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Women In The Revolutionary War Essay Research

Women In The Revolutionary War Essay, Research Paper


WOMEN IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR


The fate of the European women who came to the New World in the early days of


colonial settlement was a life of endless hard work. Many of them who came were


already accustomed to physical labor. For those who were not, they quickly adapted.


They had survived the first 150 years of colonial life in America by providing


labor which transformed the forest into farmland. The labor of every able-bodied settler


was desperately needed, and women s traditional work of providing food, clothing, and


cleanliness was necessary for survival. Over the years the women had overcome the test


of time, climate, trials and tribulations, and had helped build a country by hand. In the


year 1776, after many conflicts with the British and the taxation laws, America was


ready to break free and women were ready to help.


Many reputable women aided the cause. They protested importation taxes by


boycotting English products, including tea, a popular item in America. Wherever


women lived they contributed to the war effort. Women spun and wove their own


clothes, in addition to making coats and shirts for the American army. They gave up


their jewelry and cooking utensils so that bullets could be made from them. Almost all


women supplied food and medical aid; and they took over farm work and managed their


husbands businesses while they were away fighting. The Revolutionary war began and


the women, like the men, were ready to do what they could to help.


From the times before, and even after the Revolutionary war, the general thought


of the country was that the womans place was in the home. Yet judging from the stories


and writings of those who lived during the fight for freedom, women could have bettered


the nation if they had shared political power with men. Instead, they were relegated to the


role of housewife, laboring over the cooking and breast-feeding a seemingly endless


procession of babies (Evens, 1). The wife of Christopher Marshall, a member of an


oversight committee for congress, was a typical example. In 1778, her husband wrote


in his journal:


From early in the morning till late at night, she is constantly


employed in the affairs of the family, which for some months has been


very large, for besides the addition to our family in the house, a constant


resort of comers and goers, which seldom go away with dry lips and


hungry bellies. This calls for her constant attendance, not only, to provide,


but also attend at getting prepared in the kitchen, baking our bread and


pies, meat, etc., but also on the table. Her cleanliness about the house, her


attendance in the orchard, cutting and drying apples, of which several


bushels have been procured, add to which her making of cider without


tools, for the constant drink of the family, her seeing all our washing done,


and her fine clothes and my shirts, which are all smoothed by her. Add to


this her making of twenty large cheeses, and that from one cow, and daily


using milk and cream, besides her sewing, knitting, etc. Thus she looketh


well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness


(Evens, 2).


Although there were many women whose entire role in the war was to merely


look after the farm, others took to doing more to aid the Continental Army. This was the


first opportunity for the women to unite for a great common cause beyond the boundaries


of their town or farm.


Women organized themselves into various groups to help aid the army. Every


day women went to the hospitals to care for the sick and wounded; they went to


battlefields to look for the wounded and dead; they buried friends and even enemies.


American prisoners waited for the women to bring the food. They raised grain, harvested


it, and made bread to carry to their relatives in the army or the prisons (Engle, 15).


American Colonial women were ready, in body and mind, for the independence of the


colonies ( 15).


In the early stages of the war, some women were quick to organize themselves


into the Daughters of Liberty. An organization that had originated ten years before to


help enforce nonimportation with the Townsend Duties (Lunardini, p.11). They set up


day-long sewing meetings in order to supply the markets with goods that had been closed


off to importation; they boycotted anything British with unrelenting vigor; and they


cheered on the crowds that tore down royal insignia. Some of the younger women in the


north would not date any man who had not been in service (Engle, 13).


Throughout the war, women collected money for soldiers equipment or relief.


Organized in various communities, women calling themselves the Ladies Association,


helped to finance George Washington s army by going door-to-door and collecting funds.


In Philadelphia, Esther Reed and Sarah Bache (the daughter of Benjamin Franklin) raised


three hundred thousand dollars, which at Washington s suggestion, they used to buy cloth


to make uniforms for the ill-equipped army (Lunardini, 11).


