dress demurely in our own handmade crystal & gemstone jewelry click on the photo to enlarge Goodbye Lie N303 |
Women and the American Revolution Home: greenlightwrite.com featuring |
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dress demurely in our own handmade crystal & gemstone jewelry click on the photo to enlarge Goodbye Lie N303 |
Women and the American Revolution Home: greenlightwrite.com featuring |
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Women You Should Know Books about and for Women Our own Caryn won the essay contest sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution for the state of Oklahoma. We're very proud of her.
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Everyone knows about the men, both common citizens and famous heroes like George Washington, Nathan Hale, and Paul Revere, and their important contributions to the American Revolution. Thousands of women, generically called “Daughters of Liberty” for their support of the anti-British boycott of tea and later for their pro American beliefs, also played a vital part in the war, assuming many different roles. Although most American women did not fight in combat, they supported the war on the home front by fund raising, collecting scrap metal for weapons, and by spinning and weaving their own cloth instead of buying imports, going so far as to participate in public spinning sessions to demonstrate their commitment to freedom. Wives took on the responsibilities their husbands left behind when the men went to war. Women ran family businesses and farms, something they had not been encouraged to do in peace time. They defended their homes and families as best they could. One woman, Rebbeca Motte, was forced from her home by British soldiers, leaving her six children stranded. That night she shot flaming arrows into her own house, forcing the soldiers to surrender it. Catherine Schuyler burned her own crops because she did not want to give them to hungry British soldiers. A British general ordered her house set on fire when he found her fields empty. Patriotic women left at home did whatever they could to support the war and what they needed to do to keep themselves and their families alive. Women, generally poor, who traveled with the army but did not fight were known as “camp followers.” They did chores for the men, such as cooking and laundry, helping the wounded and mending clothes, sometimes earning half rations from the Continental Army. Others, like Mary Ludwig Hays, who became known as Molly Pitcher, risked their lives by taking water to soldiers during battle. Mrs. Hays not only brought water to her husband, but also fired his cannon until she was utterly exhausted. Even though they were never really soldiers, camp followers put their lives on the line every time the soldiers went to battle just by being near their men. General “Washington believed the women were useful to the Patriot cause in one vital way: He thought their presence at camp helped prevent desertions ... If the women were forbidden from accompanying their husband or lovers, the army might ‘lose by Desertion, perhaps to the Enemy, some of the oldest and best Soldiers in the Service.’” In an age when females were considered to be some degree of property and lacked many rights common to men, it was relatively easy for women to pass unnoticed and act as messengers and spies. Some even disguised themselves as men and enlisted in the Continental Army. Probably the most well known woman soldier was Deborah Samson or Sampson. This school teacher first tried to enter the army in 1787, but never showed up for training. Her second attempt was more successful. She enlisted as Robert Shurtleff or Shirtliff. In one battle, she was wounded in the thigh and the head. She allowed her head wound to be treated, but never mentioned the wound on her thigh, so the doctor would not discover she was a woman. Her leg never healed properly. Despite this, Miss Samson went back to the battlefield, only to return to the field hospital with a fever. This time the doctor discovered her secret. He had her taken to his own house, and oversaw her medical care. After she was restored to health, a general quietly gave her honorable discharge, all the while keeping her secret. The soldiers talked about her as a brave warrior, still not knowing she was a woman. After she left the army, Miss Samson married, was granted a veteran’s pension of four dollars a month, and later became a famous lecturer. She said, “I burst the tyrant bonds which held my sex in awe, and clandestinely, or by stealth, grasped an opportunity, which custom and world seemed to deny, as a natural privilege.” Martha Washington was a typical patriotic American woman. She supported her husband, General, then President George Washington in every way she could. She “moved along the path toward revolution with him” (Brady 234). Women from all stations in life were crucial in the fight for freedom. They did not just sit back while the men did all the fighting. They pitched in, every way they possibly could. If for the most part they demonstrated their patriotism within the confines of the society in which they lived, their contributions nonetheless made a real difference of which their daughters and granddaughters could be proud. One unknown British officer said, “If [we] had destroyed all the men in North America ... we should have enough to do to conquer the women.”
Works Cited - some specific references were deleted from the text for readability Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary Mothers. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Bober, Natalie S. Abigail Adams. New York: Atheneum Books, 1995. Brady, Patricia. Martha Washington. New York: Viking Penguin, 2005. Slavicek, Louise Chipley. Women of the American Revolution. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2003. Zeinert, Karen. Those Remarkable Women of the American Revolution. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1996.
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