.

, d

Women in the American Revolution

, I ,,\.
ary Beth Norto
,. ,. ,

The liberating effects of the War of Independence on women weref ar smaller an d less revolu-
tionary than were the effects of the struggle on American men. The Declaration of In depen-
dence, it will be recalled, claimed that all men were created equal but said nothing about
women: Th is did not mean that A merican women as a group were lesspa triotic than men or
that their contribu tions to the war effort were u nimportant or entirely in the con vention al "[e-
s
male" mold typified by Betsy Ross sewing of the flag. Hu nd reds of women got close to the
fighting. Th ey traveled with the arm.~, doing most of the cooking an d lau ndering and other-
wise assisting the soldiers in thefie ld. The famo us "M olly Pitcher" really did helpfire cannon
at the Ba ttle of Monmouth, bu t the soldiers gave her that nickname (her actual name was
Mary Ludwig Hays) because ofher labor of bringing pitchers of waterfor the wounded f rom a
nearby well.

In this essay Mary Beth Norton, a prof essor at Cornell University, describes the wartime activ-
ities of an organiza tion of. pat riotic Philadelphia women. Prof essor Norton is the au thor of
Th e Briti sh Ameri can s and of Liber ty'S Dau ghters, an account of how women were af
fected by the Revolution.

W hen news . that the British had taken Cha rlesto n , South Caro lina, reach ed
Ph ilad elphia in May of 1780, merch ants and govern me n t officials reacted to th e
disaster by taking steps to sup po rt th e inflated Pennsylvani a cu rre ncy and solicit
funds to pay new army recrui ts. An d in a tota lly un exp ected move, th e women of
Phil ad elphia eme rged from their usual domestic roles to an noun ce th eir intention ·
of founding the first large-scale wom en 's association in Am erican hist ory. As the
Penn sylvan ia Gazette put it delic ate ly, the ladi es ado p ted "public spirited measures."
Up until then , Ame rica n wom en had not engage d in an y orga nized support of
the war effort. Now that the Ameri can soldiers wer e suffering a serious loss of
morale in th e aftermath of the fall of Charlesto n , the women proposed a nation-
wide female-con ceived and -exec u ted relie f effort to aid the hard-pressed troops.
Th e cam pa ign began June 10, 1780, with the publicati on of a broadside, The Senti-
ments of an American Woman . It was compo sed by thirty-three-year-o ld Esthe r de
Berdt Reed , who was to becom e president of the Ladie s Association . The daughter
of a prominent Engli sh sup porte r of Ameri ca, Esthe r had lived in Pennsylvania
on ly sinc e her 1770 marri age to Joseph Reed, but she was none theless a sta u nc h pa-
triot. H er Sentiments asserted forc efull y tha t Am eri can wom en were determined to
do more than offer "barren wishes" for the success of the anny: the y wanted to be
"re ally useful ," like "th ose heroines of antiqui ty, who have render ed their sex illus-
trious ." '

i-
(
128 T HE BIRTH OF A NATI ON
I
Mrs. Reed built her case ca refully. She began by reviewing th e history of
wom~n 's patri oti c ac tivity, referr ing alike to fem ale mon ar ch s, Rom an matrons, and
O ld Testam e n t wome n . Link ing herself explicitly to suc h forernothers, she de-
clared , "I glory in all wh ich my sex has don e gre at an d co mme ndable. I call to m ind
with en th usiasm and with adm ira tion all th ose acts of co urage , of co nstancy and pa-
tri ot ism , which history h as transmitted to us." Mrs. Reed h eld up J oan of Arc as an
es pec ially app rop riate model, fo r she had dri ven from Fra nce "the ances tors of
th ese same British , wh ose odious yoke we have just shaken off,' ahd :~ h om it is nec-
essary th at we drive fro m thi s Con tine n t." ." "
Esth er Reed went on to ad dress th e qu esti on of p ropriety. She ad mitte d th at
so me men m ight perh aps "disap prove" wom en 's ac tivity. But in th e curren t dismal
state of publi c affairs anyo ne who raised th is objection would n ot be "a good citi-
zen." Any m an who trul y un der sto od th e soldiers ' n eeds co uld on ly "applaud our
efforts for th e rel ief of th e armies which de fend our lives, our possessions, our lib-
e rty." By thus h inting th at critics of her sc he me wou ld be unpatrioti c, Mrs. Reed
cleverl y d efused possibl e traditi onal ist objections.
