Frequently Asked Questions: Revolutionary Women

What roles did women have in the American Revolution? 

Women contributed to the American Revolution in many ways: as makers supplying the Continental Army, as camp followers who joined the army to fight, and as political thinkers and writers.

What was a camp follower?

Camp followers were women and children who traveled with their husbands and fathers as members of the Continental Army, doing laundry, selling food, and providing other important assistance. Both the British and Revolutionary armies had camp followers. 

Did any women fight in the Revolutionary War? 

Yes! We tell the story of one such woman at the Museum. Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man and joined the Continental Army.

Did Betsy Ross sew the first flag of the United States?

While Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia upholsterer, did make flags and other military items for the Continental Army, it is not currently known who made the first flag of the United States. Other women, such as Rebecca Flower Young of Philadelphia and Fanny Johonnot Williams of Boston, also sewed flags and sometimes other items needed by the army.

How did women make a name for themselves in the Revolutionary era? 

Women gained recognition during the Revolutionary era in a number of ways. For example, in January 1777, Baltimore printer and postmaster Mary Katharine Goddard printed the first broadside of the Declaration of Independence to include the signers’ names and supported the cause by including her own. Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved woman in Massachusetts, sued for her freedom in 1781 and won her case, which effectively ended legal slavery in Massachusetts. Phillis Wheatley, who was born in Africa and enslaved in Massachusetts, became a noted poet and was the first African American woman to have a book published.