We pause in our overview of women in the Episcopal lectionary to think about the unsung women who made it possible for men in the last quarter of the 18th century to propose, fight, and die for the cause of liberty in colonial America.
We don’t often think about the sacrifices women made. Some gave up their Loyalist families (Lucy Flucker Knox), others supported their famous husbands’ work (Abigail Adams, Martha Washington). Adams, in fact, while corresponding with her husband in Philadelphia urged him to ‘remember the ladies’ in the new form of government, or they might rise up in a revolution of their own!
We hear about Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty, or give me death” declaration. We don’t as often learn about Mercy Otis Warren who wrote patriotic poetry and was called the “Conscience of the American Revolution”. In December of 1774, she wrote “America stands armed with resolution and virtue, but she still recoils at the idea of drawing the sword against the nation from whence she derived her origin.” In 1805 she published the History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution.
Another woman author was an enslaved African-American in Boston. Phillis Wheatley wrote poetry focusing on patriotism and virtue. Her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was very popular. A poem To His Excellency, George Washington was written in 1775. She read it to him in 1776 at his headquarters in Cambridge. Wheatley obtained her freedom when her master died in 1778.
Some women, like Esther DeBerdt Reed took concrete action to raise funds to support the America cause. Reed and her Ladies of Philadelphia organization raised an amazing $300,000 through door-to-door solicitation in Philadelphia. At George Washington’s suggestion, the money was used to buy linen which the ladies sewed into shirts for the American soldiers.
Women were even known to be active in the military action itself. Catherine (Kate) Barry served as a scout in South Carolina. Her warning to, and assembling of, the local militia led to victory at the Battle of Cowpens.
Teenager Sibyl Ludington rode 40 miles through Putnam and Dutchess Counties in New York to call up the militia to fight at Danbury, Connecticut. The Daughters of the American Revolution honored her with a statue in Carmel, New York.
Women who were left behind while their husbands and sons went off to fight were left with the burden of maintaining their homes, farms, and businesses. Sometimes they found themselves confronted by hostile soldiers in their homes and communities. Some women opted to go with their husbands to the war. They assisted the effort as cooks, nurses, and laundry women. Most patriot women refused to buy British products, like tea. Others acted as spies for the American side. Every woman, every family was affected by the Revolutionary War. The actions of the multitude of un-named women helped the colonists win victory. We should give thanks for all who believed in the cause and offered what they could of their lives. We are beneficiaries of that courage and faith. We also need to proclaim ‘liberty and justice for all’.
