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Showing 81–90 of 1140 results for Flags and Founding Documents

When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Discovering America’s First Women Voters, 1800 - 1807

In 2018 the Museum of the American Revolution discovered polling records that document for the first time a generation of women voters in early New Jersey. To date, we have discovered 163 women voters on nine poll lists who cast ballots across the state from 1800 to 1807. These lists introduce new stories of the first women voters in the United States – stories of the forgotten women who pioneered the vote.


The poll lists suggest women’s political significance and participation in local, state, and federal elections in early New Jersey. This first in-depth analysis of these nine poll lists from New Jersey refutes any presumption that women in the Early Republic were only passive witnesses and bystanders of the political processes that shaped the new nation.


Not only has the Museum discovered evidence of women voters in early New Jersey, we have also identified the names of at least four free Black male voters on one of the poll lists. While we have yet to confirm the identity of any free Black women voters, the presence of both women and free Black voters on these poll lists reveals the inclusive nature of the electoral system in New Jersey in the first few decades following American independence.

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When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Prudence Crispin

Born in 1776, Prudence Crispin was the daughter of a farmer. She voted in October 1803 at the age of 27 and got married the following year.
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When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Miriam Venable

Miriam Venable voted along with her mother, brother, uncles, and grandfather in 1807. She is buried in the churchyard of Trinity Episcopal Church in Moorestown, New Jersey.
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When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Anne Cowperthwaite

Anne Cowperthwaite grew up just south of Moorestown, New Jersey, as a member of a prominent Quaker family. She voted along with her father, grandfather, and uncle in 1807.
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Finding Freedom: Andrew - Revolutionary War Pension Pay Certificate

Andrew Ferguson received veteran’s pension payments from the United States Government totaling $20 each year. Like many of his fellow veterans, Ferguson struggled with poverty as an elderly man. His pension payments helped him pay for food, clothing, and a place to live. Andrew passed away in 1855 in Indiana at about the age of 90.

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

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When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Amy Walker Cheston

Amy Cheston owned 20 acres of land and some livestock when she voted as a widow in Montgomery Township. She lived until 1841 when she died at the age of 97.
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Among His Troops: Washington’s Leadership

The stakes were never higher than in 1782. Washington designed the camp at Verplanck’s Point to convince the French to support a continued war effort. The Continental Congress had no power to tax and could not pay the army, but the French had good silver coin. Anger over the lack of money simmered among the American troops. Enlisted soldiers were owed back pay, and in 1779 Congress promised Continental Army officers lifetime pensions, but now declared those payments were up to the states. If someone did not figure out how to pay the soldiers, there might be a rebellion against the Revolution. Though peace negotiations were underway in Paris, the British could back out of them. The United States might need the French Navy to drive the British out of New York City. Washington needed to put on a good show for the French, and he did. The picturesque encampment impressed the allies. One eyewitness said the scene “was truly a subject worthy of the pencil of the first artist.”



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When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Elizabeth Louderback

Elizabeth Louderback and her husband Peter owned the Seven Stars Tavern in Pilesgrove, New Jersey. After her husband’s death in 1780, Elizabeth Louderback lived as a widow until 1807. She voted in 1800.
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Finding Freedom: Jack - Record from Trial of “Jack a Negro Man Slave”

On April 13, 1781, Jack faced charges of theft, rebellion, and attempted murder at the Botetourt County courthouse in Fincastle, Virginia. Like all enslaved people in Virginia, Jack was denied a jury trial. Instead, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by a group of justices. This written record of his case is the earliest known documentation of Jack’s activity during the Revolutionary War.

Court Order Book, Vol. 5a (pp.100-101), Botetourt County Courthouse, Virginia

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When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story: Rebecca Githens

Rebecca Githens lived from 1782 to 1875. She voted along with her father, older brother, and younger sister in 1807. Rebecca Githens was the daughter of George Githens, the prosperous owner of a mineral spring resort hotel.
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