Role+of+Women

1. The Role of Women in the American Revolution 2. **What I already know: Who?-** Women The women impacted the American Revolution because they helped their country become independent and supported the Patriots during the war. 3.**What I want to know (research questions): Who?-** Which women impacted the American Revolution the most? What?- What where the names of the most important women during the war? Did the women impact the soldiers who were fighting in the war? 4.**My research strategy: Who?-** I'll ask Mrs. Horn and Mrs. Brem for help in locating information. I coould ask Mrs. Brolan or Mr. D. I could ask the public librarian.
 * What?-** The role they played in the American Revolution.
 * Where**- In the 13 American colonies.
 * When?-** The late 1700s
 * Why?-** The women wanted to help their couuntry.
 * How?-** They supported the soldiers and helped with boycotts.
 * Where?-** Where were women most involved in the American Revolution?
 * When?-** When did the women impact the war?
 * How?-** How were the women important to becoming independent?
 * What?-** Expert websites, data bases, encyclopedias, books, and textbooks.
 * When?-** During class or outside of class if needed.
 * Where?-** The CTMS and public library, on any other computer for online resources.
 * How?-** I'll use my thesis statement and research questions to figure out what to look for and what to take notes on.
 * Key words for searching:** "the role of women during the American Revolution", "The American Revolution", " the impact of women during the Revolutionary War" and other variations of this.

Draft My topic is the role of Women during the American Revolution. Women impacted the American Revolution by boycotting British goods and helping the soldiers, which empowered them to have an impact on the conflict.

Women were very important during the American Revolution. "Patriotic girls started calling themselves the Daughters of Liberty vowed never to marry men who bought English goods. Housewives stopped serving tea, a fovorite drink; they brewed coffee instead, smuggled by the shipload from the Dutch West Indies. Women gave up English cloth, a real sacrafice, since the finest fabrics and clothing styles came from the mother country." (Marrin, Albert. The War for Independence. New York: Atheneum Books For Young Readers, 1988. Print.[].) The women boycotted English goods. They protested against British rule, and the unfair Acts. They formed the Daughters of Liberty to rebel against Britain. "We, the daughters of those patriots who have and do now appear for the public interest, and in that principally regard their prosperity, as such do with pleasure engage with them in denying ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to frustrate a plan which tends to deprive the whole community of all that is valuable in life." No wonder that after years saw such prodigies of valor in those who showed themselves able to practise such patriotic self-denial. S ide by side the men and women of the Revolution objected to and protested against "taxation without representation." The spirit of the ancestry still lives in the true children of such noble progenitors." ("Women of the Revolution." Colonial Ancestors. N.p., 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010.) "During the war a woman's society was formed, whose object was the relief of the soldiers who were in need of clothing. In 1780 the ladies of Philadelphia city and county sold their jewelry, and converted other trinkets into something more serviceable, collected large sums of money, purchased the raw material, plied the needle with all diligence, and, in a short time, the aggregate amount of their contributions was seventy-five hundred dollars. This sum was raised in and immediately around Philadelphia. The efforts of the ladies were not, however, limited to their own neighborhood. They addressed circulars to the adjoining counties and States, and the response of New Jersey and Maryland was truly generous. The number of shirts made by the ladies of Philadelphia during that patriotic movement was twenty-two hundred." ("Women of the Revolution." Colonial Ancestors. N.p., 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. [].)

