User:Ecollotta/Sentiments of an American Woman

Introduction

Sentiments of an American Woman was a broadside written by Esther De Berdt Reed in 1780. The purpose of the document was to spark patriotism among women in the American colonies, as well as inspire them to support the soldiers in the Continental Army. At the time, De Berdt Reed was organizing a fundraising campaign among women in Philadelphia to send money to the American troops as they lacked rations, clothing, and pay. The campaign ultimately raised $300,000 in paper currency, which was later used to fund the sewing of shirts for the soldiers at the request of General George Washington.

Source: Library of Congress

Historical Background

Throughout the American Revolution, the women of Philadelphia sought to aid the American troops. The soldiers regularly faced shortages of food, clothing, and pay. By May of 1780, General George Washington had written to Congress in order to obtain assistance, but the “slow and inadequate” response of the government inspired the women to intervene. Led by Esther De Berdt Reed, the women went from home to home in the city of Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs in order to raise funds.

During this same period, De Berdt Reed wrote Sentiments of an American Woman to encourage fundraising efforts. In her writing, De Berdt Reed urged patriotism among American women by calling them to political action. She encouraged women to make “personal sacrifices” in order to aid the American soldier, and noted that the contributions of women to the troops should be equal to that of men.

Source: Library of Congress

Author

Esther De Berdt Reed was born on October 22, 1746 in London, England to Dennys De Berdt and Martha (Symons) De Berdt. Dennys De Berdt was a merchant in the colonial trade, most notably for the colonies of Massachusetts and Delaware. He was involved in the repealing of the Stamp Act in 1766, which had imposed a tax upon the colonies in America. Dennys De Berdt’s occupation required him to host many American at his home, many of whom took interest in his only daughter, Esther.

Esther was known as a “studious, pious young woman, delicate in appearance, yet animated in speech and manner.” These traits attracted the interest of Joseph Reed. Joseph, an American lawyer, returned to America for five years after first meeting Esther in 1763. His absence, combined with Dennys De Berdt’s opposition, delayed their marriage. Joseph eventually returned to England, and the pair married in London on May 31, 1770.

The Reeds relocated to the American colonies soon after their wedding due the financial strain of Dennys De Berdt’s death. The pair settled in Philadelphia. Both Esther and Joseph strongly supported the American patriots in their resistance against the British government in the years preceding the American Revolution. Joseph became a leader within the movement, and Esther supported the cause by hosting delegates in the First Continental Congress in 1774.

During the war, the Reed family was forced to flee Philadelphia on three different occasions as it became a battleground. Joseph was often absent while he served as an aide for George Washington, which left Esther to attend to their three children. Three additional children were born to the pair during the Revolution though one died in infancy. In addition to caring for her family, Esther continued to support the patriots by serving as the chairman of a campaign created to buy and sew clothing for Washington’s soldiers. As part of raising funds for this campaign, Esther wrote Sentiments of an American Woman in hopes of rallying other committees of local women.

The family returned to Philadelphia in 1780, after the British army left the city and Joseph had been elected governor of Pennsylvania. On September 18, 1780, Esther died suddenly of acute dysentery. She was thirty three. Although Esther did not live to see the end of the Revolution, nor results of her work for Washington’s soldiers, her campaign was continued by Sarah Franklin Bache, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin.

Source: Notable American Women

Content of Sentiments of an American Woman.

Document Text:

ON the commencement of actual war, the Women of America manifested a firm resolution to contribute as much as could depend on them, to the deliverance of their country. Animated by the purest patriotism, they are sensible of sorrow at this day, in not offering more than barren wishes for the success of so glorious a Revolution. They aspire to render themselves more really useful; and this sentiment is universal from the north to the south of the Thirteen United States.

Summary:

At the beginning of the American Revolution, women in the American colonies had hoped to contribute to the success of the patriot cause. However, by this point, they had been unable to offer more than “barren wishes.” Women from all thirteen colonies are now determined to have a greater impact on the outcome of the war.

