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In 1775, Britain ruled 13 colonies on the East Coast of North America that ran from Massachusetts to Georgia.
Many colonists were tired of British rule. They had argued with Britain for years about taxes and laws they thought were unfair. Finally, in April 1775, fighting broke out between the colonists and the British army. The American Revolution had begun.
At the time of the Revolution, a woman’s role in society was limited. Most women were expected to spend their lives taking care of their homes and family. Women prepared meals over an open fire, milked the cows, and fed the chickens. They churned butter and made candles and soap. Most of them also made their family’s clothing. Poor women and enslaved African-American women did all this while working for other people. Women were not expected to take part in politics or business. The world of politics was for white male property owners.
Still, many women became involved in events leading up to the Revolution and in the Revolution itself. Some were Patriots who believed in independence for the colonies. Others were Loyalists who supported Britain’s king. All were very brave to step outside of their traditional roles.
◀ Colonists wanted to protest a British tax on tea. On the night of December 16, 1773, some men boarded a ship and threw all of its cargo of tea into Boston Harbor. The event is called the Boston Tea Party. Sarah Fulton helped the men disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians. Afterward, she heated water in her kitchen so they could wash off the disguises. That’s why she is called the mother of the Boston Tea Party.
In 1774, 51 women in Edenton, North Carolina, signed a petition. It said they would not buy British goods. It was unheard of for women to take a public stand like that. This British cartoon pokes fun at the women of Edenton for unladylike behavior. ▶
▲ For the first few years, most of the fighting was done in the North. Then the British attacked the South. The last major battle was fought in Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, but some smaller fights took place after that.
◀ Mercy Otis Warren was the sister and the wife of well-known Patriots. She received her education by listening in on her brother’s private lessons. She wrote plays that made fun of British rulers. Back then, plays were not staged in New England. But they were printed in newspapers. That’s how people read her plays.
▲ Loyalist women also made their opinions known. Many took pride in serving imported tea. Anne and Betsy Cummings kept selling British goods in their Boston shop. Local patriots wanted them to stop. Betsy told the Patriots that they were attempting to “injure two industrious girls who were trying in an honest way to get their bread.”