"Washington's solution was to attach some women to the Continental Army as nurses, and others as cooks, laundresses and water bearers. They became the earliest American examples of women who supported the military to â€œfree a man to fightâ€ as they performed jobs usually done by male soldiers." ("Women of the Revolution." Colonial Ancestors. N.p., 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. [].) A society of women showed their support by making clothes for soldiers. They sacrificed a lot of money and time. They worked really hard to show their support for the soldiers, and showed that they appreciate them. "Washington's solution was to attach some women to the Continental Army as nurses, and others as cooks, laundresses and water bearers. They became the earliest American examples of women who supported the military to â€œfree a man to fightâ€ as they performed jobs usually done by male soldiers." ("Early Years: American Revolution." History & Collections. N.p., 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. [].) Some women stayed with the Continental Army to support the military by being a nurse, cook, laundress, or water bearer for the soldiers. they did jobs that men usually did. "That there was courage in **RACHEL and GRACE** MARTIN**,when, disguised as two rebels, they assailed the British courier and his guard, took the papers, which they speedily forwarded to** Gen. Greene**, and released the messenger and the two officers who were his guard on parole, while they had not the least suspicion that their captors were women.** DEBORAH SAMSON **of Plymouth, Mass., disguised herself, and, as a man named** Robert Shirtilife**, served during the whole of the Revolutionary war, with the same zeal and efficiency, and with the exposure to hardship and fatigue, endured by the other soldiers.** ANNA WARNER **the wife of** Capt. Elijah Bailey **the Revolutionary army, earned the title of "The Heroine of Groton," by her devotion to the cause of freedom, and her fearless efforts to aid the wounded on the occasion of the terrible massacre at Fort Griswold in Connecticut. The wife of** Col. Fitzhugh **of Maryland collected her slaves, and, in the absence of her husband, prepared to defend their home, when they were visited by British soldiers. The invaders fled in dismay.''** ("Women of the Revolution." Colonial Ancestors. N.p., 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. [].) Many women played important roles in the war, and were very heroic. Some women fought in the war and were just as capable as the men. "A few women even participated in battles. Margaret Corbin took her husband's post after he fell at Fort Washington, New York (November 16, 1776). Mary Ludwig Hays received the name "Molly Pitcher" for her efforts to bring water to the American troops at Monmouth Court House, New Jersey (June 28, 1778). When her husband collapsed of heat exhaustion, she replaced him as an artillery crewman. Deborah Sampson joined a Massachusetts regiment as Robert Shurtleff and served from 1781 to 1783 by artfully concealing her true gender." ("Roles of Women and children in the American Revolution." Gale Virtual Reference Library. N.p., 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. [].) Women did not just stay at home as housewives during the American Revolution, they fought too. Before the war began in 1775, women helped to organize campaigns to boycott British goods. During the actual years of fighting women were temporarily thrust into new pursuits. They farmed the fields, kept shops operating, made bandages and uniforms, and melted down pots and pans to make shot. A woman with children essentially assumed the roles of both parents until her husband returned from military service. A Philadelphia woman by the name of Esther Reed organized a ladies' association which raised money for the troops. Some females became known as "campfollowers" and accompanied the soldiers in the field where they acted as cooks, laundresses, and nurses. Some people believe that women's participation in the American Revolution contributed to the "Republican Motherhood" which assigned women the responsibility for the moral training of their sons for citizenship and led to the more opprotunities for education and schools for woman. "While women were allowed only a limited public role, they were neither passive nor unimportant. Eighteenth-century women ran households and raised children. Being a good wife required an array of skills that are no longer associated with household management. In addition to cooking and cleaning, women butchered fowl they had raised, smoked meat, made cheese from the milk they had taken from the cow, sewed clothes from the cloth they had spun, made soap, and preserved vegetables they had grown. Moreover, limited technology meant that many of these chores, like laundry, were back-wrenching, tiresome, all-day jobs involving heavy hauling and firm muscles. Other jobs, like sewing, required dexterity. Usually barred by social conventions from prominent roles in commerce, women were still expected to manage the household economy." ("Eighteenth-Century Colonial Women." Women of the American Revolution. N.p., 2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. [].) Women participating in the American Revolution set an example for future wars, because they had a lot of significance. Women's opportunities were expanded. ("Early Years: American Revolution." History & Collections. N.p., 2010. Web. 11 Apr. 2010. [].) "While women were allowed only a limited public role, they were neither passive nor unimportant. Eighteenth-century women ran households and raised children. Being a good wife required an array of skills that are no longer associated with household management. In addition to cooking and cleaning, women butchered fowl they had raised, smoked meat, made cheese from the milk they had taken from the cow, sewed clothes from the cloth they had spun, made soap, and preserved vegetables they had grown. Moreover, limited technology meant that many of these chores, like laundry, were back-wrenching, tiresome, all-day jobs involving heavy hauling and firm muscles. Other jobs, like sewing, required dexterity. Usually barred by so.cial conventions from prominent roles in commerce, women were still expected to manage the household economy."

"The social significance of women became increasingly apparent to both men and women as the colonies struggled to secure their independence. During the Revolution, some skills regarded as feminine, like spinning, became more widely appreciated. The war also gave some women the opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to assume responsibilities regarded as male. For instance, many women took charge of family farms, carrying out every task from planning what, when, and how much to plant, to marketing the surplus harvest." ("Eighteenth-Century Colonial Women." Women of the American Revolution. N.p., 2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. [].) Women helped the colonists be able to defeat the British in the American Revolution. They took care of their families, worked on farms, served as soldiers, organized boycotts, and assisted soldiers. They impacted the American Revolution, and were recognized for their help. After the war, women gained more right and became more equal to men
 * || ("Eighteenth-Century Colonial Women." Women of the American Revolution. N.p., 2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. [].) ||