The Revolutionary War came quite literally to the thresholds of the colonists. It was fought in their fields and towns which regularly left their homes and families in peril. The home front and the battlefront frequently overlapped and with their husbands and fathers absent, women were left to fend for themselves.
Women could hardly have been passive observers . . . This was a home-front war, fought in the countryside and in the city streets of every colony-turned-state, leaving few safe havens from the confusion, destruction, and atrocities that came with occupying armies . . . in these circumstances, it was difficult enough for women to continue to perform their familiar domestic duties. It was daunting to take on the duties of the absent husbands as well. Yet even as they struggled to maintain the farm or shop, to protect their children and their homes, they were also being asked to expand their circle of affection and interest beyond their family to the civic realm" (Berkin, 27).
In the April 1775 letter found below, Hannah Winthrop wrote to Mercy Otis Warren describing the horrors she endured during the Battle of Lexington and Concord--the first battle of the American War for Independence. She experienced what many families underwent throughout the war. Many were evicted from their homes or ran in fear of what would occur if they stayed. Both the British Regulars and the American Rebels were often merciless to the inhabitants, often abusing and killing them, then looting and destroying their homes.
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Many words Hannah Winthrop uses are similar to the propaganda that was used to describe the Boston Massacre. Compare and contrast the words Hannah uses to describe the events of that April night. Why would she use the same rhetoric to describe her experience?
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Hannah Winthrop Letter Courtesy of Massachusetts Historical Society

transcript_of_hannah_winthrops_letter_to_mercy_o._warren_april_1775.pdf | |
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Words to the Boston Massacre propaganda poem:
The Bloody Massacre
Unhappy BOSTON! see thy Sons deplore, Thy hallowe'd Walks besmear'd with guiltless Gore: While faithless --- and his savage Bands, With murd'rous Rancour stretch their bloody Hands; Like fierce Barbarians grinning o'er their Prey, Approve the Carnage, and enjoy the Day.
If scalding drops from Rage from Anguish Wrung If speechless Sorrows lab' ring for a Tongue, Or if a weeping World can ought appease The plaintive Ghosts of Victims such as these; The Patriot's copious Tears for each are shed, A glorious Tribute which embalms the Dead.
But know, FATE summons to that awful Goal, Where JUSTICE strips the Murd'rer of his Soul: Should venal C-ts the scandal of the Land, Snatch the relentless Villain from her Hand, Keen Execrations on this Plate inscrib'd, Shall reach a JUDGE who never can be brib'd.
The unhappy Sufferers were Messs. SAM. L GRAY, SAM.L MAVERICK, JAM.S CALDWELL , CRISPUS ATTUCKS & PAT.K CARR Killed. Six wounded two of them (CHRIST.R MONK & JOHN CLARK) Mortally" (Revere, 1770).
Eliza Wilkinson also describes the terror she experienced when the British were waging their battles in North Carolina.
[After looters had left], I trembled with terror, that I could not support myself. I indulged in the most melancholy reflections. The whole world appeared to me as a theatre, where nothing was acted but cruelty, bloodshed, and oppression; where neither age nor sex escaped the horrors of injustice and violence; where the lives and property of the innocent and inoffensive were in continual danger and the lawless power ranged at large . . . [W]e could neither eat, drink, nor sleep in peace; for as we lay in our clothes every night, we could not enjoy the little sleep we got . . . Our nights were wearisome and painful; our days spent in anxiety and melancholy" (Wilkinson, 1780). |
This letter written by Mary Totten and her neighbors, in 1776 and 1777, is a wonderful, but sad example of how much the war came right to colonists’ own front porches. Totten describes the loss of property and income and is asking for reparations.
What items do Mary's neighbors describe as being damaged? Why would Mary's neighbors have to declare that the damages are reasonable? What would be the reason the Patriot soldiers did some of the damage and used some of the items? How much does she claim in total? Figure out what that would be equivalent to in today's dollars.
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Loyalist women also struggled to deal with the realities of war. Patriots charged into their homes and destroyed property. The letter below, written by Prudence Punderson in 1779, graphically portrays the reality of the intrusions.
How can you tell that Prudence was able to keep her sense of humor through a dreadful situation?