Revolutionary Anna

Anna laughed as she rolled up her knitting and put it away. “I saved your grandpa, too, if I remember correctly! Let me tell the story from the beginning.

War was men’s business— or so some men said. But that wasn’t true. Not at all! The American Revolution affected everyone who lived in our country, and to defeat the British and win independence, we all had to help any way we could."

“Our family lived in Virginia, about fifty miles west of what is now our country’s capital at Washington, DC. Before the war started, your grandpa tended our farm and apple orchards and preached on Sundays. I took care of the children, the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry, and the sewing. Men and women divided the work, and even then, we barely had time to get everything done.”

Hannah nudged Thomas with her elbow. “Did you complain about the work like Thomas does?”

7

Anna shook her head. “I don’t think I complained, but I’m sure I wanted to, sometimes. After the war started, women’s jobs didn’t change. But with a lot of men away in the army, women had to do their own work, the men’s work—and more—to keep their homes and communities running.