Women In America During The American Revolution

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Women in America during the American Revolution thru the Civil War

History 201

Mr. William Davis

Between the American Revolution in 1176 against Britain and the American Civil war in 1861, the nation went through a large amount of storms and so did the women of America. During this time slavery of African Americans was already a major issue, and women where stepping up everywhere they could to help. The women’s movement had started as early as 1848, but it didn’t get any results until after the Civil War.

The American Revolution took place after England placed unbearable rules in order in the colonies. The Regulations included things such as shutting down the port of Boston, limiting self-government in the Mississippi river, ordering colonist to provide housing for troops, and allowing British officials to be tried for crimes in England instead of in the colonies. America’s response to the rules was displayed by forming the Continental congress and fighting with the French armies. Many show that the outcome of the war showed and proved that women had as much right as men.

The women during the American Revolution did things such as run business of husbands or fathers, they were said to be following armies as they marched and they even went as far as to suit up as members of the army and pretend to be men. Women used to get their food and supplies from British suppliers but they decided that they could use that as a time to boycott and hurt the British economy. This all took place before the Boston Tea Party. Some of the Women even went as far as visiting a person’s factory unwelcomed just because it was suspected that there was a ton of coffee that was being horded. They went in and removed all of it.

Some Women that you may know of offhand because of things they did in the war would be Abigal Adams, or Betsy Ross. But, there were women of all races stepping up to do as much as they could during the war. Abigail Adams was married to John Adams in 1764. When she married John I doubt she did it because she knew someday she would end up in a White House and be one the wealthy side of life and no longer worry about food and shelter. She was intelligent, she qualified herself to speak the French language and she loved to write letters to her friends about liberty and about the war. She also enjoyed writing to her husband, John while he was on the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Most of what Abigail had said made its way into our founding documents. When John and the Twenty five other men where writing the Declaration of Independence, Abigail was the one who reminded John to not forget about women. She went on to be so respected that people even called her, "Mrs. President".

Betsy Ross as we know her or Elizabeth Grisom was the lady who made the first American Flag. With her husband John Ross they opened and ran an upholstery business. Her husband was killed in an explosion in 1776 while guarding ammunition. Later on, she met George Washington, George Ross, and Robert Morris. Meeting them led to the sewing of the American flag. Betsy went on to marry a sea captain who later died in an English prison.

Some Women that you may have never heard of are Mercy Ottis Warren, or Grace and Rachel Martin. Some women’s names may not have been published in a book or written in history somewhere but, the things they did where no less important than these ladies. Even the small things that women did during the war helped to change the face of America as we know it today.

Mercy Ottis Warren was the lady who wrote the first history of the American Revolutionary War. She was there when everything took place so she was knowledgably about what she composed. Her husband fought in the war so she used most of her time that was not used on the homeland chores to write to him and about the war. She used summaries from meetings and discussions so had had with officials to publish the book, "History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution", in 1805.

Grace and Rachel Martin was a pair of women who could not stand how the British treated the women and children. They were sick and tired of it and felt like they needed to take part in the war by putting a stop to it. They decided to do something about it to help stop the abuse and neglect on the women and children. The first thought they had though was maybe a brave one or a little bit crazy one. However they disguised themselves as men and ambushed British officers carrying important documents. They took the document home, when they arrived there they realized that the same officers were sitting at their Mothers table eating a meal that she had prepared for the family to enjoy.

Some women that were not so well known where the camp followers., they were women who were either wives or daughters to soldiers and who maintained an almost constant existence on the military camps. Their responsibilities were believed to be things such as cooking, sewing, washing, childcare, and nurturing the sick. Because women were not allowed to fight the battle during the war back then, there is no record of any of their names. These women were given food and provided with a small salary. Some of the camp followers who were with their husbands learned how to load and fire cannons such as "Captain Molly" is still a well-respected lady. She was the first woman who was wounded in the war while fighting and her body is placed in the Military Academy Cemetery in New York. When her body was moved she was awarded a full Military honor. Captain Molly Corbin received a pension after her husband’s death that would help support her. Another Camp follower was "Molly Pitcher" who supplied water to the troops during the battle. She also died after her husband in 1832, but unlike Corbin she didn’t receive a government pension.

Slave holders also played a huge part in the American Revolution thru the Civil War; they were able to develop their own form of Mastery. "Mastery", was a term given to mostly white males. They considered themselves to be a master of slaves as well as the institutions of marriage and of family. One in ten Slave holders were widows, many of the widows would flee to Florida because they couldn’t take the pain of being alone or the amount of work that had to take on by themselves. That decision came with consequences; the women were not allowed to flee for free or to take any of their sons with them that were over the age of twelve. The sons were used in the war. The ones that didn’t usually owned slaves. The men would leave behind wills that often gave the women authority over complete households. This helped to give the women complete power over not only the slaves but the children, including their sons. Women had more resources to materials and were able to convert them into economic power and it gave a new meaning to the slaveholding society.

