Boycotts
One of the most effective forms of protest during the pre-war period and during the Revolutionary war itself was the boycott of British goods. Parliament could easily ignore the angry sentiments of far-off colonists, they “could ignore assemblies' petitions. It could turn a deaf ear to soaring oratory and flights of rhetoric. But Parliament could not withstand the pressures placed on it by English merchants and manufactures who saw their sales plummet and their warehouses overflow because of the boycott”1. No impassioned speeches from the colonists could have convinced Parliament to repeal any of the tax acts, but money is so often louder than words.
When people think of the boycotts that took place during the Revolutionary War the first thing we often think of is events like the Boston Tea Party, and accounts of tax officials being tarred and feathered in the streets. However, much that went into these boycotts was much quieter. While it may have been colonial governments and organizations like the Sons of Liberty calling for boycotts, they were often not the ones to make them possible. Much like today, most of the comsumer power in the average family belonged to the women in the family. They were most often the ones going to the store and purchasing everyday goods that their family needed. This put women in a unique position of power to express their political views through what businesses and merchants they suppported. Many women felt it was their patriotic duty to support American businesses and goods and avoid British goods and the merchants that supplied them. This was felt especially keenly by women since they lacked formal avenues to express their political views. However, even though "Women might not be able to vote, but they did have a negative. And they could use it whenever merchange refused to do their patriotic duty"2. Simply not purchasing goods is insufficient to maintain a boycott because it does not eliminate the need for that good. Thus, you have two choices; import from elsewhere or produce it yourself3.
Colonial women were able to produce many of the boycotted goods, most notably among them tea and fabric. Tea was made from local plants and herbs, some of the most popular were raspberry leaf, verbena, violet, rosemary, and orange bergamot. 4To replace British fabric women turned to homespun. The homespun movement quickly grew and soon turned into a popular way for people to show their support for the revolution. In order to produce the amount of cloth needed, women began to form spinning groups, that later became known as “Spinning Bees”. These were events where women gathered to spin year for hours, or even for the whole day.5 There were many calls to action soliciting women to join these movements, one of the most famous a poem published in the The Boston Post-Boy & Advisor in 1767 titled “An Address to the Ladies”. The poem called for them to “Wear non but your own country linnen... And as one, agree that you’ll not married be To such as well wear London Fact’ry”.6
1Berkin, Carol. Revolutionary mothers: Women in the struggle for America’s Independence. New York: Vintage Books, 2009.
2 Skemp, S. L. (2016, June 9). Women and politics in the era of the American Revolution. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History.
3Byrant, Jessica. “Homespun.” Fraunces Tavern® Museum. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.frauncestavernmuseum.org/homespun#_ftn3.
4 Ibid
5 Ibid
6“Massachusetts Historical Society. Founded 1791.” MHS Collections Online: Address to the Ladies. Accessed October 27, 2024. https://www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?pid=2&old=1&mode=nav&ft=Coming%2Bof%2Bthe%2BAmerican%2BRevolution&item_id=413.