Document Text:

Our ambition is kindled by the same of those heroines of antiquity, who have rendered their sex illustrious, and have proved to the universe, that, if the weakness of our Constitution, if opinion and manners did not forbid us to march to glory by the same paths as the Men, we should at least equal, and sometimes surpass them in our love for the public good. I glory in all that which my sex has done great and commendable. I call to mind with enthusiasm and with admiration, all those acts of courage, of constancy and patriotism, which history has transmitted to us:

Summary:

The determination of the American women during the American Revolution was inspired by other heroic women in history. The weakness of the bodies of women, as well as their need to preserve their manners, prevent American women from becoming more involved in the patriot cause. If they were unhindered by their bodies and manners, these women would be “at least equal, and sometimes surpass[ing],” men in their ability to aid the American cause. Many of the past generations of women have achieved great acts of courage, loyalty, and patriotism,

Document Text:

The people favored by Heaven, preserved from destruction by the virtues, the zeal and the resolution of Deborah, of Judith, of Esther! The fortitude of the mother of the Maccabees, in giving up her sons to die before her eyes: Rome saved from the fury of a victorious enemy by the efforts of Volumnia, and other Roman Ladies: So many famous sieges where the women have been seen forgetting the weakness of their sex, building new walls, digging trenches with their feeble hands, furnishing arms to their defenders, they themselves darting the missile weapons on the enemy, resigning the ornaments of their apparel, and their fortune, to fill the public treasury, and to hasten the deliverance of their country; burying themselves under its ruins, throwing themselves into the flames rather than submit to the disgrace of humiliation before a proud enemy.

Summary:

Such women include Deborah, Judith, and Esther, as their determination saved God’s chosen people. Another is the mother of the Maccabees, whose strength allowed her to send her sons away and watched as they died. There was also Volumia, as well as other women, who prevented the destruction of Rome. Finally, there were the women who disregarded the weakness of their sex and contributed greatly to their cause through physical labor and financial sacrifice. In the instances that their country lost, these women chose to die rather than surrender.

Document Text:

Born for liberty, disdaining to bear the irons of a tyrannic government, we associate ourselves to the grandeur of those Sovereigns, cherished and revered, who have held with so much splendor the scepter of the greatest States, The Batildas, the Elizabeths, the Maries, the Catharines, who have extended the empire of liberty, and contented to reign by sweetness and justice, have broken the chains of slavery, forged by tyrants in the times of ignorance and barbarity. The Spanish Women, do they not make, at this moment, the most patriotic sacrifices, to increase the means of victory in the hands of their Sovereign. He is a friend to the French Nation. They are our allies. We call to mind, doubly interested, that it was a French Maid who kindled up amongst her fellow-citizens, the flame of patriotism buried under long misfortunes: It was the Maid of Orleans who drove from the kingdom of France the ancestors of those same British, whose odious yoke we have just shaken off; and whom it is necessary that we drive from this Continent.

Summary:

American women refuse to submit to an oppressive government. Rather they identify with the most powerful and successful queens in history. These queens extended their empires, ruled justly, and destroyed systems of slavery which were created by tyranical rulers of the past. The women of Spain, one of the countries which aids the American colonies during the Revolution, make sacrifices to support their monarchy. Like the French, the American colonies are fighting the British, and it was a woman, Joan of Arc, who led the French and won. Thus, American women can also defeat the British.

Document Text:

But I must limit myself to the recollection of this small number of achievements. Who knows if persons disposed to censure, and sometimes too severely with regard to us, may not disapprove our appearing acquainted even with the actions of which our sex boasts?

Summary:

Praising the achievements of women throughout history upsets some men, and the author must therefore limit herself. These men are bothered not only by the accomplishments of these women, but also their descendants' knowledge of their achievements.

Document Text:

We are at least certain, that he cannot be a good citizen who will not applaud our efforts for the relief of the armies which defend our lives, our possessions, our liberty? The situation of our soldiery has been represented to me; the evils inseparable from war, and the firm and generous spirit which has enabled them to support these. But it has been said, that they may apprehend, that, in the course of a long war, the view of their distresses may be lost, and their services be forgotten. Forgotten! never; I can answer in the name of all my sex. Brave Americans, your disinterestedness, your courage, and your constancy will always be dear to America, as long as she shall preserve her virtue.

Summary:

Some men want to stop women from assisting the Continental Army, and those men are bad citizens. The soldiers are fighting in poor conditions, yet they continue serving to the best of their abilities. Still, the soldiers are concerned that the American people will forget about their suffering and service because the war is so long. The author declares that the American women will never forget the service and sacrifice of the soldiers in the Continental Army.

Document Text:

We know that at a distance from the theatre of war, if we enjoy any tranquility, it is the fruit of your watchings, your labors, your dangers. If I live happy in the midst of my family; if my husband cultivates his field, and reaps his harvest in peace; if, surrounded with my children, I myself nourish the youngest, and press it to my bosom, without being afraid of feeling myself separated from it, by a ferocious enemy; if the house in which we dwell; if our barns, our orchards are safe at the present time from the hands of those incendiaries, it is to you that we owe it.

