Notable women and women's contributions and roles in colonial and early America.
Quotes by Anne Hutchinson - part of an extensive collection of quotations by notable women.
Women's lives began to change with the American Revolution. Every war means more women taking charge during the absence and after the deaths of husbands and fathers. After the war, talk of rights raised issues of women's rights and education. Read about some individual women whose voices were heard and about the lives of other women whose stories are known less directly.
A few women in colonial America told their own stories in letterbooks, journals, diaries and other writings. But few diaries exist, so other sources are often essential to understanding women's lives before the American Revolution -- especially more ordinary women.
Virginia Dare biography - a profile of the first English child born in the New World.
Mary Dyer, an associate of Roger Williams of Rhode Island, was arrested several times for preaching Quakerism, and in 1660 was hanged for violating anti-Quaker laws in Massachusetts.
A profile of Alice Morse Earle, whose writings on colonial life and the Puritans focus on domestic life and foreshadow the discipline of women's history.
Anne Hutchinson biography - profile of early American religious dissident who challenged church authority and was banished from Massachusetts.
Quotes by Anne Hutchinson - part of an extensive collection of quotations by notable women.
A look at the legend of Pocahontas saving Captain John Smith from execution. Is this myth or history?
A genre of American literature has been the Indian captivity narrative. In these stories, it's usually women who are kidnapped and held captive by American Indians. And the women who are taken captive are white women -- women of European descent.
Women in the Revolutionary War: Deborah Samson, Anne Bailey, and others.
A collection of writings by Mercy Warren, American writer of the late 18th and early 19th century, who documented history of the American Revolutionary War and its key figures.
Excerpts from the diary of midwife Martha Ballard, from a PBS site that also includes audio, teacher's guide, and the American historical context of Ballard's life.
Bibliography on women and the American revolution, part of a larger guide from the National Archives.
Two women who flouted convention and dressed like men: Jemima Wilkinson to preach a Quaker-like social gospel, and Deborah Sampson Gannett to fight in the American Revolution.
Documents the 'detective work' by which the house where
Betsy Ross lived and worked was identified.
An extensive survey by Robert E. Wright, U. of Virginia, on women as business owners, loan recipients, investors or otherwise involved in financial issues and the workforce in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Travelers to America in 1820-1842 describe their observations on women's lives, status and roles.
An essay detailing the hard life of the eighteen women who came to America on the Mayflower. Site also includes:
Girls on the Mayflower.
