Women and the American Revolution: Loyalist vs. Patriots

In this, Americas 250^th year, as the author was trying to determine what this author’s  dissertation would be bringing to the current historical scholarship it dawned that it is only fitting to turn the dissertations attention to the early years of this nation and to the women who had an impact on it and who played a role in its history and birth. Much has been written on Colonial America, Early America, the founding fathers, and women during Colonial America and the American Revolution. However, over the course of the author’s research and years of study patterns have emerged. There are countless sources by countless historians that have investigated, analyzed, and interpreted historical events and/or people, giving readers countless historical interpretations. Yet, most have fallen victim to the same issue that has plagued historians and historical interpretations for as long as there have been historians. Instead of looking at history through the eyes of those who lived it or analyzing historical events in the social and cultural context in which they happened, historians tend to interpret history through modern eyes and a modern lens. This is the major issue that has been occurring within the scholarship of women in colonial America; they have been looked at in a way that is meant to make them appear to be proto- feminist or demonstrate how toxic men were supposed to be in order to serve a political, social, or religious agenda.

The issue for the author became, how to narrow down such a massive topic? Well like all research it started with a question; What was daily life like for women during Colonial America? According to Women and the American Story from The New York Historical, the history of women in North America falls into two camps of investigation- Women who lived in Northern Colonies and those who lived in Southern Colonies.[1] Still this question was too broad and incorporated too many variables such as which women? Which class? Native American, European, or African women? Early colonial, mid-colonial, pre-revolution, or revolutionary period? This prompted the author to investigate even deeper, past daily life. Dozens of source texts can be found on the daily life of women in colonial America. It was decided to narrow down the search even further.

Though this dissertation will not be finished or published until after America’s 250^th birthday the author cannot help but ask the question, what part did women play in the American Revolution? Not just on the patriot’s side but the loyalist as well? This Question led the author to investigate women during the American Revolution. However, during the American Revolution what made a woman a loyalist and what made her a patriot? This is where Microsoft Copilot came in use, the author asked Copilot what the difference between Loyalist and patriate women was during the American Revolution and it produced the following list:

Attribute	Patriot women	Loyalist women
Typical allegiance	Support for colonial independence	Loyalty to the British Crown
Common motives	Republican ideology; local grievances; economic boycotts	Religious loyalty (Anglican ties); protection of property; Indigenous or imperial ties
Social profile	Broad: merchants’ wives, artisans, middling farmers, elite political wives	Varied: Anglican elites, merchants tied to imperial trade, Indigenous women allied with Britain
Typical activities	Spinning/boycotts; fundraising; running households/militias in men’s absence; political writing	Managing Loyalist households; intelligence/diplomacy (including Indigenous intermediaries); petitioning British authorities
Risks and consequences	Harassment of Loyalist neighbors; wartime scarcity; political mobilization	Mob violence, property confiscation, forced migration to Canada/Britain; pension petitions postwar[2]

The author had narrowed down the field of study; the author then turned her attention to which two women the dissertation would investigate. After looking through the names of female loyalists and patriots, it was decided the focus of investigation would be on Abigail Adams for the patriots and Molly Brant for the loyalists. All that was the main research question. Five sub questions were chosen: 1) In what ways did female patriots impact the American Revolution? 2) In what ways did female loyalists impact the American Revolution? 3) Who was Abigail Adams? 4) Who was Molly Brandt? 5) How did Abigail Adams influence early American politics? However, the main research question was: in what ways did women impact the American Revolution and how did they alter the course of American history?

References:

[1] "English Colonies," The New York Historical, 2026.

[2] Rebecca Brannon, James Madison University, "Loyalist vs. Patriot," https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/loyalist-vs-patriot/. I used Microsoft Copilot for this source.