When we study The Revolutionary War, we often don’t discuss the roles that women played in it.

Here are just a few notable women from The Revolutionary War…

Phillis Wheatley  Phillis Wheatley was born in Africa and brought to Boston in  The Wheatleys (the family that owned her), allowed Phillis time to study and write. As early as 1765, she was writing poetry.  Her last known poem was written for George Washington. It praised the general for his appointment to be Commander of the Continental Army.

Betsy Ross  Many people say that Betsy Ross made the first flag of the United States of America from a sketch that George Washington made. (Although no one knows for sure if this is true.)  It is true that she was a seamstress and made many flags during the Revolutionary War.  The flag that she is said to have sewn was officially adopted by Congress on June 14, It had 13 stripes and 13 stars.

Deborah Sampson  Read a copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and decided to make herself some men’s clothing and disguise herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War.  It was discovered that she was a woman when she was sick with Yellow Fever in Philadelphia.  She expected to be punished, but instead she received an honorable discharge.

Nancy Morgan Hart  She was not educated, but was excellent at handling a gun.  She is famous for shooting a gun at British Loyalists who broke into her home.  She tricked them by making a turkey for them and giving them alcohol. Once they started drinking she shot one of the soldiers and her daughter shot the other.

Molly Pitcher  At the age of 16 she followed her husband into battle.  She cooked and washed clothes for the soldiers in their camps. She was called Molly “Pitcher,” because she would bring pitchers of water to the soldiers when they needed it.  Her husband got sick from fighting in the war and she took his place at his cannon and kept the gun firing for the rest of the battle.

Abigail Adams  She was John Adams wife.  She wanted the colonies to separate from Great Britain and believed that women should have rights.  She would tell these ideas to her husband, who eventually became the second president.