. Finally, she out lined her plan . Fe ma le Am erican s sho uld ren ounce "vain orna-
m en ts," d on at in g the money they wou ld no lon ger spe nd on elaborate clothing
and hairstyles to th e pa trio t tro op s as "the offering of the Ladies."
Her ap pe al drew an imm edi at e resp on se . Three days afte r th e publica tion of
th e bro ad side , thirty-six Phil ad elphia wom en m et to d ecid e how to carry ou t its sug-
ges tions. T he results of their d elib erati on s were p rinted as an appe n dix to Senti-
ments when it appeare d in th e Ju ne 21 issue of th e Pennsylva n ia Gazette. Ent itle d
"Ideas, re lative to th e mann er of forward ing to th e American' Sol diers, th e Presen ts
of th e American Wom en ," the plan prop osed nothing less tha n th e mobili zation of
th eerui re fem ale populati on . Co ntribu tio ns wou ld be accepted from any wom an ,
in any amou nt. A "Treas ure ss" ap poi n te d in each co u n ty wou ld oversee th e co llec-
tion of mo ney, keep in g careful records of all su ms received . Ove rseein g the work of
each state's co u nty treasuresses would be the wife of its go vernor, who would serve
as "Tre asuress-Ge ne ral." Ultima te ly, all co n tribu tions would be sent to Martha
Washi ngton to b e used for the ben efit of th e tro op s. O n ly o ne restriction was
placed on th e co nt rib utions' use: "It is a n extraord inary bo unty in tend ed to render
the con d itio n of the sold ier more p leasa nt , and no t to hold place of th e thin gs
whic h th ey oug h t to receive fro m th e Con gr ess, o r from th e States."
Th e Phil ad elphians se t to work co llec ting fu nds even befo re the p ubli ca tion of
the ir "Ide as." Dividing th e city into ten equal distri cts, th ey assigne d between two
an d five wom en to eac h a rea . Traveling in pairs, th e ca nvassers visited every house ,
requesting co n tribu tio ns from "eac h woma n and girl with out any distin cti on."
Amo ng th e collectors in th e fifth ward , Mark et to Ches tnut Streets, were Sar ah
Fra n klin Bach e , th e daughter of Benjamin Fra n klin , and An n e Willin g (Mrs.
Ten ch ) Francis;Julia Stoc kton (Mrs. Be njam in ) Rush wo rked in distri ct six; and in
th e eigh th ward , Spruc e to Pine Streets , th e canvasse rs include d Alice Lee Sh ip-
pen, a mem ber of th e p rom inent Virgini a famil y and wife of a Phi lad elphi a ph ysi-
cian ; Mrs. Rob ert Morris; and Sally McKean , wife of th e Pennsylvani a ch ief justice .
T he fact th at wom en of suc h social stan d ing undertook th e very unfeminin e task of
soliciting co n trib u tio ns n ot on ly fro m friends and neighbors but also fr om
'"
WOM EN IN T HE AMERJCAN REVOL UT IO N 129
s-. strangers, poo r people , and servan ts supports th e con tent ion of on e of the
i.: Phil ad elphians tha t th ey "con side red it as a great h on our" to be invited to serve as
~
:l
canvassers. In a letter to a frien d in An na po lis, an ano nym ous part icip ant d eclar ed
~
...
.
~
th at "those who were in th e co un try returned with out delay to th e city to fu lfil th eir
duty. Others put off th eir dep artu re; th ose whose state of h ealth was the most deli-
cate , found stre ng th in th eir patriotism." Wh en a n ursing moth er was re luc tant to
leave h er bab y, th is witn ess recorded , a frien d volunteered to nurse the chi ld along
with her own.
