The Role of Women in the Founding of the United States

By Diana K. Douglas

A British soldier, evacuating New York said, even if the King’s soldiers

defeated America’s men, they could never conquer American women.

• Protesters• Propagandists• Boycotters• Fundraisers• Spinners• Surrogate farmers• Shopkeepers• Nurses• Washerwomen• Spies• Couriers• Soldiers• Bold slaves• Brilliant intellectuals

1760sFrench & Indian War Debts

– Britain tightened trade– Colonists protested with

Boycotts• Stamp Act• Townshend Acts• Success depended on

Women– Primary purchasers and consumers of goods

– Drop in profits made traders petition government to repeal Acts

Esther De Berdt ReedBornOctober 22, 1746 in London, England

DiedSeptember 18, 1780 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fundraisers

Sarah Bache• Called “Sally” by her father• Married in 1767 • Mother of seven children

Mammy KateShe was more than six feet tall, very strong, and absolutely fearless. In an old letter, written in 1820, she was referred to as, "the biggest, the tallest, the most imposing Negress I have ever seen and she has proven herself to be a strong, a kindly, a never failing friend to Colonel Heard and his family." Kate was of pure African blood and declared herself to be the daughter of a great king.

• Deborah Sampson• aka Private Robert Shirtliffe

– Served honorable 1½ years– Saw battle– Wounded twice– Exposed by camp fever– Received veteran’s pension

Lydia Darragh– Middle-aged Quaker – Saved Washington’s troops

from a deadly surprise attack in 1776

Sybil Luddington– Rode through the night– Mustered her father’s militia– For Connecticut defense

After the War • Few radical changes for women

• Changes in gender ideology• Leaders called on women

to ensure continuance of republican ideals—schooled their sons

• 1780s & 1790s explosion of young women’s academies

• Beginning of gender revolution

Based on “’It was I Who Did It’: Women’s Role in the Founding of the Nation” by Carol Berkin, Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Summer 2006, pp. 15-18.