Women in the Revolutionary War

Mercy Otis Warren

Deborah Sampson

Esther de Berdt Reed

Mercy Otis Warren, born in 1728, was a very influential author and poet during the American Revolution. He had no formal education, but was tutored by a local pastor. One of her pamphlets, "Observations on a New Constitution," is thought to have influenced the writing and adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791.

Deborah Sampson is known for disguising herself as a man in order to fight in the Revolutionary War. She went by the name of Robert Shurtlieff. Sampson's secret was kept for two years and the truth about her gender was only discovered during a hospital visit when she caught malaria.

Esther de Berdt Reed made the move to America from England soon after marrying Joseph Reed, an American lawyer, in 1770. She formed an organization called the Ladies of Philadelphia which worked to raise funds and encourage others to raise funds to help the Continental Army.