Revolutionary Women:
Expectation Versus Reality

What do UARK students know?

We polled 40 respondents over what they “expect” from women
during the Revolutionary War. Our goal is to “debunk” the
common misconceptions and address the role of women during
this time. Below are some of the results of our survey.

— “Honestly, not much. My assumption would be they were not encouraged so the mass majority would be forced into “feminine” roles such as mothers/caretakers. I wish I was taught more in my his subject.”

— “Very little, but their contributions were probably highly unrecognized.”

— “I don’t know anything about women in the revolutionary war.”

— “Not a whole lot, but I know lots of them were nurses for injured soldiers on the battlefield.”

— “They were under appreciated for what they did.”

— “That they were mostly confined to the home and most of their duties revolves around helping men.”

— “They assumed gender roles as caregivers and at the highest level nurses for injured soldiers. They had no real effect in the Revolution.”

— “They are only meant to breed and cook.”

— “I think women took the positions of all the men while the men were away at war so seems tricky.”

— “Not many people ever talk about women in history.”


— “I only heard about men mostly. My school never taught us specifically about women.”


Let’s take a look at some of the exceptional ways various women participated in the revolutionary war. Click on each of the images below to explore how a few African American women, Native American women, and elite white women participated in the revolutionary war!



While our goal is to focus on women’s impact on Revolutionary history, we must also be aware that using men’s perspectives on women and the events happening during this time also gives a useful tool for our focus in history. Many actions that women took during this time period may have come from knowledge that they were viewed a certain way or compartmentalized into a certain role. We want to look at how men’s perspectives of specific women gave these women motivation to live life a certain way or to have a particular role over the course of the 18th Century. We must also make sure to watch out for inherent biases in anything written about another person. Since we’re using men’s perspectives as a way to understand women’s interactions with the Revolution, we must also be aware to read their words with discernment to avoid getting a wrong interpretation. Click the button, “What Do The Men Say” above, for a few examples of some historical women viewed through the eyes of men!

References:
Adams, Abigail. Letter to Mercy Otis Warren. 5 December 1773
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0065

Adams, Catherine, and Elizabeth H. Pleck. Love of Freedom : Black Women in Colonial and Revolutionary New England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Berkin, Carol. “The Women Must Hear Our Words.” Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 2005. pp 107-119.

Brandt, Susan Hanket. “Marketing Medicine: Apothecary Elizabeth Weed’s Economic Independence during the American Revolution.” In Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World. Edited by Barbara B. Oberg. University of Virginia Press: Charlottesville, 2019. pp. 60-80.

Grant, Anne. “A Familiar Epistle to a Friend”. Edinburgh, 1795.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2147535464/Z301794830/8BD2C710C2614C4BPQ/ 2?accountid=8361

Jackisch, Ami. “‘What Am I but an American’: Mary Willing Byrd and Westover Plantation during the American Revolution.” Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic World, University of Virginia Press: Charlottesville, 2019, pp. 171-191.

Morris, Margaret. “For the Amusement of a Sister.” 1776. Diary 25 – Private journal, kept during a portion of the revolutionary … – HathiTrust Digital Library

Murray, John. “Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation (1775)” Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia
Humanities, (07 Dec. 2020). Web. 02 Dec. 2022

Nath, Kimberly. “Left Behind: Loyalist Women in Philadelphia During the American
Revolution.” Women in the American Revolution: Gender, Politics, and the Domestic
World,
University of Virginia Press: Charlottesville, 2019. pp. 211-228.

Post, Lydia Minturn. Grace Barclay’s diary; or, Personal recollections of the American revolution. New York, A. D. F. Randolph, 1866. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, Library of Congress (loc.gov)

Rush, Julia Stockton. Julia Stockton Rush to Benjamin Rush. 19 July 1783.
https://search.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.B.R894-ead.xml

Shippen, Edward. “A Memorandum for my Children.” 1779. Will and Testamen
https://diglib.amphilsoc.org/islandora/object/memorandum-my-children-will-edward-shippen#page/2/mode/1up

The Boston Post-Boy & Advertiser. “Address to the Ladies.” November 16th, 1767, Page 3,Newspaper https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php pid=2&old=1&mode=nav&ft=Coming%20of%20the%20American%20Revolution&item_id=413.

Washington, George. “To George Washington from the Pennsylvania Board of War”.
Pennsylvania, 1777. https://www.proquest.com/books/on-being-brought-africa-america/docview/2148133826/ se-2

Wheatley, Phillis. “ON BEING BROUGHT FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA.” The Poems of
Phillis Wheatley: Revised and Enlarged Edition: Edited with an Introduction by Julian D. Mason, Jr.; the Poems of Phillis Wheatley, Revised and Enlarged Edition: Edited with an Introduction by Julian D. Mason, Jr., London. , 1989. ProQuest,
https://www.proquest.com/books/on-being-brought-africa america/docview/2148133826/ se-2

Zagarri, Rosemarie. “Female Politicians” Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007. pp 46-81.

Imbedded Images:
https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool%3A35812?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=18276611ed39a2540a88&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=3

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/532936

https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A65956?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=80d384fee502e2c563aa&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/532935

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/532944

https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/9e279c0e-544d-d9e0-e040-e00a18067520

http://slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/item/499

https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool%3A64904?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=8e64fbc597aa717403d4&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=2