Patriot and Loyalist Women of the American Revolution: How Feminine Figures Dealt with the Challenges of War and the Confines of Gender

Abstract

When war struck out between American colonists and the British crown in 1775, the political and social climate of what would become the United States was forever changed. The colonists took up arms and created militias to battle against what they considered to be tyrannical British rule. In the colonies themselves, another battle was being waged between citizens that considered themselves American patriots and those whom remained loyal to the British rule. While the history of this struggle has been told countless times by examining the involvement of men, what was the role for the women who aligned themselves with each side during these wartime affairs? This paper aims to focus on a group of four women, who represented both sides of this internal colonial conflict. These four women are Mercy Otis Warren, Lucy Knox, Grace Growden Galloway, and Elizabeth Murray Inman. By examining these women's journals, diaries, and letters of correspondence, one can see that every action that these women took was defined in some aspect by their femininity and the home itself. They all took on two roles during the war, with their main role being that of a traditional 18th century colonial woman and the second, that of a person trying to survive a war torn environment. Their lives were focused around the home and although the war changed aspects of their lives, the importance of domesticity remained.