Early Feminist: Deborah Sampson During The American Revolutionary War

Deborah Sampson: Early Feminist
During the American Revolutionary War Deborah Sampson would become a founding feminist and American Revolutionary. Sampson would liberate future women by masquerading as a male soldier of the fourth regiment in the Massachusetts Continental Line and fighting alongside her male counterparts. As a result, Deborah Sampson was able to push for the start of a revolutionary war of her own where women started to find more purpose in life other than simply being a wife.
The American Revolutionary War began in Boston in 1770. King George the III had acquired a massive amount of debt due to a multitude of things, such as the French and Indian War. He decided to impose this debt on the new colonies without their consent

This led to The Stamp Act which was the first attempt by the British to have the new colonies taxed without the proper representation. This was followed up by the Townshend Acts of 1767, The Boston Tea Party of 1773, and by the Intolerable Acts. Paul Revere began his ride and The Battle of Lexington and Concord took place in April of 1775. With all of this battle and bloodshed, the war with the British had officially begun. Women were allowed to participate in the war but only doing particular “feminine” duties that were seen as acceptable. These jobs included cooking, cleaning, and sewing the soldier’s damaged uniforms. Although these women were called “women of the army” and traveled with the men (and often their children), many accounts describe the women as “cumbersome”. Deborah Sampson enlisted in the Army during the Spring of 1782 as Robert Shurtleff. She did not wait at home to become a wife and mother, she did not want to join the armed forces to simply be labeled a burden. Deborah Sampson joined the Army as a Continental Soldier with

For example, in 1777 Ann Bailey was caught under the alias Sam Gay but only after she was promoted to Corporal. She was charged with “fraudulently intending to cheat and injure the inhabitants of the state by pretending that she was a young man.” This was seen as a double crime, she was found guilty, fined, and then sentenced to time in jail. Another was Anne Smith, otherwise known as Samuel Smith in 1782; she was detected after months of serving and sentenced to jail time as well. Molly Pitcher whose real name is Mary Ludwig Hays, is said to have been bringing water to the soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth when her husband was shot and killed. Instead of grieving, she took his place at the cannon and helped the artillerymen during the mêlée. Other women who were caught were beaten, arrested, fined, or even sexually abused; while some accounts say some were stripped in front of entire troops and hit repeatedly for the