Contribution of Women in War and Post-War Times: Abigail Adams

The foundation of America wasn't built upon the equality of all people rather it was made to support particular groups. The American revolutionary war did not only lead to freedom from Britain but a total change in many aspects of life. Jefferson's quote states that “all men are created equal” but this was only bestowed on particular groups in America. Even though women contributed in tremendous ways to building America it took a long time for them to gain rights. Many groups of people in the young colonies were definitely not treated equally after the revolution especially natives, African Americans, and women. White males were the group who had it the best during the foundation of America even though Women contributed greatly as well. Women Couldn't all help to fight in the war, however, they found ways to support the American fight without stepping on the battlefield. After the revolutionary war, the power of women in America was represented in how they could affect the entire country's speed of growth. Furthermore, women in America were not equal to white males in many ways. The conditions of Jefferson's quote didn't live up to the expectations. The fight for equality was very prevalent at this time because truly people didn't have equality. America wouldn't have been able to pick itself up after the war if it wasn't for women supporting the livelihood of America. Some would say that this time period for women was one of the biggest stepping stones in attaining equal rights to men.

Women during the war and after greatly contributed to the war in a number of ways but some of the most prevalent was their effect on their communities. Since men were at war women had to “Women physically and financially supported their families in the absence of male heads of the family. They also supported soldiers through a variety of means and sometimes even directly participated in the war as nurses, laundresses, and soldiers”(nation). The hard work of women during the war showed how they could help the young nation in the same way that men could and they could take over all the duties of the house on their own. The sheer influence that women had on the war shows how the war could have ended differently if it wasn't for them. One great example of a strong influential woman during the war is Abigail Adams (John Adams's wife). “Abigail Adams also wrote letters that served as eyewitness accounts of the home front during the Revolution. She encouraged friends such as Mercy Otis Warren to start their own businesses and reminded her husband to remember the rights of women in the formation of the new nation”(Nation). Abigal is a perfect example of a feminist during the revolutionary war and the work she did on the war helped out many people. The effect Abigail had on her neighborhood by helping the economy in her community and aiding the soldiers in their fight against the British. Women also supported the economy and helped manufacture our goods during the intolerable. “The Daughters of Liberty were women who assembled in communities throughout the colonies to support nonimportation and the patriot cause. After the passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767, American patriots boycotted British-made goods, and the Daughters of Liberty manufactured many of the replacement supplies”(Mead). The number of women who helped America at this time helped them get a bigger voice in the country. Prior to the revolution, women didn't have rights equal to males but even after they did not gain a bigger hand in the forming of America.

Women constantly fought for rights equal to men and they didn't achieve better conditions until later in the formation of America. The women used the ableist movement to get a bigger impact on the country. They needed to wait for a cause to ignite their movement and abolition seemed like the perfect vehicle for accomplishing this. “At first, the participation of women in antislavery efforts was limited to groups comprised of only women, called women's antislavery societies. However, as they became more invested and critical to the cause, they began playing a larger role in the movement and in such male-dominated organizations as the American Anti-Slavery Society”. The women using their big articles to abolish slavery shows how in the country conditions were slowly getting better for them. They battled male-dominated organizations which were unheard of before, this is the beginning of the women's suffrage movement. “Hundreds of women and a few men met at Seneca Falls, New York, and passed the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions, drafted by Stanton, Mott, and several other female reformers. They demanded equal rights to the protection of the law, education, employment—and voting”. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions was the biggest step toward women's rights in the youthful years of America and conditions did start improving for women. Even though these were big steps in gender equality they came to a good distance after the American Revolution so the fight for women's rights took a long time. Some would say that conditions for women improved very quickly after the revolution. They say this because women worked in factories and manufactured goods on their own.