you've read in Ulrich's A Midwife's Tale.
Often, as historians, we read a book through our own prejudices. What that means is that while a historical
account might have a specific focus -- here, the life of a rural Maine midwife just as the United States was
being born -- we will be more or less interested in certain parts of the book.
In A Midwife's Tale, for instance, someone interested in medicine or health will be particularly interested in the
accounts which detail how Martha Ballard delivered her services, the diseases and ailments she encountered,
the babies she birthed, etc. For someone interested in women's history during this period, they may be
interested in those parts of Ballard's account which stress her relationships with the men and women in the
village, her social positions as a result of her profession, her beliefs about marriage and childbirth, and so on.
Often, these interests will intersect, but we all find some things more interesting than others.
For this discussion, I want you to isolate one part about the book that has so far interested you, and, in a brief
200-300 word discussion post, create a short proposal about how you would explore that part further in a
broader paper. That paper doesn't have to focus on Martha Ballard, but can focus on some broader aspect of
medical history, women's history, Maine history, environmental history, Revolutionary era history, ethnic history,
Native American history, military history or any subset discipline of history that comes to your mind when
reading that passage.