Women of the American Revolution

This diverse collection of profiles on women who had an impact on the revolution offers a rare window into the female experience of the burgeoning nation.

Women of the American Revolution explores the trials of war and daily life for women in the United States during the War of Independence. Many names will be familiar, such as Martha Washington who traveled to winter camps to care for her husband and rally the troops, and Abigail Adams who ran the family’s farms and raised children during John’s long absences. Others are forgotten legends, like the mysterious spy Agent 355, or sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington, who was said to make an all-night ride to rally American forces.

Not all American women served the side of the revolutionaries. Peggy Shippen gambled on the loyalist side and paid severe consequences. From early historian Mercy Otis Warren to Dolley Madison, who defined what it means to be an American First Lady, women of the American Revolution strived to do more than they had previously thought possible during a time of hardship and civil war.