Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2016 i Cobblestone American History and Current Events for Kids and Children

Catherine Allgor, Nadine and Robert Skotheim Director of Education, Huntington Library, San Marino, California, is a former professor of history and presidential chair at the University of California, Riverside. She attended Mount Holyoke College and received her Ph.D. with distinction from Yale University, where she also won the Yale Teaching Award. Allgor has taught at Simmons College, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Harvard University. She has written and won awards for her works on U.S. and women’s history. President Barack Obama has appointed her to a presidential commission, The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, and she serves on the board of directors of the National Women’s History Museum. ABOUT THE COVER Illustrator David Harrington captures a different midnight ride during the Revolutionary War—that of 16-year-old Sybil Ludington. Sybil…

Wild colts make the best horses,” said Grandmother Quincy, trying to reassure Reverend William and Elizabeth Smith about their headstrong daughter, Abigail. Born in 1744, the second of four children, Abigail was raised in Weymouth, on the coast of Massachusetts. At a young age, she developed a love for reading. She wanted to go to school like her brother, William, but her mother believed daughters should be taught how to cook and keep a house, not how to read Latin. Abigail’s father and maternal grandfather, however, encouraged her to read books from their libraries. The pleasure she found in reading enabled her to think for and educate herself. Near the age of 20, Abigail married John Adams. John was a struggling lawyer who was nine years older than Abigail. He…

Led by General George Washington, the Continental Army arrived at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on December 19, 1777. Snow fell lightly as the army’s 12,000 men trudged into their winter quarters. They were tired, cold, and ragged. They had recently faced a defeat at Brandywine and a stalemate at Germantown. Those actions had resulted in the British occupation of Philadelphia. The story of that winter at Valley Forge is well known. What may come as a surprise is that Washington had an able administrator, social director, household manager, and friend at the winter headquarters. His wife, Martha Washington, was not content to be left home at Mount Vernon in Virginia if she could spend time with her husband. She packed her things so that she would be ready at a moment’s…

In the mid-1770s, of the 2.5 million people who lived in the Colonies, about 500,000 of them were African Americans. The majority of African Americans were enslaved. About 50,000 African Americans lived in the northern colonies. Most—about 450,000—lived in the southern colonies. The work of enslaved people was hard, long, and constant. Enslaved women, even those who were pregnant or had small children, worked exhausting days. They often were not well fed or clothed. They could be harshly punished for small mistakes or for no reason at all. Slaves could marry only with their owners’ permission, and the marriages were not recognized by law. Viewed as property, enslaved people could be sold at any time. Wives were separated from their husbands, and children were sold away from their parents. Families…

Deborah Sampson (also spelled “Samson”) had a secret. In order to serve as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, she hid the fact that she was a woman. By all accounts, she fought bravely and well. But how did she do it? Surely her beardless face made the other soldiers wonder. Yet, boys as young as 15 years old were joining the army, so maybe they thought she was a young soldier. Deborah’s height may have been an advantage. She was more than five feet seven inches, which was several inches taller than the average man at that time. She didn’t have to worry about undressing because soldiers wore the same clothes from one day to the next, and opportunities to bathe were infrequent. And why did she do it?…

Born in West Africa around 1753, this month’s mystery hero was brought to Boston, Massachusetts, aboard a slave ship when she was eight years old. A wealthy businessman purchased her to be a servant for his wife. The couple named her after the slave ship that had brought her to New England, The Phillis. They also gave her their last name. The unique part of our hero’s story is that the family’s children educated Phillis. She learned to read and write—at a time when such an education was uncommon for girls and illegal for slaves. Within four years, our young hero could read Greek, Latin, and difficult passages from the Bible. She also studied astronomy and geography. At age 14, our hero wrote her first poem. It was so good…

Here are a few famous quotes by truly revolutionary women. Can you match the quote with the correct name? Answers on page 48. 1. “It is really mortifying, sir, when a woman possessed of a common share of understanding considers the difference of education between the male and female sex, even in those families where education is attended to. . . . Nay why should your sex wish for such a disparity in those whom they one day intend for companions and associates.” 2. “If opinion and manners did not forbid us to march to glory by the same paths as the Men, we should at least equal, and sometimes surpass, them in our love for the public good.” 3. “I am determined to be cheerful and happy…

