The expanded political, economic, and social roles that many American women forged during the American Revolution generated postwar questions about the proper place of women in the new United States. One prominent ideology to emerge from this debate was Republican Womanhood, the idea that women could play an important yet indirect role in the political process by inculcating and maintaining the civic virtues of their husbands and sons, the present and future citizens of the republic.

Women in and After the Revolution

Even before armed hostilities began in 1775, American women were engaged in the growing conflict between Britain and her colonies. Politicizing domestic production and consumption, women boycotted merchants, pledged not to buy or use imported goods, and organized spinning and weaving bees to produce homespun cloth. During wartime (1775–1781), patriot women continued to support the war effort by making clothing and bandages. Some poorer women followed...