During the Revolutionary War, colonial women supported the
Revolution by boycotting British goods and raising money.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Explain how women contributed to the Revolutionary War efforts
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
The revolutionary movement began as resistance to Britain's attempt to control Americans
through taxes and trade restrictions.
In response to British taxes on tea, women who sided with thePatriot cause boycotted tea. They
also refused to buy imported fabrics like silk and satin, which were subject to
British import restrictions.
Women began spinning and weaving their own cloth at home using American materials. They also
scrimped and saved on their household budgets to have more to contribute to the war effort.
Women formed associations to raise money for the war effort, and, all together, raised over
$340,000.
Britain's efforts to control Americans' taxes and trade led Americans to rebel against British rule.
Movements organized around trade and economic issues remained central to the Patriot cause
through, and long after, the Revolution.
Britain's efforts to control Americans' taxes and trade led Americans to rebel against British rule.
Movements organized around trade and economic issues remained central to the Patriot cause all
through and long after the Revolution.
TERMS [ edit ]
nonimportation
A policy of refusing to import goods. During the Revolutionary War, Americans adopted a policy
of non­importation of British goods.
boycott
To abstain, either as an individual or group, from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some
organization as an expression of protest. Colonists boycotted British cloths and other goods
during the Revolutionary War.
non­consumption
The boycott of British clothing and other imports by Americans during the Revolutionary War
required the sacrifice of many consumer goods. This policy of non­consumption was an act of
resistance by the colonists.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [ edit ]
In the Revolutionary era, women were responsible for managing the domain of the
household. Connected to these activities, Patriot women participated in
the HomespunMovement. Instead of wearing or purchasing clothing made of imported
British materials, these women continued a long tradition of weaving and spun their own
cloth to make into clothing for their families. In the atmosphere preceding theAmerican
Revolution, this was a politically charged action. Just as spinning and weaving American
cloth became a mechanism of resistance, so did many acts of consumption and boycott.
The Homespun Movement
Non­importation and non­consumption became major weapons in the arsenal of the
American resistance movement against British taxation without representation. Women
played a major role in this method of defiance by denouncing silks, satins, and other
imported luxuries in favor of homespun clothing, generally made in spinning and quilting
bees. This sent a strong message of unity against British oppression . As a result
of nonimportation, many rural communities that were previously only peripherally involved
in the political movements of the day were brought "into the growing community of
resistance" because of the appeal "to the traditional values" of rural life. In 1769, Christopher
Gadsden made a direct appeal to colonial women, saying, "our political salvation, at this
crisis, depends altogether upon the strictest economy, that the women could, with propriety,
have the principal management thereof. "
Colonial Era Spinning
Many women supported the war effort by producing homespun clothing.
In addition to the boycotts of British textiles, the Homespun Movement served
the Continental Army by producing needed clothing and blankets. Benjamin Franklin's
youngest sister, Jane Mecom, was called on for her soap recipe and instructions on how to
build the soap­making forms. While male suppliers of such services were exempted from
military service in exchange for their goods, there was no such recompense for women who
did the same thing. Spinning, weaving, and sewing were seen as part of the female province;
as Patriots, they utilized their skills to assist the revolutionary cause.
Housewives used their purchasing power to support the Patriot cause. Women refused to
purchase British manufactured goods for use in their homes. The tea boycott, for example,
was a relatively mild way for a woman to identify herself and her household as part of the
Patriot war effort. While the Boston Tea Party of 1773 is the most widely recognized
manifestation of this boycott, it is important to note that for years previous to that explosive
action, Patriot women had refused to consume that very same British product as a political
statement. The Edenton Tea Party represented one of the first coordinated and publicized
political actions by women in the colonies. Fifty­one women in Edenton, North Carolina,
signed an agreement officially agreeing to boycott tea and other English products, and sent it
to British newspapers. Similar boycotts extended to avariety of British goods; women opted
to purchase or make "American" goods. Even though these "non­consumption boycotts"
depended on national policy (formulated by men), it was women who enacted them in
households.
Edenton Boycott
A British cartoon satirizing the Edenton Tea Party participants. The Edenton Tea Party was a
women­led boycott of British products. Because women ran the household, their purchasing power
was vital; boycotts such as this supported the war effort.
Women actively engaged the economy as well. In 1778, a group of women marched down to a
warehouse where it was rumored that a merchant was hoarding coffee. The women opened
the warehouse, lifted out the coffee, and "confiscated" it. During the Revolution, buying
American products became a patriotic gesture. In addition, frugality (a lauded
femininevirtue before the years of the Revolution) likewise became a political statement as
households were asked to contribute to the wartime efforts. The call of women to support the
war effort extended beyond contributions of the family economyof which they were in
charge; women were also asked to put their homes into public service for the quartering of
American soldiers and legislators as the republic took shape.
Women further helped the Patriot cause through organizations such as the Ladies
Association in Philadelphia, which recognized the capacity of every woman to contribute to
the war effort. The women of Philadelphia collected funds to assist in the war effort, which
Martha Washington then took directly to her husband, General George Washington. Other
states subsequently followed the example set by founders Esther Deberdt Reed (wife of
the Pennsylvaniagovernor) and Sarah Franklin Bache (daughter of Benjamin Franklin). In
1780, in the midst of the war, the colonies raised over $340,000 through these female­run
organizations.