Children's Jobs
Throughout all of Revolutionary America, children had an immense role that affected all aspects of their life including physical and mental strain. Oftentimes children (especially those of soldiers) were expected to keep guard, and act as messengers throughout the war. Additionally, when their parents were away helping with militia tasks the eldest children were expected to take care of the household whether that means raising their children, cooking, cleaning, etc.. They even were directly involved in the war, and therefore put in great amounts of danger, such as being direct soldiers, messengers, spies, or taunting British soldiers (the direct cause of the Boston Massacre was from taunting British soldiers).1 All of these examples can be seen specifically in the young stories of Sybil Ludington, Joseph Plumb, and Christopher Seider.
To start, Sybil Ludington was only 16 years old when she was directly involved in the Revolutionary War. To connect with the familial roles effect on children in the previous section, Sybil Ludington’s parents were not extremely present as her father was off doing his militia duties as a Colonel, and the societal expectation was that as the eldest child, Sybil would be responsible for raising her 11 younger siblings and with household activities.2 In contrast to “normal” children in this time period, Sybil Ludington was extremely intrigued in her father’s work, and often took it upon herself to arrange her siblings into military fashion when her father was away to guard their house from British Loyalists. She also rode upwards of 40 miles to alert her father’s troop of British attack in Connecticut on April 26, 1777 which was almost two times as long and treacherous as Paul Revere’s ride.3 However, Sybil Ludington did not gain public respect for her bravery until centuries later (late 20th century), due to the fact that she was not only a child defying societal norms, but also a girl. To this day there are still historians that question whether or not her ride existed and “No historian believes that [she was as important as Paul Revere]” which proves that even though children were directly affiliated in the war, they rarely received the recognition and respect for their bravery and Patriotism.4
Another young war hero is Joseph Plumb Martin. Joseph Plumb Martin was only 15 years old when he entered the Revolutionary War directly as a soldier. Martin went through a great deal of hardships throughout this experience that caused him both mental and physical strain. Since he was a great deal younger than most of the other soldiers, he did not have any other war experience which made the experiences even more daunting and towards the beginning, he struggled to keep up with the older, bigger and more experienced soldiers. This also forced Martin to mature quicker than most children and learn how to fend for himself. Since “poor soldiers pass[ed] out of notice,” in the Winter, specifically at Valley Forge, they had no clothing, food, and were living in freezing conditions.5 Martin witnessed soldiers eating their own shoes and even sometimes their own dogs. However, through all this he still stated in his memoir, “we were determined to persevere as long as such hardships were not altogether intolerable.” 6 This proves that although there was a great deal of physical strain, mental strain, and danger through Martin's involvement in the war, his Patriotism still made him determined to continue.
Christopher Seider also had an extreme involvement in the Revolutionary War, which unfortunately he risked his life for and ended up being killed by a British Loyalist at the young age of 11.7 Seider was killed after protesting in front of a store that was receiving British imports, in order to protest for the use of colonial goods to retrieve complete separation and economic independence from Britain. On February 26, 1770, Christopher Seider held a sign that said, “Importer” outside of the British import store, and was chased back to his home and ultimately killed.8 His bravery was recognized and he was named one of the youngest martyrs in this time period.
Ultimately, all of these young war heroes played an extreme role throughout Revolutionary America. They all proved bravery and broke societal norms for their age. This shows that children’s lives were affected immensely by the jobs they endured during the revolution both physically and mentally.
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1 Zabin, Serena R. The Boston Massacre: A Family History. New York, NY: Mariner Books, 2023.
2 Rebollo, Jessica Kay. “The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington: A Forgotten Hero in the Shadow of Paul Revere.” DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2020. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/histsp/53/, 8.
3 War, Rev. “Sybil Ludington.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/sybil-ludington#:~:text=Ludington%20made%20her%20ride%20on,of%20provisions%20for%20Continental%20Army.
4 Rebollo, “The Midnight Ride of Sybil Ludington: A Forgotten Hero in the Shadow of Paul Revere.”, 7.
5 Martin, Joseph Plumb. A narrative of a revolutionary soldier: Some adventures, dangers, and sufferings of Joseph Plumb Martin. Signet Classics, 2010, 146.
6 Ibid., 58.
7 Edes, Benjamin, and John Gill. The Boston-Gazette, and Country Journal, 1770.
8 Ibid.