"Divided into two sections, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the time before the idea of woman's sphere fully developed, and the nineteenth century when the predominant belief in American society was that there were two separate spheres for women and men, this book details the factors that allowed women on Nantucket to lead a life of independence and freedom, and compares their world to that of other maritime communities, as well as Quaker communities" -- cover, page [4]