Summary:

Americans know that their peaceful lives are the result of the soldiers’ service. The author can live happily while surrounded by her family. Her husband has the opportunity to farm in peace. She can raise her children without fear that enemy soldiers may take them. Her home and property are safe from those soldiers. This safety is owed to the soldiers of the Continental Army.

Document Text:

And shall we hesitate to evidence to you our gratitude? Shall we hesitate to wear a clothing more simple; hair dressed less elegant, while at the price of this small privation, we shall deserve your benedictions. Who, amongst us, will not renounce with the highest pleasure, those vain ornaments, when-she shall consider that the valiant defenders of America will be able to draw some advantage from the money which she may have laid out in these; that they will be better defended from the rigors of the seasons, that after their painful toils, they will receive some extraordinary and unexpected relief; that these presents will perhaps be valued by them at a greater price, when they will have it in their power to say: This is the offering of the Ladies.

Summary:

American women may hesitate to show their gratitude to the soldiers. They may hesitate to give up luxuries such as elegant clothing or hairstyles. However, they can earn the approval of the soldiers by having plain hairstyles and clothing. American women should give up their pleasures in order to save money and donate it to the soldiers because the soldiers will then have better clothing or other kinds of relief from their painful work. The soldiers would appreciate these gifts even more once they learn that they were offered by the American women.

Document Text:

The time is arrived to display the same sentiments which animated us at the beginning of the Revolution, when we renounced the use of teas, however agreeable to our taste, rather than receive them from our persecutors; when we made it appear to them that we placed former necessaries in the rank of superfluities, when our liberty was interested; when our republican and laborious hands spun the flax, prepared the linen intended for the use of our soldiers; when exiles and fugitives we supported with courage all the evils which are the concomitants of war. Let us not lose a moment; let us be engaged to offer the homage of our gratitude at the altar of military valor, and you, our brave deliverers, while mercenary slaves combat to cause you to share with them, the irons with which they are loaded, receive with a free hand our offering, the purest which can be presented to your virtue, By an AMERICAN WOMAN.

Summary:

Women must act with as much enthusiasm as they had at the beginning of the American Revolution, such as when they boycotted tea rather than pay taxes to the British. In the past, American women gave up various necessities in order to protest for their freedom. They made fabric by hand for their soldiers. They have survived the worst aspects of war. Now, they must organize to send necessities to the soldiers. As the soldiers fight against their oppressors, they should take the best gifts which can be offered by an American woman.

Sources: Document 6A, New York Historical Society Museum and Library

Outcomes

The fundraising campaign linked to Sentiments of an American Woman was considered a success by both De Berdt Reed and General George Washington. De Berdt Reed wrote to Washington on July 4, 1780 to inform him that approximately three-dozen women had collected more than $300,000 in paper currency from 1,645 people. The campaign received significant praise from publications such as the Pennsylvania Packet. The success of the women even spread to other states, as De Berdt Reed and Martha Washington encouraged the organization of similar campaigns in Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Rather than giving the funds directly to the troops, General Washington recommended that the women convert the money into clothing for soldiers. In August of 1780, the women began collecting linen to make shirts for the men. Philadelphia faced a period of “general sickness” that autumn, and so the women began making the shirts themselves. De Berdt Reed had passed away that September, which left Sarah Franklin Bache, the daughter of Benjamin Franklin, to continue the campaign. In late December of 1780, Bache sent more than two thousand shirts to Washington, with the hope that the shirts would “be worn with as much pleasure as they were made.”

Source: Library of Congress

Sources

Primary Source:

Document 6A: Sentiments of an American Woman (Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1780), Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress, by Esther De Berdt Reed. Included in How Did the Ladies Association of Philadelphia Shape New Forms of Women's Activism during the American Revolution, 1780-1781?, by Kathryn Kish Sklar and Gregory Duffy. (Binghamton, NY: State University of New York at Binghamton, 2001).

* This is the citation from WASM because I was unsure of exactly how to cite this source so I would appreciate more information about how to best cite this source.

Scholarly Sources:

Roche, John F. “Esther de Berdt Reed” in James, Edward T., Janet Wilson James, Paul S. Boyer. Notable American Women: 1607-1950, A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1971.

Plakas, Rosemary. “Sentiments of an American Woman.” American Women: Topical Essays. Library of Congress, September 12, 2018. https://guides.loc.gov/american-women-essays/sentiments-american-woman.

Reliable Sources:

“Sentiments of an American Woman.” Women & the American Story. New York Historical Society Museum and Library, n.d. https://wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution/the-american-revolution/sentiments-of-an-american-woman/.