In England, educated middle-class women purchased and discussed the books and pamphlets of the era. Some also contributed to the era 's intellectual life by raising the issue of the rights of women. In Paris, wealthy women made their homes centers of debate, intellectual speculation, and free inquiry. Their salons brought together philosophers, social critics, artists, and members of the aristocracy and commercial elite. Women were powerfully affected by their participation in revolutionary politics, which in part resulted from Enlightenment thinking. Before the American Revolution women led boycotts, and during the war they organized relief and charitable organizations. Nevertheless, they were denied political rights in the new republic. During