Women of the American Revolution

Patriots who helped shape a new nation

Women of the American Revolution is an illustrated collection honoring twenty women whose courage, intelligence, labor, and conviction helped sustain the Revolutionary War and shape the early United States.

These women served as soldiers, nurses, writers, printers, organizers, spies, fundraisers, legal challengers, and keepers of households and networks that helped the patriot cause survive. Some are famous. Some are partly legendary. Some remain unnamed. Together, they reveal a broader and more human view of the American Revolution.

Created as part of the Women in History series, this collection introduces revolutionary women through vivid historical imagery and concise written portraits designed to invite curiosity, remembrance, and further discovery.

Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams was a political thinker, correspondent, and advocate who urged the new nation to “remember the ladies” while shaping revolutionary ideals through her letters to John Adams.

Rachel Wells

Rachel Wells served as a nurse in the Continental Army and later petitioned for recognition and compensation for her wartime service.

Mercy Otis Warren

Mercy Otis Warren used plays, poems, and political writings to argue for independence and later became one of the first historians of the American Revolution.

Nancy Hart of Georgia

Nancy Hart of Georgia served as a patriot spy and frontier fighter, becoming known for confronting Loyalist soldiers and protecting her household during the war.

Elizabeth Freeman

Elizabeth Freeman drew on revolutionary language of liberty and equality to sue for her freedom in Massachusetts, helping establish that slavery was incompatible with the state constitution.

Molly Pitcher

Mary Ludwig Hays, often associated with the legend of Molly Pitcher, carried water to soldiers and is remembered for helping operate a cannon during the Battle of Monmouth.