Prof. Billy Smith, Montana State University

Prof. Billy Smith, Montana State University October 21, 2010 Helena, MT “The Coming of the American Revolution, White Men, White Women”

Political and Legal Status of White Women  Coverture  Legally “covered” by males  “Dependent”  Cannot own property  Cannot vote  Cannot choose husbands  “Inferior”  Intellectually and morally

Teaching With Biography  Humanizes history  Individuals illustrate broader themes

Abigail Adams  Self-Educated  Enlightened  Chooses husband  Limited by laws  Already at a young age, she is extraordinary and has broken the norm  Over the next 60 years, the Revolutionary Era transforms women’s (and men’s) ability to make choices.  Abigail chafes at the restrictions

Women’s Power and Capabilities (Excerpts from Abigail Adams) (1776): “In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than you ancestors…

(1776) If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies, we are determined to foment a Rebellion…

Women Becoming Politicized in the process  Pre-Revolutionary Struggle (1765-1776)  Many protests over Stamp Act, etc  Women become involved in the resistance  Women make conscious decisions to participate  Decide not to buy things from Britain (especially clothing)  Women make clothing—we are going to wear “homespun” because it is our Patriotic Duty  Women getting together and sewing and so they talk politics  Brings women into the American political consciousness

Broadside, 1770 [LINK] Calls on Sons and Daughters of Liberty to boycott English goods

Politicized During War: Poorer Women Food Riots (1779) “Moral Economy” Force merchants to lower prices and stop hoarding grains Enforce “fair price” for bread Riots against limiting urban ownership of pigs Lots of poor families depend on this City governments start limiting pigs because there are so many animals in the streets (lots of poor people) Women

Wartime Experiences  Greater Independence and Responsibility

Lucy Knox to her soldier Husband (1777): “I hope you will not consider yourself as commander in chief of your own house, but be convinced that there is such a thing as equal command”

Adams’ tone changes in her letters—at first she constantly questions John for how to run the farm, but after a couple years, she is more confident of her abilities and actually is more efficient.

Youtube: Abigail Adams Was Brilliant [LINK]

Love and Marriage  Notions of Liberty & Independence  Women selecting husbands  Over 50 year period, young women increasingly assert themselves more  Marriage based more on affection and emotional satisfaction (diaries and letters show this transformation) Prior, especially for Puritans, it was an economic partnership  Males are no longer “supposed to” be the complete patriarchs (fathers are not absolute rulers trying to “break the wills” of their family members)  Family: Two Views (1741 vs. 1849) [LINK]

Benjamin Franklin: Renaissance Man

Average Lifespan Before 5 years old, over ½ the children will die If you can make it to 5 or 10 years old, you will most likely live to be about 60 years Compare and Contrast with how other women are living in American societies that aren’t European  In Iroquoian societies, women have deference and control  Matrilineal  Women could start and end wars  Women select representatives

European males can’t understand this system

Women have incredible power (used against Native Americans) because their perspective is that Indians can’t control their women

Seneca Falls, 1848 Women are influenced by the Native American women who lived in that area and the power they held

Molly Brant