With many of the supplies from England now unavailable, cloth being the most


desired, the colonists had to find any way possible to maintain and keep up the goods


they already possessed. Spinning societies were very common for this purpose. They


allowed the colonial communities and the soldiers to restore their older clothes for


prolonged use (Lunardini, p.11).


Like the cloth, British soap was also rare. Taking matters into her own hands, a


woman from Providence, Rhode Island, had her recipe for soap printed in a number of


newspapers so that people would be able to make it for the troops ( Evens, p.13).


During the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1778 a free,


black women, having received two hard dollars for washing, and hearing


of the distress of our prisoners in the gaol, went to market and bought


some neckbeef and two heads, with some green, and made a pot of as


good broth as she could; but having no more money to buy bread, she got


credit of a baker loaves, all of which were much in want of such supply.


She has since then paid the baker, and says, she never laid out money with


as much satisfaction.-Humanity is the same thing in rich or poor, white or


black (Evans, p.14).


To avoid the many illnesses, and to assure they never became victim to


womanizing troops, many women chose to travel with the army. With not much to look


foprward to except maintaining the farm, many women voulenteered to go with their


husbands even if they would have to fight when faced with confrontation. They earned


money by cooking and doing laundry, and were to later be called camp followers by


other colonists (Lunardini, 12).


While many women cooked and sewed to serve by their husbands side, some


women even went a step further when contributing to the cause. A number of women


picked up weapons in the heat of the battle and fought along side of the men. Women,


could only do this in two ways, by inlisting illegally as a man, or by replacing their


husbands on the battle field. Many women fought, but there were three who stood above


the rest, in courage, strength, and recognition. Deborah Sampson Gannett, who served


under the name as Robert Shurtleff, Margaret Cochran Corbin, and Mary Hays, who was


also known as Molly Pitcher.


At age forty-one, Deborah Sampson Gannett astounded audiences throughout


New England with tales of her adventures during the American Revolution twenty years


before-when she was a soldier in the Continental Army. At a time when other young


women stayed home to run households and tend farms, Deborah Sampson had put on a


uniform, picked up a gun, and gone forth to fight for independence ( Ashby, Ohrn, p.


73). Deborah was taller and stronger than the usual woman, therefore it was easy for her


to present herself as a young man. By using the name Robert Shurtleff, she enlisted in


the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment of the Continental Army at Bellingham,


Massachusetts on May 20, 1782 (Ashby, Ohrn, p. 74).


Fighting in skirmishes with British forces throughout New England, Sampson


witnessed and endured all the horrors of war. Still, she kept fighting. For three years she


served in various duties and was wounded twice-the first time by a sword cut on the side


of the head and four ;months later she was shot through the shoulder. Her sexual identity


went undetected until she came down with a brain fever, then prevalent among the


soldiers. The attending physician, Dr. Binney, of Philadelphia, discovered her charade,


but said nothing. Instead he had her taken to his own home where she would receive


better care. When her health was restored the doctor met with Robert s commanding


officer and subsequently an order was issued for Robert Shirtliffe to carry a letter to


General Washington. (This may also be legend as there is no record of her ever being


in Philadelphia) (http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvets.html, p. 1)


When having to face General Washington alone, she knew this would be the end.


She delivered the letter she was sent to give and in return recieved a discharge from the


army, a note from the General, and enough money to pay her way home. In doing all


this, Washington spared her embarrassment by saying nothing which she was very


thankfull for. (p.1).


The state of Massachusetts and the federal government aknowledged Deborah s


services to her country. Both awarded her pensions (Ashby, Ohrn, p. 74).


The second example of the many amazing women who fought to win


independence was Margret Corbin. The revolution broke out four years after Margaret


and John Corbin were married, and John immediately enlisted. He became a private in


Captain Thomas Proctor s First Company of the Pennsylvania Artillery, and Margaret


went with him (Engle, p. 26).


