American woman
Sharon Derrington stands her ground
Wednesday
April 22, 2015 at 5:00pm PST, the call-in and express our First Amendment (347)
826-7353
I love my
America and would do what I can to save her from decay. I am just an average woman who helps patrol
the Texas Mexico border to help keep illegals from crossing the Rio
Grande. There are many nationalities who
try to come here illegally. I attend as many protests as I am able to show my
disconcern with what is happening in my country. Closing the border is number
one on my list
Our
children’s schools teach them about the victims in our nation to the exclusion
of the heroes who sacrificed their families, homes, and lives to secure our
freedom. College professors disparage the very idea of American exceptionalism,
and our nation’s elite scoff at the idea of our reliance on God for maintaining
this nation’s greatness. How can we, as parents and role models, instill in
children a true and vibrant sense of patriotism?
Women who
fought in the war were met with ambivalence that fluctuated between admiration
and contempt, depending on the particular woman's motivation and activity.
Devotion to following a man was admired, while those who seemed enticed by the
enlistment bounty warranted the scorn of enlisted men. Anna Maria Lane and
Margaret Corbin fit under the first category, while Anne Bailey (under the name
Samuel Gay) belonged to second. Anne Bailey was discharged, fined, and put in
jail for two weeks. Anne Smith was condemned for her attempt to join the army
in order to secure the enlistment fee.
Deborah
Samson, Hannah Snell, and Sally St. Claire successfully hid their gender for a
time. St. Claire kept gender a secret until her death, while Samson was
discovered and honorably discharged. Deborah Samson was later awarded a
veteran’s pension.
Molly
McCauley also took her husband's post behind cannon once her husband was
injured in an attack in New Jersey. She gained notoriety for her excellent aim
and soldiers began to respect her as a fighter.
Nancy Hart
was forced to house British soldiers during the war as were most colonial
households. When providing dinner for the soldiers, she chose to fight back.
She killed both men in her home with their own muskets. She was later a part of
a spy ring that passed messages between revolutionary forces.
Other
Patriot women concealed army dispatches and letters containing sensitive
military information underneath their petticoats as they rode through enemy
territory to deliver it. Deborah Champion, Sara Decker (Haligowski) [married to
Polish shoe maker in later years], Harriet Prudence Patterson Hall,[9] and
Lydia Darraugh all managed to sneak important information past the British to
their American compatriot.
A crisis of
political loyalties disrupted the fabric of colonial America women’s social
worlds: whether a man did or did not renounce his allegiance to the king could
dissolve ties of class, family, and friendship, isolating women from former
connections. A woman’s loyalty to her husband, once a private commitment, could
become a political act, especially for women in America committed to men who
remained loyal to Great Britain. These loyalist women faced hardship during the
Revolution. Women, guilty by association, fell victim to vigilante groups or
mobs on account of their husband’s treason. Wives of wealthy loyalists were
particularly vulnerable targets of Revolutionary governments eager to confiscate
the property of men they considered traitors, although women with their own
property may have been less vulnerable to patriot pressure, as confiscation
acts normally excluded dower portions from seizure. No matter the social
status, however, loyalist women were a part of a political minority, therefore
lacking the support of neighbors and friends through hardship.
Many
loyalist women chose to leave their communities rather than live among their
enemies. A woman could uproot suddenly, but this option often meant leaving
home without any family possessions. Loyalists would usually move to Canada,
where they found themselves among thousands of fellow loyalists: veterans,
families, widows, and children who poured into Nova Scotia. A loyalist could,
alternatively, petition to local patriot authorities for safe passage and
permission to bring personal belongings into British territory. Even then,
American officials limited what a woman could take and demanded that she pay
for the journey. Worst of all, she had to leave any son over the age of 12
behind to serve in the patriot army.
Resistance
was another option for loyalist women. In 1779, three women—Margaret Inglis,
Susannah Robinson, and Mary Morris—plotted to kidnap the mayor of Albany.
Others encouraged friends to refuse to take the loyalty oath to new
governments. Most of the women who actively supported the Crown participated by
aiding loyalist soldiers or by collecting information for the British. Some
loyalist women hid their husbands from arrest, while others hid important
papers or money from authorities. These acts raised questions about the
autonomy of the political commitment of these women: were their actions from
wifely loyalty, or evidence of independent political choice?
To uphold
and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; to maintain law
and order; to foster and perpetuate a one hundred percent Americanism; to
preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the great wars; to
inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation;
to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; to make right the
master of might; to promote peace and goodwill on earth; to safeguard and
transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy; to
consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.”
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