Women's Work and Political Voice

In June 1780, a woman in Philadelphia named Esther Reed printed a sheet for the public to read. She called it "The Sentiments of an American Woman." It asked women to give money for the soldiers. Three days after a newspaper printed it, more than thirty women met. They formed a group. Then they went from door to door asking for money.

Shirts for the Army

The women collected more than $300,000 in paper money. Reed wanted to give the money to the soldiers. But George Washington asked for shirts instead. Reed died in September 1780. She was thirty-four. Sarah Bache took over the work. She was Benjamin Franklin's daughter. The women sewed more than 2,200 shirts for the army.

Farms, Shops, and Boycotts

Many women did war work. When a man went to the army, his wife ran the farm. Some women ran shops. Before the war, women had helped make the boycotts work. A boycott is when people refuse to buy something as a protest. Women did most of the family shopping. So when they stopped buying British tea and cloth, Britain lost money. Many women spun their own thread and made their own cloth.

Coverture

The law did not match the work. There was a rule called coverture. Under this rule, a married woman was "covered" by her husband. The law saw the two as one person. A married woman could not own property. Property is land or money of your own. She could not keep her own pay. She could not sign a contract. A contract is a written deal. She could not make a will without her husband's consent. A legal writer named William Blackstone wrote this rule down in 1765. He said the law paused a wife's legal self while she was married.

A widow or a woman who had not married was different. She could own property. She could sign a contract in her own name.

The Vote

In March 1776, Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband John. He was helping to make new laws. She told him to "Remember the Ladies." But the new laws did not change coverture. Only one state let women vote. That was New Jersey. Women there who owned property could vote. Most of them were widows or had not married. In 1807 New Jersey took the vote away from women. In 1920 women won the vote in every state.

On June 12, 1780, Esther DeBerdt Reed published a broadside, a printed sheet meant to be posted and passed around. Her husband was the governor of Pennsylvania. She called her broadside "The Sentiments of an American Woman." It asked American women to give money for the soldiers. Three days after a newspaper printed it, more than thirty women met and formed the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. They went from door to door asking for money.

Shirts for the Army

The women collected more than $300,000 in paper money. Reed wanted to give the money to the soldiers. But George Washington asked that it buy cloth for shirts instead. Reed died suddenly on September 18, 1780, at thirty-four. Sarah Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin's daughter, took over. The women sewed more than 2,200 shirts for the army. Women in New Jersey and Maryland copied the plan.

Farms, Shops, and Boycotts

The Ladies Association was unusual, but women's war work was not. When a man went to the army, his wife ran the farm or the shop. Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich calls this role the "deputy husband." Some women ran shops of their own as "she-merchants." Before the war, women had made the boycotts of British goods work. In a boycott, people refuse to buy something as a protest. Most family buying was women's work, so their choices reached into every house. Many spun their own thread and wore homespun cloth instead of British cloth.

Coverture

The law did not match the work. The colonies followed English law. Under that law a married woman was a feme covert, a "covered woman." Her legal identity was folded into her husband's. The rule was called coverture. In 1765 an English legal writer named William Blackstone explained it in his book on the laws of England. He wrote that in marriage a woman's "legal existence" was "suspended," which means paused. Most lawyers in America learned the law from his book.

Coverture meant that a married woman could not own property or keep the wages she earned. She could not sign a contract or sue in her own name. She could not make a will without her husband's consent. Fathers, not mothers, had legal custody of the children. A widow or an unmarried woman could own property and sign contracts in her own name.

The Vote

On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, who was in Congress in Philadelphia. She asked him to remember the women when he helped write the new laws. She told him not to give husbands unlimited power over their wives. The new state laws did not change coverture. Only one state let any women vote. New Jersey's 1776 constitution gave the vote to "inhabitants" who owned enough property. Because widows and unmarried women could own property, some of them voted. In 1807 New Jersey limited the vote to white men. States began to give married women property rights in 1839. Women won the vote across the nation in 1920.

On June 12, 1780, Esther DeBerdt Reed, the wife of Pennsylvania's governor, published a broadside, a single printed sheet meant to be posted and passed around. She called it "The Sentiments of an American Woman." It said that American women were "born for liberty," and it called on them to give money for the soldiers of the Continental Army. Three days after the Pennsylvania Gazette printed it, more than thirty women met and formed the Ladies Association of Philadelphia. They went from door to door through the city asking for money.

Shirts for the Army

The women collected more than $300,000 in Continental paper money. Reed wanted to give each soldier cash, but George Washington asked that the money buy linen for shirts instead, and she agreed. Reed died suddenly on September 18, 1780, at thirty-four. Sarah Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin's daughter, took over the work. Under her direction the women of Philadelphia sewed more than 2,200 shirts for the army. Women in New Jersey and Maryland copied the plan.

Farms, Shops, and Boycotts

The Ladies Association was unusual, but women's work in the war was not. When a man went to the army, his wife ran the farm or the shop in his place. The historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich calls this role the "deputy husband." Some women ran businesses of their own as "she-merchants." In the years before the war, women had made the boycotts of British goods work, the campaigns in which colonists refused to buy British tea and cloth as a protest against taxes. Most household buying was women's work, so their choices reached into every house. Many spun their own thread and wore homespun cloth in place of British cloth.

