ABSTRACT
Women played a central role in the history of the American Revolution. Without the support of women the resistance to the British taxation policies prior to the War of Independence would not have been possible. The first documents in this chapter examine aspects of the pre-war resistance from the perspective of women. Deborah Franklin’s letter (document 1) from Philadelphia to her husband Benjamin, who was serving as a colonial agent in London, describes the rioting which accompanied the resistance to the Stamp Act. In a subsequent letter (document 2) Benjamin Franklin reports the repeal of the Stamp Act and resumption of transatlantic trade. He enumerates in detail the types of articles traded between Britain and the colonies and gives us an insight into the buying habits of urban women in America on the eve of the Revolution. These women would be essential to the later success of colonial boycotts when they opted to forego imported goods in support of the resistance movement against British taxation, as demonstrated in documents 4 and 5, which present two views of female colonial resistance. The extract from the Boston Evening Post (document 4) presents an account of 300 Boston women signing a pledge to boycott tea, while a famous British cartoon (document 5) mocked North Carolina women for signing a similar non-importation agreement at the “Edenton Tea Party.” Owing to Benjamin Franklin’s prolonged absences, Deborah Franklin exercised the power of attorney in looking after his business interests (document 3). This legal document, in which she signed over the power of attorney to James Wilson, shows how the resistance movement required women to exercise increased public authority.