On November 16, the Hessian troops then attacked Fort Washington where


Margaret and her husband were stati

oned. The Continentals fought to hold the fort


against the large force of attackers, pitting 2,800 men against the almost 9,000 in the


attacking force. Margaret s husband was killed at his cannon. There was no one else to


fire it, so Margaret ran to the cannon and began loading and firing it herself. She


continued firing until she herself was seriously wounded by British grapeshot. The


British captured Fort Washington, and the survivors became their prisoners


(Engle, p. 27).


How she found her way out of British hands nobody knows, but eventually


Margaret made her way back to the American army. She had a very hard time of it, for


her husband was dead and her wound disabled her. This disability stayed with her the


rest of her life.


Margaret s own state of Pennsylvania recognized her heroism and also her


poverty, and in 1779 the state voted to pay her thirty dollars relief and recommended that


the Board of War paid her as well. She was the only woman in the regiment and also the


first woman to recieve pension in the United States (p. 27).


The third, and probably most famous of the women who fought, was Mary Hays.


At the time of the Revolution, Mary Hays was married to William Hays, a soldier in the


Pennsylvania State Regiment of Artillery. During his seven years service she remained


with him at camp and battle sites, lugging buckets of water, aiding the wounded, and


helping at the cannons (Evans, p. 11).


She is said to have been accompanying her husband s regiment when it faced


Clinton at the battle of Monmouth in 1778. The day was a scorching one, and many


soldiers collapsed from the heat. The valiant Molly brought water to the men throughout


the battle, all the while exposing herself to British fire. For this deed she was dubbed


Molly Pitcher by the grateful soldiers. She also rescued and nursed wounded men.


Finally, when her own husband was killed by the enemy, she took charge of firing his


cannon and carried on until the end of the battle. Though she spent the next seven years


in the army and performed heroic deeds, Molly was never given a special pension


(Engle, p. 16).


In some cases women didn t have to resort to weapons; they used their wits.


Lydia Darrah charmed British officers into holding a late night conference in her


Philadelphia home. Pretending to retire for the night, she crept back and listened as the


enemy planned a attack against the American army at Whitemarsh, north of Philadelphia.


The following morning she told her husband that flour was needed from the mill at


Frankford, southeast of Whitemarsh. With permission from General Howe to pass


through British lines, she walked the four or five miles, through snow, to the mill. After


depositing her empty sack, she walked further, toward American outposts. An American


officer on a scouting mission listened attentively as she gave him the information. She


then returned to the mill, picked up the flour, and trudged through snowdrifts to


Philadelphia. When the British army approached Whitemarsh they found Washington s


troops alerted and prepared for them. Being the weaker force, the British returned to


Philadelphia without a conflict (Evans, p. 15).


When many women were fighting battles on the front line, others were expressing


their support, and making their mark on society through the power of their pen. Two of


the most famous were Phillis Wheatley and Mercy Otis Warren.


Phillis Wheatley arrived in America in 1771. She caught the eye of a Boston


Matron, Susan Wheatley, who was looking for a personal servant, and even though


Phillis was young and thin, Susan bought her and took her home. Far from treating her


like a servant, the Wheatleys quickly began acting as if she was a member of the family,


giving her her own room excusing her from the tasks assigned to the other black servants,


and teaching her to read and write. Within two years, Phillis could not only speak


English, but could read it and write in it as well ( Lunardini, p. 13).


Phillis used her newfound skill to write poetry, and published her first poem


when she was fourteen. Her work was so great that many prominent men endorsed her


talents. Thomas Jefferson, for example, sought her out, and John Hancock was one of


eighteen friends of the family who signed the foreword to her book. When the


Revolutionary War broke out, she wrote several pieces supportive of the patriot cause,


including a tribute to George Washington in 1776. He was so impressed that he invited


her to visit him at his headquarters (Lunardini, p. 14)


Phillis married John Peters in 1778, the same year that John Wheatley died, but


the match was not a good one. He got her pregnant and then deserted her three times,


and the third time proved fatal. In 1784, at thirty-one, she and her baby both died of cold


and malnutrition (p. 14)


Another prominent woman writer was Mercy Otis. Mercy was born on


September 25, 1728, in Barnstable, Massachusetts. She was the sister of James Otis, one


of the first leaders for the break from England. Mercy was a highly intelligent woman


and was dedicated to the American cause, yet her gender kept her from getting involved


in politics. Instead she made her statements on the page of her books, which made her a


famous author (http://userpages.aug. com/captbarb/femvets.html p.3).