Coverture

The law did not match the work. Under English common law, which the colonies followed, a married woman was a feme covert, a "covered woman," and her legal identity was folded into her husband's. The rule was called coverture. The English legal writer William Blackstone explained it in 1765 in the first book of his Commentaries on the Laws of England. He wrote that in marriage "the husband and wife are one person in law" and that "the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage," or paused. More than a thousand copies of the Commentaries sold in the colonies before an American edition appeared in 1771 and 1772. Most lawyers of the founding generation learned the law from them.

In practice, coverture meant that a married woman could not own personal property, keep the wages she earned, sign a contract, sue or be sued in her own name, or make a will without her husband's consent. Fathers, not mothers, had legal custody of the children. A widow or an unmarried woman, called a feme sole, could own property and sign contracts in her own name. A few married women traded under a narrow exception as feme sole traders.

The Vote

On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote from Braintree, Massachusetts, to her husband John, who was in Congress in Philadelphia. She asked him to "Remember the Ladies" in the new laws and not to put "unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands." The new state constitutions did not change coverture, and only one gave any women the vote. New Jersey's constitution of 1776 let "inhabitants" who met a property requirement vote. Because unmarried women and widows could own property, some of them did. In 1807 the New Jersey legislature limited the vote to white men. The historian Linda Kerber named the ideal that followed the war "republican motherhood," the idea that a woman's civic role was to raise good citizens. States began to pass Married Women's Property Acts in 1839. Women won the vote across the nation in 1920.

On June 12, 1780, Esther DeBerdt Reed, the wife of Pennsylvania's governor Joseph Reed, published a broadside, a single printed sheet meant to be posted and passed around, called "The Sentiments of an American Woman." It declared that American women were "animated by the purest patriotism, born for liberty," and it called on them to give money for the soldiers of the Continental Army. Three days after the Pennsylvania Gazette printed it, more than thirty women met and formed the Ladies Association of Philadelphia, and they went from door to door through the city asking for money. Reed had been born in England and had come to Philadelphia in 1770.

Shirts for the Army

The women collected more than $300,000 in Continental paper money. Reed wanted to give each soldier cash, but George Washington asked that the money buy linen for shirts instead, and she agreed. Reed died suddenly on September 18, 1780, at thirty-four, and Sarah Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin's daughter, took over the work. Under her direction the women of Philadelphia sewed more than 2,200 shirts for the army. Members wrote to friends in other states urging them to do the same, and women in New Jersey and Maryland formed associations of their own. Washington thanked the Association in writing, and a soldier wrote a poem to "the patriot females who their country save."

Farms, Shops, and Boycotts

The Ladies Association was unusual, but women's work in the war was not. When a man went to the army, his wife ran the farm or the shop in his place, a role the historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich calls the "deputy husband," and some women ran businesses of their own as "she-merchants." In the years before the war, women had made the boycotts of British goods work, the non-importation campaigns in which colonists refused to buy British tea and cloth as a protest against Parliament's taxes. Most household buying was women's work, so their choices reached into every house, and many spun their own thread and wore homespun cloth in place of British cloth. The historian T. H. Breen has argued that because the boycotts depended on what families bought, they drew women into politics years before the fighting began.

Coverture

The law did not match the work. Under English common law, which the colonies followed, a married woman was a feme covert, a "covered woman" in the law French of the English courts, and her legal identity was folded into her husband's. The rule was called coverture. The English legal writer William Blackstone explained it in November 1765 in the first volume of his Commentaries on the Laws of England: "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." More than a thousand copies of the Commentaries sold in the colonies before an American edition appeared in 1771 and 1772, and most lawyers of the founding generation learned the law from them.

In practice, coverture meant that a married woman could not own personal property, control the land she brought to the marriage, keep the wages she earned, sign a contract, sue or be sued in her own name, or make a will without her husband's consent. Fathers, not mothers, had legal custody of the children. A widow or an unmarried woman, called a feme sole, a woman alone in law, could own property and sign contracts in her own name, and a few married women traded under a narrow exception as feme sole traders, which let a wife run a business and answer for its debts herself.

The Vote

On March 31, 1776, Abigail Adams wrote from Braintree, Massachusetts, to her husband John, who was in Congress in Philadelphia. She asked him to "Remember the Ladies" in the new laws and not to put "unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands," and she added, "Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could." John Adams answered on April 14: "As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh." The new state constitutions did not change coverture, and only one gave any women the vote. New Jersey's constitution of 1776 let "inhabitants" worth fifty pounds vote, and because coverture barred wives from owning property, the women who qualified were unmarried women and widows. Some of them voted. In 1807 the New Jersey legislature limited the vote to white men.

The historian Linda Kerber named the ideal that followed the war "republican motherhood": a woman's civic role was to raise virtuous citizens, not to be one. Coverture was taken apart slowly. Mississippi passed the first Married Women's Property Act in 1839, other states followed over the next decades, and the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the vote across the nation in 1920.