Women in the American Revolution
Women in the American Revolution played various roles depending on their social status, race and political views.
Elizabeth Theus (1742–1797), age 23, first child of Theus and Elizabeth Shaumloffel, wearing a musket and powder horn crown and colonial militia outfit
Spinning in the colonial kitchen
Molly Pitcher loading cannon at the Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778
A portrait of Elizabeth Freeman.
The Edenton Tea Party was a political protest in Edenton, North Carolina, in response to the Tea Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1773. Inspired by the Boston Tea Party and the calls for tea boycotts and the resolutions of the first North Carolina Provincial Congress, 51 women, led by Penelope Barker, met on October 25, 1774, and signed a statement of protest vowing to give up tea and boycott other British products "until such time that all acts which tend to enslave our Native country shall be repealed." The boycott was one of the events that led up to the American Revolution (1775–1781). It was the "first recorded women's political demonstration in America".
Edenton Tea Pot. Sculpted in 1905, this teapot commemorates the 1774 Edenton Tea Party.
W.D. Cooper. "Boston Tea Party", The History of North America. London: E. Newberry, 1789.
Plaque commemorating the Edenton Tea Party, October 25, 1774. Located inside the North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The political cartoon of the Edenton Tea Party was published in the London press.