At the time of the Revolutionary War, white women lived under a legal code called “coverture.” Coverture laws came to America along with colonists from England, France, and Spain. The basic idea of coverture is that women do not have any legal identity. At birth, a girl was covered by her father’s identity, and she shared her father’s last name. When a woman got married, she was covered by her husband’s identity, and she changed her last name to her husband’s last name. The law assumed that since women did not exist legally, they did not need a name of their own. What did it mean to have no legal existence? Of course, women could not vote or hold office, but coverture went beyond that. Married women could not make…

As Americans began to actively protest British policies in the 1760s, they raised the ideas of equality and liberty. Those conversations made everyone more politically aware, including enslaved people. White women, however, experienced the greatest transformation. Before the Revolutionary War, women felt intellectually inferior to men. In their letters, women constantly apologized for being uneducated and unable to understand “men’s business,” especially politics. The war changed those attitudes. At first, Colonial men did not intend to launch a full-scale rebellion against Great Britain. Forming Sons of Liberty groups, they tried to bring about change through organized protests and acts of resistance to British policies. In 1768, they decided to boycott British-made products, such as cloth and tea, to force Parliament to repeal certain taxes. The men knew that the only…

Fighting in the South during the Revolutionary War had not gone well for the Americans. In 1780, General George Washington ordered one of his most trusted generals, Nathanael Greene, to take charge of the Colonial forces in the Carolinas. Greene realized he did not have the manpower to challenge the British head on. Instead, he opted for guerrilla tactics, where a small force could attack a larger one and then disappear into the surrounding area. He also split his army, giving Brigadier General Daniel Morgan command of a small force. When the British commander, General Charles Lord Cornwallis, learned of Morgan’s movements, he sent a force to attack him. Here is where the story gets interesting. Morgan knew his smaller force was at a disadvantage. He turned to Catherine Moore…

Some women couldn’t care for their family or home on their own during the Revolutionary War. They may have lived in an area that was taken over by fighting, or their home was destroyed. Some women just didn’t want to be separated from their husband during the war. Those women followed their husband into the army and lived in military camps. They were called camp followers. Camp followers were not officially part of the army, so there are no exact numbers of how many women served in this way. Like the soldiers, they lived outdoors and endured the same hardships. When the army marched, the camp followers walked behind it. They also, at times, added to the burden of the army as it struggled to find shelter and food. In…

Esther de Berdt Reed’s name may not be easily recognized today, but she was well known during the Revolutionary War. She was born in 1746 in England, where her father was a prosperous merchant. Around 1763, she met Joseph Reed, an American who had traveled to London to finish his education. After a secret engagement and a separation caused by Joseph’s return to the Colonies, they were married in London in 1770. Esther’s father had died, so Esther’s mother joined the couple, who chose to leave England and settle in Philadelphia, the largest city in the Colonies. Joseph built a thriving law practice, and he actively participated in the cause for independence. He was appointed to various political positions, including as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774.…

Catherine Moore Barry was alive during the Revolutionary War. I chose to draw her because she showed me that women could be soldiers and do amazing things, too. I am inspired by her. She didn’t fight in the war, but she helped the soldiers who were fighting for America. Her nickname was “Courageous Kate.” Fiona Elliott Concord, New Hampshire A Movement for Preservation and Conservation Time for the Olympics Salem Witches Write to us! Draw a picture or write a poem or short essay that connects to one of the above COBBLESTONE themes on which we currently are working. All contributions must be your own original work. Include your name and address and a note from a parent, guardian, or teacher acknowledging the originality of your work. We will include…

The National Women’s History Museum (NWHM) Web site (www.nwhm.org) is a great resource for more information about Revolutionary War women. The organization’s ultimate goal is to build a physical museum in Washington, D.C., but in the meantime, it is building a fascinating collection of online biographies and exhibits. Check them out at www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/ biographies-home and www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits. You can “meet” women from different eras and backgrounds who were abolitionists, politicians, inventors, entrepreneurs, and athletes. One of my favorites is the exhibit called “Claiming Their Citizenship: African American Women From 1624–2009.” It sheds more light on lesser known African American women, including black women of the Revolutionary War–era such as Jenny Slew and Phillis Wheatley. You can also read more about the remarkable ladies included in this issue—from Abigail Adams to Lydia Darragh.…