Читать книгу Keeping the Republic - Christine Barbour - Страница 70

Neither was there any question that “all men” might somehow be a generic term for human beings that would include women. The Revolution proved to be a step backward for women politically: it was after the war that states began specifically to prohibit women, even those with property, from voting.¹³ That doesn’t mean, however, that women did not get involved in the war effort. Within the constraints of society, they contributed what they could to the American cause. They boycotted tea and other British imports, sewed flags, made bandages and clothing, nursed and housed soldiers, and collected money to support the Continental Army. Under the name Daughters of Liberty, women in many towns met publicly to discuss the events of the day, spinning and weaving to make the colonies less dependent on imported cotton and woolen goods from England, and drinking herbal tea instead of tea that was taxed by the British. Some women moved beyond such mild patriotic activities to outright political behavior, writing pamphlets urging independence, spying on enemy troops, carrying messages, and even, in isolated instances, fighting on the battlefields.¹⁴

Men’s understanding of women’s place in early American politics was nicely put by Thomas Jefferson, writing from Europe to a woman in America in 1788:

But our good ladies, I trust, have been too wise to wrinkle their foreheads with politics. They are contented to soothe & calm the minds of their husbands returning ruffled from political debate. They have the good sense to value domestic happiness above all others. There is no part of the earth where so much of this is enjoyed as in America.¹⁵

Women’s role with respect to politics at the time was plain. They may be wise and prudent, but their proper sphere was the domestic, not the political, world. They were seen as almost “too good” for politics, representing peace and serenity, moral happiness rather than political dissension, the values of the home over the values of the state. This narrative provided a flattering reason for keeping women in “their place” while allowing men to reign in the world of politics.

In Your Own Words

Outline the events and political motivations that led to the colonies’ split from England.