Women Present At Valley Forge Essay

Lydia Darragh was a brave Quaker Housewife living on Second Street when the British occupied Philadelphia on September 26th, 1777. Many major wars were taking place, and they were known as the American Revolution when referred to as one. She supported the war effort and was read out of her meetings because of that support. There is no concrete proof of Darragh’s stories, but a family member brought her memorable actions to life. That member was Darragh’s daughter, Ann, who recounted the story years after it played out. Since Ann’s testimonies have some information that does not fit with other accounts, some historians have dismissed it as a fake tale. The British made Darragh move out of her house so that they could use that area. Lydia wanted to stay because she had two children to take care of. She decided to ask Lord Howe for permission to remain where she was. On her way, she met up with a British officer who surprisingly turned out to be a second cousin, Captain Barrington, from Ireland. Due to Barrington, Darragh was allowed to stay in her home while keeping a room available for British officers to hold meetings. Lydia Darragh carried out many courageous actions to support the Americans in the war.

During the American Revolution, not only did men have to face the struggles of war time atmosphere, but women had to as well. The country during the war was divided into three different groups of people; the loyalists, the patriots and the remaining people who did not care. Catherine Van Cortlandt, a loyalist had to endure different struggles then the patriot women Eliza Pinckney and Abigail Adams. However, parts of their stories are similar when it came to their family struggles.

The role of women played in any given war is quite often severely underestimated. This sentiment especially goes for the American Revolutionary War, where women actually played an absolutely essential role in our victory against the British. Not only where there different types of women who had helped, but there were many different ways each of them helped--particularly as nurses to help save lives and tend to injured soldiers. Without women helping in the war, we would have most certainly lost (National History Education Clearinghouse).

When a person is in a stressful situation on instinct they have two options, fight or flight. In war the same is true. War is not always bayonets and bullets, it’s the decisions you make during times of hardship. A soldier has to make the decision whether to keep fighting for what they believe in no matter what the stakes or to flee. In December of 1777, George Washington and his troops arrived at Valley Forge. Since the summer of 1775, all has gone well for the Continental Army. More recently Washington was presumably unable to stop General Howe and his British soldiers from claiming the national capital of Philadelphia. With Howe and his army of approximately 18,000 comfortably quartered in Philadelphia,

In the early 1800s, women were second-class citizens. Women were expected to restrict their area of interest to the home and the family. Women were not encouraged to have a real education or pursue a professional career. Also, women were considered unequal to their husbands and all males legally and socially. The day-to day lives of men and women were quite clearly divided during the late 1800s. Woman in the late 1800s were treated inhumane because of society, class, and their rights.

They opened up their homes to the wounded, raised money for and provided food and clothing to the Army. There are even several recorded instances of women serving as spies or soldiers in disguise. Most of the active participants however, were in the form of what was called "camp followers". While some of these were women were prostitutes, many others were wives, daughters and mothers of soldiers who followed the Army because they were unable to support themselves after their men left for war. They served the Continental Army as nurses, cooks, laundresses, and water bearers. These women became the earliest American examples of women who supported the military to "free a man to fight" as they performed jobs usually done by male soldiers.

There were quite a few women who had stories to tell about the roles that they played during the war. Many women’s stories involved small acts of rebellion, while others stories were much more exciting. Such women with smaller acts of rebellion are Hannah Israel, who saved her husband’s pride along with his cattle (Hanafore). Sybil Ludington warned soldiers of the oncoming British (Zitek). Patience Wright was an American informant in England (Pavao).

As Martha Ballard writes in her diary, "A womans work is never Done as the Song says and Happy is shee [sp] whose strength holds out to the end of the rais [race]." Women, like Ballard, contributed useful and skilled labor, though it was often derided, mocked, or overlooked. However, the work of women varied greatly, due to location, social class, race, time-period, and more. This essay will focus on two very different groups of women, early female settlers of the Chesapeake area during the seventeenth century and the Native American women of the Iroquois Confederacy, spread across northeastern New York and Ontario during the same time period. Through the analysis, the necessity of the study of women 's work will become evident; it aids historians in understanding women 's past: including gender perceptions, the myriad of experiences faced by different women, and the changes over that occurred over time.

Martha Washington served American Army during the revolutionary war and called on the women of colonies to help Continental Army’s soldiers through monetary contributions and supplying donations which helped in the stability of American Army. She organized the huge donation campaign named “The Offering of the Ladies” to support the colonial soldiers and collected a huge amount of money at that time. The soldiers really appreciated all the efforts made by Martha Washington during her stay at Valley Forge. She provided them with the services like cloths, food and with the first aid services to the sick, wounded and dying soldiers. Also, helped the Army with food when they were starving and with cloths when they were freezing with cold with the help of other women in the colonies. She assumed the prominent role as the caretaker of

During the 1760’s, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington settled down and her life revolved around her home and her family. As tensions with Britain rose, she became a target and Washington convinced her to leave Mount Vernon. She would spend time with family and friends while moving from location to location. Martha would stay with George during the winter throughout the years of the war at places like Valley Forge and Morristown, New Jersey. There were many other women at the camps also but she had more responsibility than them. She was Washington’s secretary and his representative. She tended to the sick and wounded. She also created a camp social center by inviting guests to the camp. Martha also organized a women’s sewing circle that would often mend clothing. All of these things were part of the success of the war. After the war, her son’s widow remarried and two of Martha’s grandchildren

William Henry Powell portrays, “Committee of congress at Valley Forge” shows the congress, Washington, and soldiers at Valley Forge (Paine 1866). George Washington was the leader of the continental army, and a delegate in the continental congress. The committee of five, who were also in the congress, stayed at Valley Forge for a few weeks to helped the army get resources and supplies. During this time, George Washington wrote a 35 page report about the relationship between the congress and the Americans. This shows George Washington’s leadership and how he is supporting the army. Before this, the soldiers were barely scraping by in difficult conditions. Many soldiers were getting sick and not getting enough food. The supplies brought by the congress helped reduce sickness and gave hope to the

Did Martha Washington significantly impact the people in her life and also the people of the Revolutionary War? What did she do for this country, America? What did she even do in the Revolutionary War? How can a woman be significant in a time where woman weren’t treated the way men were? What is significant about her as a person? Martha Washington was a significant role in both her children’s and husband’s life as well as during the war. Martha helped her husband during the war as well as helped the soldiers during the cold, harsh winter. Martha was the first ever First Lady since she was married to the First President, and she is also considered to be one of the founding mothers of the United States. Martha was married twice, was very wealthy, and significantly helped everyone during the Revolutionary War.

When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing in the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are

Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War is a work by Drew Gilpin Faust, a renowned American historian and current President of Harvard University. Published in 1996 by the University of North Carolina Press in Chapel Hill, this is one of the several literary works by Faust describing history of the Civil War and of the American South. This nonfiction book includes 257 pages detailing the struggles and labors of the women on the Southern home front during the American Civil War, as well as 67 pages of notes, a bibliographic note, and an index. The book illustrates the hardships of wives and their children during the war and describes many changes they endured throughout the nineteenth century.

Ever since then women proved that they can work in a man’s workplace and do just as well. Any job that was a man’s, was a women’s as well. Women were soon “the most needed workers of all” according to Brenda Ralf Lewis. Factory workers became known as “the soldiers without guns”. If women hadn’t stepped up to the line, winning the war wouldn’t have been as easy as it was for us. Not only did the women in factories and shipyards have a big part in doing their part in the war contributions, but so did the women who were out on the field fighting alongside with their men risking their very life.