Susanna Explores the Revolutionary War in Rhode Island

 

  Independence?

18 July, 1776

July ye 18th Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Six. Such news! Word has come from the government in Philadelphia of a declaration of Independence! Rhode Island's General Assembly must discuss this at length. 

The Rhode Island General Assembly
18 July 1776 discussing independence

Should they agree to sign it, we American colonies would henceforth be free and independent states. There was a great battle not far from here in Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Our militia men are already fighting. The men say it is too late to go back and discuss terms agreeably. Other men fear what might happen if they agree to ... they used a word I do not understand... ratify... this declaration? 

The General Assembly discusses how the new STATE would be run. They finally agree it Deputy Governor Cooke will be the governor. (Gov. Wanton is a Loyalist! Boo hiss!) The Governor and General Assembly will rule and men will be sent to Philadelphia to the government to represent the interests of the state. 

The new state will henceforth be known as The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. (Plantation is our word for large farm but yes Gov. Cooke and Mr. John Brown and many others are involved in the slave trade and own slaves). They conclude the meeting with "God save the United States!" 

Business being thus concluded, Gov. Cooke declares the session adjourned. He reads the Declaration of Independence out loud to the citizens of Providence. 

"Wherein the course of human events
it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another..."

....We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal..."

"... that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

We toast to independence, General Washington and other important men. Thirteen toasts in all "Hip Hip Huzzah!" ('Tis warm here in July. I toast with lemonade to keep me cool.)

Three cheers for General Washington! 
Three cheers for Richard Henry Lee!

Hip Hip Huzzah! 
Three cheers for  the Committee of Five
(John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman)

"Hip Hip Huzzah!" Three cheers for Independence!
I join the toast with Governor and Madam Cooke.

Copies of the Declaration of Independence have been made and distributed. 

The Declaration of Independence
printed by Solomon Southwick in
Newport, Rhode Island

I sign my full name. I take a big risk signing my name. This is an act of treason! 

Signer of the Declaration of Independence: Susanna Mary Allin

My Felicity doll signs her name too! (She will return in a moment to share more about the Declaration of Independence). 

Mini Felicity, signer of the Declaration of Independence

Susanna Explores The Revolutionary War in Rhode Island

 Susanna and the Women in Revolutionary Rhode Island

Laundry day

It's laundry day! We must was our linen. By linen I mean the clothing I wear next to my skin. My shift is made from linen. My persperation (that's a big word. Did I spell that correctly?) soaks into the linen. It cools me off on a sunny day. I change my body linen when I am hot and when I sleep. I must wash it in the river and dry it in the sun. 

I take a break to watch the babies and help them play with their toys. 

We have poppets, bilbocatch (cup and ball) and a hornbook to practice our reading.

Next is market day. 

We grow many herbs in the kitchen garden. Some are used for medicine and others for cooking. This lady has extra herbs she sells in the marketplace.

We do not drink tea in our household any longer. I tell the herb seller my friend Felicity has a recipe for raspberry leaf tea. When I feel poorly after indulging in too many biscuits, Mamma brews me a tisane of peppermint leaves. I love peppermint tea. Raspberry leaf tea tastes like grass. 

The ladies break for tea (leftover from before the boycott or maybe some of the fine herbs grown in the garden) and games. 

Shrewsbury Cakes
I tell the lady I have made those with my friend Felicity in Virginia.
She knows Felicity!

This lady plays cribbage

Life goes on in the usual ways for now. Come and visit again soon. I am sure I will have more to tell you if this war continues. 

Editor's note: We had a conversation about Felicity and Pleasant Company (twice with both sets of reenactors) and how she inspired us to DO history. Everyone misses Felicity, even an older adult who was not a child in the Pleasant Co. era has original Felicity and Beforever Felicity. History nerds and librarians are the best! 

Susanna Explores the Revolutionary War in Rhode Island

 

 Rhode Island Independence Day

May, 1776

It's May ye 4th Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Six. Today the Colony of Rhode Island has renounced allegiance King George III. 

Act of Renunciation

Act of Renunciation Transcript

What does that mean for the ladies? 

Women in Revolutionary Rhode Island

We have tea to discuss the news. (No, I am not Felicity. No I am not Samantha. How do YOU know them?) 

We have tea and discuss things like fresh food in season now it is spring. We have strawberries (in New England? This early? Never. Maybe in Baltimore or Virginia where some of these ladies are from.)

 Then we discuss clothing, especially undergarments. I am wearing my stays under my gown over my shift. Yes I DO complain my stays are too tight. 

Most cloth comes from Britain at this time. 

A block print scarf of India muslin and the printers' block

An embroidered pocket. Not as pretty as mine. 

While there is fighting happening not far away, women are not allowed to fight. We females (the grown ladies who manage the households) have found ways to make an impact. We have decided to boycott British goods. Women have burned the tea, held spinning bees to create homespun fabric. We are knitting stockings for soldiers and 

are prepared to sacrifice sheets and shirts to the war effort. 

We talk about how we must learn to make our own clothing now we are boycotting British goods. We will form a Daughters of Liberty group to boycott British goods and make our own homespun clothing.

