Deborah Sampson's Role In The Revolutionary War

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What would happen if a woman from the 1700's decided that a life of cooking and cleaning was not for her? She would have broken all social rules and expectations. Throughout history these "rule breaking" women have been pioneers for equality. Among them is Deborah Sampson. She overcame a poor childhood as an indentured servant and eventually fought in the Revolutionary War. Deborah Sampson showed her perseverance in her early life, during the war, and even after the war. In her early life Deborah Sampson had to overcome many things before she finally decided to enlist in the Revolutionary War. On December 17, 1760 Deborah was born in Plymton, Massachusetts to a family of pilgrim descendants. Despite her family history her family was …show more content…
Not long after war Deborah got married and had three kids. Having been injured in war Deborah felt that she should be compensated for her service to her country. In 1790 she began the long battle of receiving pension. Since she was a female who had served in the war her story caught the attention of figures such as Paul Revere. He even came to her farm and proceeded to write a letter to William Eustis, the congressman of her district, requesting pension for her. After hearing her story and all she had accomplished he wrote, "I was agreeably surprised to find a small, effeminate, and converse able woman whose education provided her the best situation in life... I think her case [very] deserving." This shows that despite all of her setbacks in life Deborah was able to overcome them. Especially the challenge of being educated since she was a woman, which Paul Revere noted. Paul Revere was not the only person who noticed her. In 1797 an account of her experience was published and was called The Female Review. This is one of the only literary sources about her because her own journal from the war could not be salvaged from a sinking boat which she took to West Point when she was dispatched. Not long after she began giving lectures about her time in the army. Soon after she was placed on the pension list. She applied for general pension after her health started failing due to old war
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