A scene during the Seminole Indian War.
]
Such were the hardships and dangers the women of the settlers had to
brave. But they endured their sufferings like heroines. In recognition
of this fact it may justly be said that the establishment of the
Republic of the United States of America, one of the grandest
achievements in all history, would not have been possible without their
aid. For it was among these hardy men and women that the spirit of
American liberty was born. Their surroundings and manner of life
compelled them to rely on themselves in everything. And while they
assisted one another in all embarrassments and perils, they made their
own regulations and selected their own officials, fully aware, that the
laws of England would never suffice for the wilderness.
From those autonomous settlements the spirit of independence spread in
time to all the towns and cities on the coast, inspiring many of their
inhabitants with the same enthusiasm for liberty. In New York and other
places the People’s Party was organized, which strongly opposed the
insolence and encroachments of the Government and aristocrats. Among its
members was Peter Zenger, the fearless printer, whose caustic articles
in the “New York Weekly Journal” in 1735 led to that famous trial,
whereby one of the highest privileges—=the freedom of the press=—became
established in America. And when in complete disregard of this
significant omen England continued in her selfish policies toward the
colonies, curtailing all privileges which had been granted to them by
their charters, the spirit of rebellion spread like wildfire, and the
great struggle for independence began.
When a Declaration of Independence was considered, the men, selected to
draw up such a document, were greatly influenced by two noble-minded
women, whose names should not be omitted in a history of remarkable
women: =Mrs. Mercy Otis Warren=, and =Abigail Smith Adams=. Mrs. Warren
was a sister of James Otis, the famous lawyer, whose fiery words did so
much to arouse the colonists against British aggression. She was one of
the first persons who advocated separation, and she energetically
impressed this view upon John Adams before the opening of the first
Congress. With Abigail Smith Adams, the wife of John Adams, she shared
the belief, that the declaration should not consider the freedom of man
alone, but that of woman also.
How outspoken Mrs. Adams was in her views about this question, appears
in a letter she wrote in March, 1776, to her husband, who was then
attending the Continental Congress. In this letter she says: “I long to
hear you have declared an independency; and, by the way, 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 ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands
of husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If
particular care and attention are not paid to the ladies, we are
determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound to
obey any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”—
[Illustration:
STRUGGLING FOR INDEPENDENCE.
]
The Declaration of Independence, accepted on July 4th, 1776, in
Philadelphia, by an assembly of delegates from all the colonies, is the
greatest and most important political document that was ever set up and
signed by men. Although the representatives knew that it would produce a
long and terrific war against the most powerful and most inconsiderate
government of the world, they solemnly agreed to choose liberty or
death. Liberty to make their own laws and to elect their own officials,
liberty of religion, liberty of speech and press, liberty of trade and
commerce, liberty for man, woman and child.
The eminent significance of the declaration becomes apparent from the
following sentences: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and
to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles,
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their safety and happiness.”
While the Declaration of Independence is silent in regard to women,
there are, however, positive proofs of the fact, that the men of 1776
regarded their faithful partners in all struggles and danger decidedly
as their equals and entitled to the same rights and privileges. Two days
before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on July 2, 1776,
the Provincial Assembly of New Jersey, when writing the constitution of
that province, adopted the provision, that “=all inhabitants= of this
colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds money clear estate in
the same, and have resided within the county in which they claim to vote
for twelve months immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled
to vote for representatives in council and assembly, and also for all
other public officers that shall be elected by the people of the county
at large.”—
Under this provision, women and free colored men of property exercised
the electoral franchise for thirty years, voting also in the
Presidential election of 1804, when Thomas Jefferson was re-elected for
a second term. The acts of the New Jersey Legislature of 1790 clearly
recognized the women, voters, saying:
“No person shall be entitled to vote in any other town-house or precinct
than that in which =he= or =she= doth actually reside at the time of
election.”
At first the law was construed to admit single women only, but afterward
it was made to include females eighteen years old, married or single,
without distinction of race. But as most of the women were on the side
of the Federation and always delivered a heavy vote, a Democratic
legislature, to defranchise Federalists, passed in 1807 an act defining
the qualifications of electors, excluding women and free colored men by
the use of the words “White =male= citizens.” This was a partisan piece
of legislature, clearly in violation of the constitutional guarantee,
and made under the pretext that male voters, by disguising themselves as
women and negroes, had voted several times. It was on the strength of
this pretext that the unconstitutional act was passed and upheld.
It is on record that in Virginia likewise women at an early day
exercised the right of voting. But it is unknown, for what reason this
right was not preserved.
[Illustration]