Here the ladies have made a linen frock for a young child. It closes in the back. My frocks are made from cotton. Cotton is imported from England (via India). Linen is made from flax. We grow flax on our farms. 

Not everyone supports renouncing the King. 

Some women choose not to become Daughters of Liberty. Jemimah Bull lives in Newport. She is a slave. If the British promise freedom, she would take it. 

Sarah Slocum is a widow with young children. In 1777 she will be ordered to take her family away from their coastal farm and move inland because the General Assembly suspects she is a spy! She is accused of communicating intelligence and providing food to the British in occupied Newport.

This is Mrs. Metcalf (Ann Fairchild) Bowler of Newport. Her husband is a legislator and judge. I am unsure of his loyalties. It may be some day in the future it will be known that he was using his prominent position to spy for the British! Does his wife know about this? If so, what can she do? Her daughter will marry the Marquis Langfroi de Lisle an aide-de-camp to the Marquis de Lafayette. 

Anne Fairchild Bowker

Her fine dress looks very familiar. The silk and lace likely come from France imported from Britain. 

I must go now but will return another day to share more of the activities in the STATE of Rhode Island! 

 Rhode Island Independence Day

May 4, 1776

It's May ye 4th Seventeen Hundred and Seventy-Six. Today the Colony of Rhode Island has renounced allegiance King George III.

He has been behaving like a tyrant. We have had enough! (We are not yet ready to declare ourselves independent but in the future, this day will be known as Rhode Island Independence Day).

Mini Felicity May 4, 1776 

The Rhode Island General Assembly passed the Act of Renunciation at the Old State House on Benefit Street in Providence. We have five colony houses actually, but Providence is where the General Assembly is at the moment.  

The Rhode Island State House in 1776 (an artist rendering)

Mini Felicity stands in for me as she visits the Colony House.  (ed. note: newly renovated Old State House) 

Mini Felicity outside the Old Colony House in Providence

'Twas built between [17]60-62 [ed. note: and later expanded twice in the 19th-c. ]. after a fire destroyed the first colony house. This style of building is classic Georgian architecture. It takes up the whole block between Town Street and the new part of Town Street now called Benefit Street. (It was widened for the benefit of all). 

Here is mini Felicity at the parade ground outside.

Mini Felicity stands on the Parade Ground

She heads inside to listen to a reading of the Act of Renunciation in the Council Chamber. 

Mini Felicity waits to hear the General Assembly read the Act of Renunciation 

The General Assembly have added in some new oaths stating we no longer have to swear loyalty to the King. They declare the General Assembly will continue to govern itself. All court proceedings will be performed in the name of the state, not the King!

Such news!
The Rhode Island General Assembly has declared ... 
independence?!

This floor holds the Chamber of Deputies. The Governor’s Council Chamber is upstairs. 

Mini Felicity heads up the stairs to look at this chamber.

Mini Felicity upstairs in the Old State House

Here is a map of Providence. The college edifice is way up on the hill on the top right of the map. 

Mini Felicity 

Map of colonial Providence

While Mamma visits with Mrs. John Brown, we learn the alarming intelligence from the newspaper! 

What does this mean? 

Hint: For women? Nothing. Come back very soon for a look at Rhode Island Independence Day from a girls' eye view!

The Providence Tea Party March 2, 1775

 The Providence Tea Party

 March 2, 1775

Providence

An English tea set imported to America

To support the tax on tea or not to support the tax on tea? That is the burning question of today, March 1, 1775. I walk over to Mrs. John Brown's residence on Power Street to see what is happening. Mr. John Brown is a wealthy merchant. He does not support the "insidious" tax the Crown has placed on tea. Other people have different ideas.

Women are organizing a tea boycott and a tomorrow they will march on Market Square and burn the tea! GASP! 

Citizens of Providence call for tea boycott

"No tax on tea!" I am prepared to cry out. "No taxation without representation!" 

Not so fast.

The men are debating the tax. 

Lawyers discuss the tax

A lawyer says the tax is small and only affects wealthy merchants who can afford to pay it. Another argues that most British subjects, even in England, are taxed without representation. The tax is to pay for a war fought on American soil. 

Others argue we never asked for the war so why should we pay the tax?

Moving along to Mrs. Brown's parlor, a lady is drinking tea. My adult person asks her how SHE feels about the tax on tea. My guardian argues it is women who do the shopping and drink the tea. Men have other options. They can visit a coffee house. Men drink spirits and coffee. Tea is a social beverage for ladies. 

This lady owns a small shop and says the boycott will harm her business. She is not in favor of it. 

No taxation without representation?

I don't know what to think! Should I sign the boycott or not?

Boycott list

I must explore more about where tea comes from and how it is made.

Tea comes from the leaves of a plant. In China they pick and dry the leaves. Then they compress them into bricks like this one for shipping across the ocean. [Editor's note: Or not really... museums just like to buy them because visitors think they're cool].

This is tea?

In the end I decide I prefer chocolate! 

Making drinking chocolate is hard work.
This is why Felicity has Rose.

Grown up things like taxes do not concern me. 

More to come... I expect this is not the last we will hear about the cruelty of the Crown!