Accou nts of th e women 's reception differ. Th e ano nymo us letter-writer
claime d th at "as th e cause of th eir visit was kn own , th ey were received with all the
res pe ct du e to so hon ourabl e a co m mission ." Sh e exp laine d th at no hou se was
~.
o mitte d, n ot even th ose inh abit ed by th e pacific Qu aker s, and th at even th er e the
subscr ip tion m et with su ccess, for "no th ing is more easy tha n to reconcile a ben efi-
ce nt schem e with a b en eficent religion ." But Anna Rawle-her self a Qu ake r-de-
scribe d th e canvass of Qu aker hom es quite differently. "Of all absurdi ties the
Lad ies go ing abo ut for mon ey exceed ed everyth ing," she told her mother Reb ecca
Sho emaker, whose second husband , Samuel , was a loyalist exile. Sar ah Bach e had
'::- co me to th eir d oor, An na reported , bu t had turned away, saying th at "she did n ot
ch use to face Mrs. S. or h er dau ghters." Ann a charac terized th e collectors as "so ex-
tremely importunat e th at peop le were obliged to give th em some thi ng to ge t rid of
th em ." Even "the m ean est ale h ou se " did n ot escap e th eir n et , an d men wer e ha-
rassed until th ey co ntribu ted in th e nam e of th eir wives or swee thearts. "I fancy
th ey raised a co n side ra ble su m by thi s ex tort ed contribution ," An na co nclude d , but
she felt th e re quests were "carr ied to such an ex cess of mean ess as th e n oblen ess of
no cause whatsoever co uld excuse."
It is impossible to kn ow whe ther th e letter-writer's examples of wom en proudly
giving to the ca use or Ann a Rawles acco unt of relu ctant contribu tors dunn ed in to
A n engraved portrait ofMart ha Washington,
based on an unfinished pai nt ing by Gilbert Stu-
art. T he likeness was made at about the time of
the Ladies Association fu nd-raising drive.
 ' . ' 1:':';":'<
.,"
130 T HE BIRT H OF A NAT ION
I
paying Up is m o re acc urate. ' Bu t by th e tim e the Phi ladelp hia can vass was co m-
pleted , in early july, m ore th an $300,000 Co ntine nt al do llars had be e n co llec ted
from over six teen hund red people. Beca use of inflatio n, thi s amo u nt wh e n co n-
vert ed to sp eci e equa led o n ly abo u t $7,500, bu t even th at rep resented a co ns ider-
ab le sum . In fin ancial terms, th e city canvass was a sma shi ng success. An d it was a
success in o ther ways as well, for the Phil ade lp h ia wom en sough t and achieved sym-
bo lic goals th at went far beyo nd th e co llec tio n of mo n ey. As ' t~e ,an!\lnymo us ca n-
vasse r p ut it, th e women hop ed that th e "ge ne ra l be nefi ce n t" subscrip tio n "will p ro-
duce th e hap py effect of destroying in testin e discords, even to' rh e very last see ds ,"
Th at h o pe was particu lar ly appropriate fo r Ph ilad elp h ia wom en, so me of whom
had becom e not ori ou s durin g th e British occ upa tio n in 1777-78 fo r co nsorting
with enemy troops. T h e aut ho r of th e 1780 le tter allude d delicat ely to th at co nd uc t
whe n she ex plaine d th a t th e canvassers wan ted to "give some of o ur fem ale fellow
citizens an o pport u nity of relin qui sh ing forme r erro rs and of avowing a cha nge of
sen tim e nts by th eir co n tri bu tio ns to th e ge neral ca use of liberty and their co untry."