In the years prior to the Civil War women were known for having clean homes and cooked meals prepared for their husband and children prior to their arrival home. During the war, however women turned to the external world and into jobs that normally wouldn’t be in the lines of a women’s job. The women had to do all of the farming to get the crops to cook for their family’s meals, and visit town alone as often as needed to purchase materials for things like sewing, which they needed to make their husband and children’s clothes. By the time the war was over the developments women had learned led to what many Americans referred to as" True Womanhood". Women then began to be known to men as someone to fear. Women could do as much as men if not more. Many women in today’s society still fill that way.

During the war women set up organizations that were there to supply the Union troops with everything they needed to live. This included food, clothing, blankets, and cash. The money was raised by fundraisers and county fairs and the soldiers used it for medical supplies. The women would go door to door to raise the money if it meant the men in the war could get what they needed to be as comfortable as the war would allow them to be. The men didn’t do without anything that the women couldn’t help. Many women felt that by sending the materials it was there way of fighting the war. However several other women wanted to do more. They wanted to be like Florence Nightingale and her fellow nurses and work on the front lines caring for the sick and injured, and in 1861 they were granted the right to. The United States Government passed "The United State Sanitary Commission". More than twenty thousand women worked directly for the Union war effort. One of the most popular women was Louisa May Alcott.

Besides working on the front lines, Louisa May Alcott published "Little Women", which is how she gained her financial stability. She used several other names to write under, such as Flora Fairfield or the pen name she adopted, A.M. Barnard. She used those names until she was confident that her writing was up to par and that people would enjoy reading her poems and short stories. Alcott worked as a domestic servant and a teacher to help support her family. Her writing career officially began when she wrote "Hospital Sketches". The book told about her civil war experiences. This book confirmed to her that she was a great writer and she should publish books under her own name. Which in 1865 when she wrote "Atlantic Monthly," "Lady's Companion" she did.

Did you know that woman women could be awarded The Medal of Honor? The Article on user pages website states that Dr. Mary Walker, a surgeon in the Civil War, was awarded the nation's highest honor by President Andrew Johnson. The citation reads, in part, Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, has rendered valuable service to the government, and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways, and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, KY., under the recommendation of Major-Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United states, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a southern prison while acting as contract surgeon.... She was the only women in the Civil War or any war who received the honor before death. The tried to take it and over 900 others away but she wore it until her death in 1919.

Women fought their way through many different obstacles, and no matter what their race was or their age was they never let a man or anyone else tell them that they were unable to accomplish the things that they needed to do. Not very many people truly understand the effect that women had on the war. Before writing this essay I didn’t know that women played such a vital role in the war. I have a greater respect for the women in the golden days then I did prior to this. The war had women from the North and South, and even women of Indian and French backgrounds played a part.

Southern Women put themselves into the war effort with the same enthusiasm as the Northern Women. The Confederacy had less money and fewer materials than the Union did, and that forced the Confederacy, and southern women to also create the necessary items for the soldiers. They would make things such as blankets, uniforms, sandbags, and even cared for the soldiers from their homes. Many southern women would write to the soldiers in the war. Most Southern Women used their slaves to make all of this possible. Even then, slaves were pushed out of their normal comfort zone and into things that was not considered proper female behavior. Slaves were forced to do the cooking, sewing and even some of the farming. But, I think the women that were left to tend to the slaves alone were not that hard on them as long as they did what was needed. Slaves never truly had the better end of any deal though.

The Civil War pledged to bring freedom to the United States but, this didn’t help ease the mind of the female white women or the female slaves. While the husbands, fathers, and brothers were all fighting for the freedom that was to come, the women had to work doing not only the things in their homes that they had come accustom to but they also had to take on all of the men’s duties. The women were left to provide for their families on their own. This even meant that the women had to protect themselves from being raped or even murdered.

The one word that describes the Civil War would be freedom. There were six million people who were killed who stood up to fight for our freedom. With freedom the country changed. It made it possible for slaves to move and improve their lives. It is sad that it took four years to free the slaves. And it still has taken many generations to understand what to do with race relationships but the War was the beginning of a milestone that America has had to understand. God put all people on earth, created us all equal, and we must learn to live that way.

The African Americans once free were allowed to fight in the war. And of the two hundred thousand men who fought sixteen received the Congressional Medal of Honor. This was made possible by the emancipation proclamation which stated that slaves were free. The President declared that all the slaves were to be free but they had to find their way to the Union. The Union needed the slaves to fight.

Many Women were affected by the war in some way. Some went into war; some worked for organizations, including the Ladies Hospital Aid Society, The Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, And the United States Christian Commission. Other women performed on personal levels, such as sewing items for soldiers they knew. Some women fought the war in their own ways, at home, or on the battlefield, they each played a role in helping the war effort.

In the four years during the war so many people died. The war was a devastating time, but it was also a way to change America. The North won and changed what it means to be a woman in America. Without the war who knows where our country would be today.