The
Dgts of Liberty, unlike their male counterparts, were formed not to engage in sabotage or violence, but to participate in boycotts. of British products. Women patriots refused to buy - paper, sugar glass, silk, linen, madeira wine and tea. The boycotts generated new styles. Homespun cloth, made by women patriots, was worn on all occasions by all social classes. Spinning bees became patriotic events and coffee became the national pick me up.
In Edenton, North Carolina, a group of 51 women announced it's intention to boycott British tea and cloth in the Edenton Proclamation. The women stated that they had a
right and a duty to participate in the political events of their time. W/out any precedents these women stated that they had political rts and intended to exercise them.
Like other woman of the time
Deborah Franklin ran the family businesses, during her husband Benjamin’s long absences, she started w/ her special responsibility being the book and stationery shop in the front of their house. Cokie Robts talks abt F in a section in her book called Phila Business Woman. DF's 1st husband spent her dowry, ran up debts & took off for the W Indies, where he ws rumored to have died. That rumor was never confirmed, but BF was said to have “took to wife” Deborah, meaning that they couldn’t legally marry because there was no proof that he was dead. But the marriage was accepted by all. Over the yrs she took on more duties including helping run the printing shop & postal service when B was made postmaster for all the colonies, kept the books, helped invest in real estate & expanded the business into what were essentially print shop franchises up and down the Atlantic coast and back into the frontier. They did so well in their busness’s that B was able to retire at 42 to devote himself to his real loves – scientific experiments & public affairs. Of course, DF didn't retire, she continued running the busnesses and hosting people who came to talk to her about Ben, and, of course, running the household.
When B was in Eng & than France, she heard from him very seldom and when she did he was often instructing her how to construct the addition to their house & what colors to use in the rooms & what to do w/ the china & silverware that he sent – you can see these instructions engraved on the paving stones in the center of F courtyrd btwn 3rd & 4th sts on Market in Phila. She did refuse to go w/ him to Europe, so we can’t lay all the blame for their long separations on B. He first left in 1757 to go to London and returned 5 yrs later. He set sail again in 3 yrs, 1765 & did not return for more than a decade and D died in 1774. before he returned. Abigail Adams is given much credit for keeping things runnng for John, who was away 14 of the first 20 yrs of their marriage, but Deborah Franklin deserves as much credit, if not more for keeping the home fires/businesses burning while Ben was about the country's business.
Here is a piece from Time Mag about B and D, see a picture of D, ignore the subtitle about Ben, lol, and scroll down a bit to read about Deborah.
http://www.time.com/time/2003/franklin/bfwomen.htmlHere is another site about her:
http://marriage.about.com/od/historical/a/benfranklin.htmIf you are interested in women's history that site, about.com has a treasure trove of history of all kinds, but is one of the best, quick sources for w's history. Actually it is a treasure trove for all kinds of things including knitting and crocheting stitches. It's one of my favorite spots, as you can probably tell.
I have't read the latest bio of BF - by Issacson. I'll be curious to see how much credit he gives to DF. There are 21 hits of her in the index of his book, but except for 2 they mention only single pages..................more later............jean
