Women's Roles In The Revolutionary War

Women of the eighteenth century had very different roles before the Revolutionary War than after, and the movement of gender equality can be attributed to their increased importance in wartime. Before the war, women had primarily one job: manage and care for her household. While men were responsible for a family’s income, security, and overall leadership, women were responsible for the well-being of her home and children. Having many children was considered a wife’s duty, as sons would help their father, and daughters their mother. As a result, a woman’s place was often in the home, and when out in public, they were expected to be quiet, humble, and submissive. These gender roles, however, started to change as Britain began to exert its influence onto the colonies.
Not only that, but a ‘Stamp Tax’ was also imposed upon any postal items, official papers, and legal documents in general, a move that brought much revolt against the crown. The colonies, voicing their displeasure against these new costs, began boycotting British goods. The demand, however, was still very much present, and supply was needed in the colonies. This task fell to women, who began making garments and other clothing items previously consumed from Britain. Blankets, fine silks, and satin luxuries were all made by colonial women’s hands. Even soap, glass, paint, lead, tea, paper, and other household goods had to be made available by other means, which often fell to the women. Wearing homemade clothing or using homemade goods was now seen as a patriotic act instead of an act of frugality, and it gave the women a great sense of pride to be playing a major part of the resistance against