She married James Warren in 1754 at the age of twenty-six. Warren was a


farmer and merchant from Plymouth, Massachusetts. When her brother James became a


pre-revolution leader, Mercy became a counselor and advisor to him and his friends,


Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Around 1765, Mercy started to write patriotic poetry,


which at the time was used for her and her friends amusement. She published


Massachusetts Song of Liberty and it soon became the most popular song of The


colonies. She then began to write political play, two of which were, The Adulateur and


The Group. Mercy invited many guests into her home, such as George Washington,


John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton (p. 3)


In 1790 she published all of her poetic plays in one book which was dedicated to


George Washington. She also published a three volume book in 1805 called History of


the Revolutionary War. Mercy Otis Warren died on October 19, 1814, in Plymouth


(p.3).


If there was one woman to remember for her stand in the Revolutionary war, it


would be Abigail Adams. She was a strong and brilliant woman who was clearly ahead


of her time. Abigail used her association with the political authorities to try to establish


equality not only for women, but for African Americans as well.


Abigail Adams was every bit her husband s equal in the confines of their


marriage. The wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States, Abigail


Adams became as astute an observer of the political system born out of the Revolutionary


War as any of her husband s colleagues. Although she never pushed the boundaries of


acceptable public behavior for women of her time, her determination to do what had to


be done, did indeed help to shift those boundaries (Lunardini, p.15).


What is actually known about Abigail and John Adams relationship came from


letters written by Abigail over the course of her life, both personal and political. The


political was filled with observations on the status of women in the eighteenth century.


She was very opinionated in her veiws about the wrongness of slavery. When a young


African-American servant boy requested to learn to read and write, Abigail sent him to


the local school (Lunardini, p.16).


Abigail believed as strongly in equal education for girls as she did in equal


education for African-Americans. She wrote often about her belief that girls should be


offered the same education as boys. She was critical of the legal and social status


ascribed to women. This was clearly part of her admonition to John to Remember the


Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put


such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember, all men would be


tyrants if they could. At the same time, it was not a plea to include women in public


life, rather to redistribute power within the family. Emancipating all nations, you insist


upon retaining absolute power over Wives. She went on to say that If particular care


and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will


not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation


(p. 16).


Abigail Adams undoubtedly thought it humorous to use the same rhetoric that


the Americans used in complaining to the English government, at least to one of the


founding Fathers. But her concerns about the right of women within the family were


serious, and reflected the concerns of may women in the revolutionary era (p. 16).


Mercy Otis Warren and Abigail Smith Adams never changed in their dedication


to the principles of freedom, to the rebellion against British oppression, despite the


ravages and sufferings of war. Mercy wrote to Hannah Winthrop in 1778 that the


capital friends of America in every colony look with indignation and disgust on a man,


whose prime object is the applause of the multitude, and whose vanity leads him to


sacrifice the best interests of his country at the shrine of flattery…While Caesar meditated


triumph over the citizens, and trampled on the liberties of Rome, he squandered gratuities


and scattered largesses among the people…Is not America tainted with all the vices that


stained that ancient Republic (Evens, p. 30)?


Not many women are known for their heroic roles in America s history. There


were many more whose acts have gone unmentioned. All of the women that have


contributed in the effort to bring independence to our country will never receive the


recognition that they were entitled to. Nevertheless, the ones who were documented will


always be prime examples of women s strength, courage, and will to survive.


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