'T h e sym bo lism of th e fund driv e wa s n at ional as well as local. T h e participant,
wh ~ had so e nt h usiastica lly descr ibed th e ca nvassing, stressed th at th ro ugh th ei r
gifts Am erican wom en wou ld "grea tly prom ot e the p ublic cause , a nd b last th e
ho pes of th e e nem ies of this co u n try" by d emonstrati ng th e people 's un animou s
sup po rt o f the war. O thers also viewed the wome n's effor ts in th is ligh t: as ea rly as
j u ne 27, a laud ato ry essay signe d "So ng of Deb o ra " appeare d in the Penn sylvan ia
Packet. "It mu st strike th e ene my as with an apop lexy, to be inform ed , tha t th e
wom en of America are a tte ntive to the wants of the So ld iery," the au thor d eclared ,
arg uing that "it is no t th e quantity of th e mo n ey th at m ay be co llected, bu t th e idea
of favo ur an d affec tion d iscovered in thi s exert io n, th at will principally give life to
o ur ca use, and restore o u r affa irs," Urging o the rs to co py th e Philad elphian s, she
p redi ct ed th at "the wome n will re inspire th e war; and e nsure, fina lly, victory and
peace ."
In july, newsp ap ers th rough o ut th e co un try reprinted Sentiments, usu ally ac-
compan ied by th e d etai led co llec tio n p lan, and ed itors occas io nally added ex ho rta-
tio n s of th ei r own to th e wom en 's call fo r ac tio n . T he symbolic impo rtan ce of th e
su bscrip tio n was co nveyed to th e natio n by a freq uently reprinted "Le tte r from an
Offi cer at Ca mp, d ated june 29, 1780." The p atr ioti sm of Ph ilad elphia women "is a
subject of co nversa tio n with th e army," the office r wrote . "We d o not su ppo se th at
th ese con tri b utions can be any stable su p po rt to th e cam paign for any lengt h of
tim e; but, as it is a mark of res pec t to th e ar my, it ha s given particu lar satisfactio n,
a nd it may be a great temporary se rvice," fo r th e so ld iers had felt th em selves "ne-
glec te d " and forgo tte n by th eir fellow citize ns .
Su ccessful as th is p ub licity was in spreading the news of the Ph iladel p hians '
plan , Esther Reed and he r fellow orga n izers d id not re ly so le lyupo n pri nt to in-
volve o the r wom en in th eir associatio n. T h e ano nymo us parti cip ant told her An-
napolis frie nd th at aft er th ey co m ple ted th e city co llec tio ns the women wrote circu-
lar letters to ac q ua in tances in o the r co u n ties and town s, "and we have it in charge
to keep up thi s corres po n de nce unt il th e wh ole subscr ip tio n sha ll be co m pleted."
T h e wom en o f Tr enton , Ne w j ersey, were th e firs t .to co py the Phi ladelp h ian s'
lead . In lat e j u ne th ey began to o rganize th eir own subscri p tio n campaign, and o n
WOMEN I N T HE AMERICAN REVOLU T ION 131
j uly 4 at a ge neral meet in g th ey outli ned plan s for a sta tewide associatio n. Wh en
th ey announ ced their sche me in the newspape rs, they published "Sentim en ts of a
Lady in New j ersey" in deliber at e imi ta tio n of th e Ph ilad elphian s. "Le t us an ima te
!: o ne an other to co nt ribu te fro m o ur p ur ses in p roporti on to o ur circu ms ta nce s to-
war ds th e support a nd co mfort of the brave men wh o are fighting and suffe ring fo r
Ir:
us o n the field ," the au tho r urged her fema le co m patriots . Althou gh th e final ac-
,I
co u n ts of th e Ne wj ersey ca mpa ign have evide n tly failed to su rvive, in mi d-jul y the
secreta ry for wa rd ed nearly $15,500 to George Washington as an initial co nt ribut io n
to th e fun d .
Maryland wom en also resp onded q uickly to the Philad elphi ans' requ est. Mrs.
!,. Th om as Sirn Lee, th e wife of th e gove rnor, wro te to frie nds in eac h co unty to ask
them to serve as treasu resses, and byj uly 14 the o rga n izatio n was ac tively solicitin g
r
• mon ey in Annapolis. In that city alone , even th ou gh many residen ts h ad left town
for the sum me r, more than $16,000 in cu rre ncy was co llec ted, with add itio na l su m s
in specie. Wri ting wi th parti cul ar referen ce to the Marylan der s, the ed itor of th e
Pennsylva n ia Packet rhap sodized th at "the wom en of every part of th e glo be ar e un -
1
"
d erobligatio ns to th ose of Ame rica , for having sho wn th at females are capa b le of
th e hi gh est po litical virt u e ."
