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In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote (which became part of the Constitution on August 18, 1920), from August 2019 – August 2020, we will be highlighting documents both here and on our sister site, Religion In America written by or about women.
This month, we feature four documents from women in revolutionary America that illustrate their engagement with the political issues of the time.
Society of Patriotic Ladies at Edenton in North Carolina | 1775
As the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain intensified, men and women in North America banded together to create “associations” for the purpose of boycotting British goods in order to put pressure on Parliament to repeal the various taxes that had been imposed on the colonists’ imports. The Edenton Association was unusual in that its signatories were exclusively female. While the association was the subject of some negative attention (the ladies were satirized in a print that emphasized their relative luxury and suggested they neglected “natural” female accomplishments in pursuit of their political interest), in both the domestic and London newspaper accounts of the association, the listing of the names appeared without substantial commentary, which suggests that such political activism although unusual enough to arouse notice was not entirely out of the realm of acceptable female behaviour.
“Remember the Ladies”: Letters between John and Abigail Adams| 1776
This famous exchange between John and Abigail Adams highlights the possibilities inherent in the Revolutionary moment and the rhetorics of political equality being used to justify the American movement for independence for women to realize citizenship rights in a radical new way.
An American Monarchy or a Republic? Letters between John Adams and Mercy Otis Warren | 1776
Mercy Otis Warren (who would go on to become one of the first historians of the American Revolution) was a devoted Patriot, sister to the brilliant but ill-fated James Otis, and a long-time friend of both the Adams. In this exchange you can see how Warren serves as a sounding board for John Adams, allowing him to test the readiness of the American people for a switch not only in their governors but in the form of their government.
Redcoats in South Carolina, Eliza Yonge Wilkinson | June 1779
We sometimes forget that the Revolution was an actual military struggle, and that there were costs not only in lives but in property and dignity, as indicated in Eliza Yonge Wilkinson’s account of the assault she and her relatives endured at the hands of the British soldiers.
Before the French Revolution, the American Revolution changed the course of history. While many of the political theories that influenced the American Revolution also played a role in the French Revolution, the unique history of both nations led to different interpretations. The correspondence and amity between American leaders of the Revolution and their French contemporaries is well documented and much debated. In the decade of 1789-1799 American sympathies bounced back and forth between loyalty toward Britain and sympathy for the Revolution. Many Americans had an underlying belief in the British system of government and their Protestant worldview. Other Americans felt an affinity for French republican ideals and gratitude for their support during the American Revolution (ironically from the Monarch of France, Louis XVI). At the national level, the French Revolution underscored the ideological polarity between the Federalists (George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams) and the Republicans (Thomas Jefferson and James Madison). As the French Revolution became increasingly violent and anti-religious, Americans viewed it more critically and relations between France and America entered a steep decline. Although there was little interaction between the women of France and America during these years, it is worth noting the contemporary American crusaders on the other side of the Atlantic. Times of war and revolution can temporarily jumble the clear boxes in society that revolve around class, race and gender. New agendas were in play and to some extent, established boundaries were being questioned. This prompted a reevaluation (albeit Machiavellian) of groups that had been previously dismissed. In the case of enslaved men and women, the established power was purely exploitative. Men of color for example, might be offered a slippery bargain of some degree of liberation, often revolving around the notion of citizenship, in return for their support (although the American government was reluctant to arm black men). In the American Revolution the British were actually more successful than the Patriots in recruiting enslaved men (especially in the south). Although their promises of freedom were intended to disrupt the American economy rather than free slaves, they were often more generous with their terms. The situation of women would depend on their class, race and family situation. In America, white married women with children might be asked to take up employment to make ends meet while their husbands were away. If a woman did not have children she might accompany her husband to the front and serve as a kind of nurse or housekeeper doing laundry and watching over the camp. Such opportunities for African-American women were complicated by a number of factors including, most importantly, their status as free or enslaved. Native Americans, or American Indians also figured into the Revolution and were in a similarly precarious position being courted and betrayed in equal measure on all sides. Because accounts are often written by those in power, and during a time when views were less progressive, the perspective is almost always slanted to see women and minorities in a utilitarian light rather than view them as individuals- much less as equals. This presents an enormous challenge for historians and researchers who struggle to find first-hand accounts or writings by these individuals and piece together their diverse and unjust experiences. As this awareness grows, further research and new publications will follow. For example. recent scholarship by authors such as Sally Roesch Wagner has already begun to bring to light the influence of indigenous women of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) in the long march toward women's suffrage.
To find more works by or about Women in the American Revolution search: United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Women and for general information on women in American history and the beginnings of the American Suffrage movement see the guide: American Women: A Guide to Women's History Resources at the Library of Congress.