Revolutionary Mothers – Flashcards

England: endorsed a gendered division of labor, America: wives and daughters were often called upon to help work with the men

“by marriage the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband.”

“not one minute’s rest”

“it is the business of my life to please a man”

list of chores

“marriage makes a man and a woman one person under the law”

“If she had attended her household affairs and such things as belong to women, and not gone out of her way and calling to meddle in such things as are proper to men, whose minds are stronger, etc, then she might have kept her wits.”

references women’s roles as only wife and mother

refers to the Boston Tea Party and the start of the American Revolution

established the sons of liberty

They said no to British goods and no to the consumption of British goods, they said no to selling British goods, women also signed a boycott agreement, made their own clothes

“Let the Daughters of Liberty nobly arise”

“As I am a daughter of liberty I chuse to was as much of our own manufactory as possible.”

“You have it in your power more than all your committees and Congresses, to strike the Stroke, and make the Hills and Plains of America clap their hands.”

“If the women’s Congress attacks us, the most fatal consequences is to be dreaded.”

“It seems we have troublesome times acoming, for there is a great disturbance abroad the earth, and they say it is the tea that caused it. ‘so then, if they will quarrel about such a trifling thing as that, what must we expect but war?”

“When a woman throws aside her modesty, virtue drops a tear.”

her cause was “one of liberty and virtue, how much soever it may be branded by the names of rebellion and treason.” “We have a powerful enemy to contend with, everything that is dear to us is at stake.”

Refers to the horrors that came along with a war being fought in a country’s homeland

tended to farms (Azubah Norton), sent goods to the troops, Reed and Bache started a charity that collected anything of value (mostly money) to be sent to the troopsSuch a Sordid Set of Creatures in Human Figures

women’s brothers and fathers became deranged, starving, not enough money to afford detergents or soaps, women being forced to rally in front of houses to get supplies from hoarders, men were lost at sea, British officers taking over their homes, random firing of weapons, rape

“Must the blood of the best citizens be poured out to glut the vengeance of the most worthless and wicked men?

“War in itself however distant is indeed terrible, but when brought to our very doors, when those we most love are personally engaged in it, when our friends and neighbors are exposed to its ravages, the reflection is overwhelming.”

“When I return home, I find myself entirely alone, to reflect that the only friend I have in the world is such an immense distance from me.”

“The whole world appeared to me as a theatre where nothing was acted but cruelty, bloodshed, and oppression; where neither age nor sex escaped the horrors of injustice and violence; where lives and property of the innocent and inoffensive were in continual danger, and the lawless power ranged at large.”

This title refers to the filthy women following the troops that were there for support, to look for future husbands, and to be used for sexual encounters. These women, however, suffered from the same conditions the troops did, such as few to no showers, they also cheated on their husbands and stole from their friends, etc.

She could have been searching for a husband, lonely, poor, fear of starvation, fear of the possibility of death or rape.

some acted as cooks, boosted morale, did laundry, and sewed for meager pay.

“I never had the least Idea that the creation produced such a sordid set of creatures in human Figure.”

“A woman whose husband belonged to the artillery and who was then attached to a piece in the engagement attended her husband at the piece the whole time.”

“If he will send for me, I must go.”

She was known for her polished, nonpolitical poetry. She ridiculed Massachusetts Tories., New England woman who wrote many works. These included a history of the revolution, a play, and poems One of America’s first writers.

wrote poems to encourage women to join the boycott and criticized the men for not reinforcing it

“Remember the Ladies,” Wife of John Adams. During the Revolutionary War, she wrote letters to her husband describing life on the homefront. She urged her husband to remember America’s women in the new government he was helping to create.

Mohawk who managed a large estate and influenced the Indians to fight for the English against the French, She was married to Sir William Johnson. Their relationship represented the idea of peaceful coexistence. She was considered a political and agreeable women. She was royal Native American decedent.

First African American female writer to be published in the United States. Her book Poems on Various Subjects was published in 1773, pioneered African-American literature. One of the most well- known poets in America during her day; first African American to get a volume of poetry published.

refers to the war being hard on marriage, the separation is difficult on couples (said by Nathanael Greene to his wife Caty)

treated as celebrities, followed the troops, but were put in the best houses, attended social events, and served as hostesses of dinner parties.

The general’s wives served to distinguish the masculine roles from the feminine roles, and by showing courtesy to them the officers reaffirmed that they could still remember, and function in, a war removed far from the brutality and violence of warfare.

she was the wife of Revolutionary War General Nathaniel Greene and was an active participant in events that occurred during the fight for American independence

She was very young, and married to Frederich Riesdesel, she was an eyewitness to the battle of Freeman’s Farm. “I pretended to be very courageous in order to dispel their fears.” “I was more dead than alive, though not so much on account of our own danger, for that which enveloped my husband.”

The wives were attacked because they were guilty by association.

Many went back to England, then emigrated to Canada, and some went to Nova Scotia.

An onslaught of land speculators and settlers into Indian territories and governments that backed unfavorable treaties with threats of military force. For women, their social roles would dramatically change, and power within the communities would diminish.

The Indians coexistence was overtaken by the hit society. Instead of a matriarchal society, they now had a patriarchal society.

Pregnant women, mothers with infants and small children, and women who cared for elderly parents or friends, could not-would not-abandon those who depended on them.

The destruction of property and fields and the disappearance of the labor force meant agricultural production for the market was impossible in the years immediately following Yorktown. Any slaves left on the plantations had to be set to work producing basic necessities.

women were both morally and mentally inferior to men

the women had already formed political commitments and demonstrated their patriotism

Women emphasized domesticity, they focused on women’s emotional and intellectual energies, and in doing so, they closed out important areas for debate.

“Never get tyed to a man for when once you are yoked tis all a mere joke of seeing your freedom again.”

Refers to the journey that the loyalists made after their defeat in the war.

“My own relations are my greatest enemies.”

This refers to the promise of the “freeing” of the slaves from the British if “”all indentured servants, negroes, or others free that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining his majesty’s troops.” However, many women who won teir freedom lost it again through violence and trickery and the venality of men entrusted with their care. Really was no day of jubilee.

They were freed by fighting for the army, but later made servants again, she and her family ran, only to be brought back to court and separated by slavery.

Refers to the spies, saboteurs, couriers, and other heroines of the American Revolution; young women fought behind enemy lines, swallowed important documents in order to keep them out of enemy hands,

delivered an important message to George Washington with many speed bumps along the way.

This refers to women, and how they were mistreated because of their sex, but their souls were in the right place while fighting for their country and independence

“Reason rules, in every one, the same, no right, has man, his equal to control, since all agree, there is no sex in soul.