Ii On ly in o ne other sta te, Virgi nia, is there evide nce of successful Lad ies Associa-
tio n activity. Martha Wayles j effe rson , whose hu sband T hom as was th en the gover-
no r, received a co py of the Phi lad elph ian s' plan di rect ly fro m Martha Washin gto n .
t· Sin ce sh e was in poor healt h . Mrs. j efferson d ecid ed to encourage her frie nds to
J' take part bu t no t to assume an ac tive ro le herself. Int erestin gly eno ugh, the letter
she wro te o n Aug ust 8 to Elea nor Madi son is th e so le piece of her corres po nde nc e
~ exta nt to da y. In it she asse rte d th a t "I u ndert ake with chea rfu lne ss the d uty of fur-
j. n ishin g to my co un trywo men a n o p portu nity of proving th at they also parti cip at e
of those virtuous feelin gs" of patrio tism . T h e fo llowin g day an an no u nce me n t of
the cam paign appeared in the Virginia Gazette. On ly fragm entary reco rd s of the
ca mp aign have ever been locat ed , but th ey indicate that co u nty treasuresses gath-
ered total currency co nt ributio ns ran ging from £ 1,560 (Albe ma rle) to $7,506
(Pri nc e William ).
T he assoc iatio n 's o rga n izing effo rts in o ther sta tes see m to have failed not be -
t, cause of lack of will or in terest but because of lack of fin an cial resources. Han nah
Lee Corbin , a Virgini a wi d o w, to ld he r siste r Alice Sh ip pe n th at "the scheme of ra is-
t'.: ing money for th e So ld iers wou ld be good-if we ha d it in o ur po wer to do it. " But
L
1
she was alrea dy "so heavily Lad ed " th at she was havi ng to sell her pro perty j ust to
ob tain "co mm o n support ." Ca tharine Litt lefie ld (Mrs. Na tha nael) Greene, rep lying
to Esth er Reed 's circular le tter, told a similar sto ry. "T h e distressed exhaus ted Sta te
'.
,e of th is little Governm ent [Rho de Islan d ) p revents us fr om gratif)~ng o u r war me st
h Inclinat ion s," she de clar ed , becau se o ne -fifth of its te rritory, includ ing Newp ort,
was still in British han ds. "T he Wom en of this Sta te are an ima ted with th e livel iest
fi:, Sen tim ents of Liberty" an d wi sh to offe r re lief to "o ur brave and patien t Soldiery,"
L,·
I ~
she excl aimed , "bu t alas! the pecu liar circ u ms tances of th is Stat e ren ders th is im-
practicable ."
1,- 1. '(.
Nevert heless, th e wom en 's assoc iatio n still co llec ted su bs tan tial sums of mo ney.
i~~
I.!!
Its o rga n ize rs next had to decide how to disburse th e funds in acco rdanc e with
f (.
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1]2 T HE BIRTH OF A NATI ON WOMEN IN TH E AMERICAN REVOLUTION 133

th eir origina l aim cif presenting so ldie rs with "some extraord inary an d un expect ed
relief. . . the offering of the Ladi es." Sin ce Martha Wash ington had returned to Vir-
gin ia by th e tim e th e coll ection was com ple ted. th e associ ation' s lead ers ag ree d to
leave th e disp osition of th e fu nd s to h er husband . T he re was on ly one p rob lem :
George Washington had p lan s for the m on ey th at differed sharply fro m th ei rs. "Al-
th o' th e terms of th e assoc iatio n seem 'in some measure to pr ec llid e"th e pu rc hase
of any art icle. which th e public is bound to find. " Washington-told Joseph Reed in
lat e June . "I wou ld . nev erth eless. recommend a provision of shirts in preferen ce to
any thing else ." O n July 31. Esther Reed resp onded to th e gen eral. H er mu ch re-
vised . ame n de d . an d over writte n draft. with all its tactfu l ph rasin g. suggests so me -
th ing of th e co nste rna tion his proposal ca used amo ng th e ca nvasse rs who had
work ed so hard an d so long to collec t th e money.
