Domesticity And Public Protest

The Revolution.

Women were barred from most public roles in the eighteenth century; their lot was to maintain the household and raise children. Yet the revolutionary crisis brought political meaning to the everyday activities of women, and these activities became potent public demonstrations of solidarity with the Revolution. Women became crucial to the home manufactures movement, spinning and weaving cloth and observing boycotts of British goods. Although little progress was made in replacing the massive quantities of imports, women played an important symbolic role, stepping forward from their customary reticence and providing a rebuke to men who hung back from taking a more active role in the Revolution. The real trial for many women came during the years of the war, when men were absent as soldiers or refugees, and women adopted male roles such as managing...