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After the verdict in the court martial of Bowen-Colthurst referring to her husband's death, Hanna was not satisfied with the outcome and decided to bring her story to America. She spoke at over 250 meetings for nineteen months across the United States expressing 'British Militarism'.

Hanna first appeared on the 6th of January 1917 at Carnegie Hall, New York City. From then onwards, she toured the New England States and the East: Boston, where The Boston Globe describe her as "a wonderful woman. Her self-restraint and self-control were remarkable". Pittsfield, Massachusetts where The Pittsfield Daily News reported that: "Those present were simply amazed at the wonderful poise and self control of the speaker as she told stories perpetrated by the military authorities in Dublin that made the audience gasp with horror".

She also addressed huge crowds in New Haven, Springfield, Westfield, Hartford, Bridgeport, Lawrence, Meriden, Torrington, Fitchburg, New Bedford, Salem, Lowell, Worcester, Malden, Holyoke and Waterbury. She also had talks at Columbia and Harvard Universities.

From the 25th of February, Hanna travelled to the Midwest. She had the most successful meetings at the Orchestra Hall, Chicago with over 3,000 people which included prominent figures of Chicago. Journalists, Supreme Court Justices, clergy, labour leaders, pacifists, suffragists, newspapermen and socialists also attended her lecture tours.

Hanna returned to the East on March 4 and to the Midwest on April 11. Her tours start to move westward in the spring of 1917. She travelled to California, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Montana, Butte, Pasadena and San Francisco.

Hanna wanted to tour New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri and Alaska using her contacts as she wanted to extend her tours to various cities but it came to no avail.

In January 1918, Hanna received a petition from the women of Cumann na mBan. The petition "put forth the claim of Ireland for self-determination and appealed to President Wilson to include Ireland among the small nations for whose freedom America was fighting".

For the rest of the upcoming months until June, Hanna returned to the Midwest and San Francisco. She also spoke in Madison Square Garden in May before leaving New York with her son, Owen Sheehy-Skeffington in June 27 1918, ending the first round of her lecture tours.

For the second round of her lectures, she replaced Muriel MacSwiney whom was called back to Ireland by Eamon de Valera. She continued the Western section of the United States along with Kathleen Boland and Linda Kearns in 1922.

They travelled to the East and the Midwest because they wanted to raise funds for relief of Irish prisoners and their families. In their speeches, they focused on the conditions in Ireland at the time of the War of Independence. During their tour which ended in May 1923, the delegation raised $123,000.