Not on ly had she fou nd it difficult to locate lin en . sh e reported. she had also
learn ed that Pennsylvan ia was p lanning to se nd twa thousand sh ir ts to its tro op s
and th at a large sh ipme n t of cloth in g had re cen tly arri ved from Fra nce . "T hes e
Circumsta nces togather with an Idea which prevai ls th at th e Soldiers migh t not
co nsider it in th e Light." she began . th en crossed ou t th e words followin g "Sol-
di er s." and co nt inued . "Soldiers wou ld not be so mu ch gra tified by bestowin g an
article to which th ey loo k up on th e mselves en titled from th e public as in some
other method which wou ld co nvey mo re fully th e Id ea of a reward for past Services
& an in cit em ent to future Du ty." There she ende d th e sen tence. having been so in-
volved in her intricate prose th at sh e failed to realize she had co m pose d a frag-
m ent witho ut a ve rb. Un da u nted . she forged breathlessly ahea d . "Some who are of
thi s 'Op in ion prop ose turning th e whol e of the Mon ey into hard Dollars & giving
ea ch Sold ier 2 at h is own di sp osal." H aving mad e her point. Mrs. Reed atte m p ted
to softe n the fact that she was d aring to dispute the judgmen t of th e Co m ma nde r-
in-Chief of th e Ameri can army. "T h is method I hint on ly," she ad de d . "bu t wou ld
no t by any m eans wish to ado p t th at or any other with out your full approb ation ."
To furth er lessen her ap ostasy. she also assured Washin gton th at if sh ir ts were still
need ed after th e "fresh suppl ies" had b een distribu ted . som e of the mon ey co uld
be app lied to th at use.
Washington 's respo n se was. as Mrs. Reed la ter to ld her hu sband. "a little formal
as if he was hurt by our askin g his Opinion a secon d time & our not following h is
Directions after desirin g him to give the m." In his letter. th e ge neral suggested th at
"a taste of hard money m ay be productive of mu ch di scontent as we h ave non e bu t
'~
Accou nt of yo ur Stewards h ip in th is Business & tho you will receive no thanks if you
do it well. you will bear much Blam e should it be otherwise ."
Unfort una te ly. however. Esther de Berdt Reed had no ch an ce to "fin ish th e
Busin ess" she h ad so ably begun ; she di ed of dysentery th e following month. T he
leadersh ip of th e association was assume d by Sara h Franklin Bach e. with th e assis-
tanc e of four other wom en . T h ey took control of th e fun ds th at had been in Mrs.
Reed 's possession , overseeing th e purch ase of lin en and th e sh irt mak ing process.
By ea rly December. whe n the Marquis de Chas te llux visited Sarah Bach e 's h om e,
more th an two th ou sand sh ins ha d been co mp leted . H e recorded th at "on eac h
sh irt was th e name of the married or unmarri ed lady who mad e it." Late that sa me
-rnon th, th e wom en gave th e shi rts to the Depu ty Qu art ermaster General in
Ph ilade lp hia. an d Mrs. Bach e to ld Ge ne ra l Washi ngt on th at "we wish th em to be
worn with as mu ch pleas ur e as th ey were mad e."
In February. 1781 . Wash in gton offere d profuse th anks to th e members of th e
co m mittee tha t had succeede d Esthe r Reed as lead ers of th e associatio n. T he orga-
nizati on 's con tributions, h e d eclar ed . entitled its part icip ants "to an equal pl ace
with an y who h ave precede d th em in th e walk of fem ale pa trio tism. It embe llishes
th e American ch ar acter with a n ew trait; by proving th at th e love of coun try is
blende d with th ose softer dom estic virt ues. wh ich have always been allowed to be
more p ecu liarly you r own ."
Washingt on 's gra titude was ge n uin e, an d th e army ce rtain ly n eed ed th e sh irts .
but th e fact rem ain s th at the m embers of th e associa tio n, who had em barked on a
!
