While women in the new Republic were still legally, economically, and socially subordinate to men, several women played an active role in the development and shaping of the new Republic. Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Martha Jefferson, as the first three First Ladies of the United States, are often considered the "founding mothers" of the new nation.
Abigail Adams
Elite republican revolutionaries did not envision a completely new society, as traditional ideas and categories of race and gender, and order and decorum remained firmly entrenched among members of their privileged class. Women's roles in society, though starting to change, were still largely subordinate to men. They did not have the right to vote or own property, and had no legal or economic status independent from their husbands.
Some women, especially the wives of elite republican statesmen, began to agitate for equality under the law between husbands and wives, and for the same educational opportunities as men. Abigail Adams, a political influencer, is remembered for the many letters of advice she exchanged with her husband, John Adams, during the Continental Congresses. She became an early advocate of women's rights when she prompted her husband to "remember the ladies" when drawing up a new government in 1776:
In the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestor. Do not put such unlimited power in the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.
John declined Abigail's "extraordinary code of laws," but he frequently sought her advice, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. When John was elected the second President of the United States, Abigail took an active role in politics and policy, unlike the quiet presence of Martha Washington. She was so politically active her political opponents came to refer to her as "Mrs. President." Abigail was an advocate of married women's property rights and for greater opportunities for women, particularly in the field of education. She also believed slavery was immoral and a threat to the American democratic experiment. A letter she wrote on March 31, 1776, explained her doubts that most Virginians had such "passion for Liberty" as they claimed, as they "deprive their fellow Creatures" of freedom.
Abigail Adams
Abigail Adams was an early proponent of women's rights during the formation of the new Republic.
Martha Washington and Martha Jefferson
Martha Washington, wife of the first President, George Washington, is considered the first First Lady. She brought considerable wealth to their marriage, which enabled the President to purchase land and many slaves to add to his personal estate. She also brought nearly 100 dower slaves for her use during her lifetime. They and their descendants reverted to her first husband's estate at her death and were inherited by his heirs. Martha did not emancipate any of her own slaves during her lifetime.
A widow of her first marriage, Martha Jefferson was the wife of Thomas Jefferson, who became the third President of the United States. She did not live to see her husband become President as she died of multiple causes of ill health during the Revolutionary War. She was First Lady of Virginia, from 1779 to 1781 during the American Revolution. In that capacity, and in response to a request from Martha Washington, Mrs. Jefferson led a drive among the women of Virginia to raise funds and supplies for her state's militia in the Continental Army, to the extent that her health permitted. She published an appeal in the Virginia Gazette, announcing that collections would be taken in churches. Nationally, the Ladies' Association raised $300,000 to buy linen shirts for Washington's army. Mrs. Jefferson also contacted other prominent Virginians, including Nelly Madison, mother of James Madison, to raise funds for the troops.
Other Notable Women in the Early Republic
Another privileged member of the revolutionary generation, Mercy Otis Warren, also challenged gender-based assumptions and traditions during the revolutionary era. Warren, born in Massachusetts, published anti-British works actively opposing British reform measures before the outbreak of fighting in 1775. In 1812, she published a three-volume history of the Revolution, a project she had started in the late 1770s. By publishing her work, Warren stepped out of the female sphere and into the otherwise male-dominated arena of public life.
Inspired by the Revolution, Judith Sargent Murray of Massachusetts advocated women’s economic independence and equal educational opportunities for men and women. Murray, who came from a wealthy Gloucester family, questioned why boys were given access to education as a birthright while girls had very limited educational opportunities. She began publishing her ideas about educational equality in the 1780s, arguing that God had made the minds of women and men equal. Murray’s more radical ideas championed women’s economic independence. She argued that a woman’s education should be extensive enough to allow her to maintain herself, and her family, in the absence of a male breadwinner. Indeed, Murray was able to make money of her own from her publications. Her ideas were both radical and traditional, yet she also believed that women were much better than men at raising children and maintaining a family's morality and virtue.
It is important to note that Adams, Murray, and Warren all came from privileged backgrounds. All three were fully literate, while many women in the American republic were not. Their literacy and positions allowed them to push for new roles for women in the atmosphere of unique possibility created by the Revolution and its promise of change.