"Destroy all the men in America and we shall still have all we can do to defeat the women." -- British officer's report to Lord Cornwallis The harsh nature of early colonial life, starvation, disease, frigid winters and raids by Native tribes changed the female role dramatically in the New World. Sybil Ludington statue Survival demanded that men and women share the workload. Women of this period knew how to handle a boat and a musket and were accomplished horsewomen. In colonial America, free, white unindentured women comprised 35 to 40 percent of the population. Therefore, commanding a high demand and equally high responsibilities, women of the early to mid-eighteenth century shared a more equal status than they would in the decades to follow. In some colonies, women could own land and slaves. Many women ran profitable businesses. When the colonies declared independence from the Crown, women had a high stake in the land. Plus, the very nature of the battlefields of the American Revolution were inescapable: the war was fought in backyards, barns, and on the streets. Many women shouldered arms in self-defense often disguising themselves as men. Other women excelled in the dangerous art of espionage--as they would in virtually every subsequent American conflict. For couples who did not own property, a great number of women went to war with their husbands. Even those women not engaged in spying or taking up arms rarely escaped the brutality of eighteen-century warfare. The army employed many as nurses. More American Revolution Women Warriors Introduction Lydia Darragh Sybil Ludington Deborah Gannet Sampson Women in the Continental Army Civilian Women's Roles Back to Cry Havoc #31 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com