!
I'

d epreciat ed paper for th eir pay." H e also pred icted tha t som e soldie rs' taste for
drink wou ld lead th em "in to ir regulari ties an d disorders " and th at th erefo re th e %
proposed two-d ollar bo unty "will be th e means of brin ging punishm ent" on the m .
No . he in sisted ; if the lad ies wanted to em ploy th ei r "benevole n t don ation " well.
the mon ey sh ould be used fo r shi rts-which th ey sho u ld mak e to save th e cos t of Sarah Franklin Bache took over the
hi rin g sea mstresses . Faced with Washi ngton 's ada ma n t stan ce . Esthe r Reed re- -t.':; leadership of the Association aJier M rs.
treated . "I sha ll n ow e ndeavour to get th e Sh irts made as soon as poss ible." she told Reed died in 1780. Th is portrait 11)'
h e r hu sband . an d h e ag reed with her d ecision . "T he Ge neral is so decided th at you
have no Cho ice left so th at the soo ne r you fini sh the Business the be tte r." h e wrote
i: J ohn H oppner was paint ed a nu mber
ofyears later. M rs. Bache was Ben-
on Aug us t 26. re mi nd ing her th at "it wi ll be necessary for you to re n de r a publick ja min Franklin 5 dau ghter.
'134 Til E BIRTH OF A NATlO l\

very unfemin in e enterprise, were ultimat ely deflected irito a tradition al dom estic
role, The ge neral's encomiu m mad e thi s exp licit by its refer en ce s to "fe ma le patri o-
tism " an d "those softe r d om estic virtues," wh ich presumably included th e ab ility to
sew, Ironically and symbolica lly, th e Phil ad elphia wom en of 1780, wh o had tried to
chart an indep end ent co u rse for th em selves and to es tab lish an u np re cedented na-
tionwid e fema le organ izatio n, en de d up as wh at o ne am used historian h as termed
"Gen eral Washington 's Sewing Circle ."
Th e am useme n t h as no t been co nfi ne d to subseq ue nt generatio ns, for male
Revoluti on~,ry leaders too regarded th e women's efforts with wry con descens ion ,
J ohn Ada ms wro te to Benj am in Rush , "the Lad ies havin g undertak en to support
Am eri can Indepe nd en ce , se ttles the poin t." Th e wom en , o n th e o the r h and , saw
n othing to smile at in the affair. Kitty Livin gston , whose mother was a New J ersey
ca nvasser, sen t a co py of The Sentiments of an Amvican Woman to her siste r Sara h J ay,
then in Spa in . "I am pro ude r tha n ever of my charm ing co u n trywome n, " Sara h told
h er husba nd J ohn in forw arding th e bro adside to him . Abigail Adam s had a similar
reaction , o ne th at sta nds in sha rp co n tra st to h er husband 's. Mrs. Ada ms took th e
assoc iatio n as a sign th at "virt ue exis ts, and publick sp irit lives-lives in the Bosoms
of the Fai r Dau ghter s of Am e rica . . , ."
Th e ano nymous Ph ilad elphian who kept h er An napolis friend up-to-dat e o n
th e lad ies' organ ization was still more forthright: "Some person s have amused
th ems elves with th e importan ce which we have given it," she rem arked, alludi ng to
what must have been wides pread co n descensio n , "I co nfess we have mad e it a seri-
ou s busi ness, and with grea t reason ; an obj ect so interesting was ce rta in ly worthy an
extrao rdinary atte n tio n ." She and h er fellow ca nvassers had "co nsecrated every mo-
m ent we could spa re from o ur domestic co ncern s, to th e public good, " end u ring
"with pl ea sure, th e fatigu es and inconvenien ces insep arable from such a task," be-
cau se th ey cou ld reflect p roudly o n th e fact th at "wh ilst our frien ds were exposed to
th e hardships and d an gers of th e fields of war for o ur prot ection , we wer e exe rt ing
a t hom e o ur littl e lab ours to administer to the ir com fo rt an d alleviate th eir toil."