The Delaware Tribe

The Delaware Tribe by Laney


The Delaware Tribe, or Lenni Lenape, paid a terrible price for the peace they wanted that
they never received.

The Delaware Tribe first made its home in northern Delaware and southwestern
Pennsylvania. When colonists came to America, some of the tribe decided to move west, so they
would not be bothered by the colonists. The rest of the tribe moved west under threats of
violence made by the colonists. The Delaware inadvertently intruded upon the Iroquois tribe
territory. The Iroquois forced the Delaware farther west into Ohio territory.

During the American Revolution, the Delaware Tribe was attacked many times, even
though they did their best to remain peaceful. In 1781, a Lenni Lenape village by the name of
Coshocton was attacked by about 300 Americans. Coshocton and another village nearby,
Licheneau, were destroyed. Fifteen Lenape warriors were captured and killed. Later that year, in
the Gnadenhutten Massacre, Pennsylvania militiamen attacked the tribe, and almost one hundred
peaceful Christian Delaware were taken to a concentration camp. The Americans believed that
the Delaware were responsible for raiding, but they were mistaken. The Delaware never raided
the Americans. The Delaware at the concentration camp were released in 1782. However, that
same year, Americans massacred the same peaceful Christian Lenape. The Lenape were praying,
and an American ranger used a cooper's mallet to brain many of the Lenape. Also, in 1782,
Americans attacked Lenape at Smokey Island, and the Americans destroyed Lenape artifacts.
The Delaware tribe suffered in many ways during the American Revolution.

The Delaware Tribe did their best to be neutral, but failed. The tribe split into three parts.
One sided with the English. Another part remained neutral. The last sided with the Americans.
The Lenape that sided with the Americans even fought for the Americans. The rest of the Lenape
feared losing their lands if the Americans won the War. After the War the Americans took the
Delaware Tribe even further west, across the Mississippi River. They reside today in Oklahoma.
Though broken by the American Revolution, the Delaware Tribe stays strong. Although
the Lenape lost so many lives during the War, the tribe now grows larger and stronger by the
year. Many people are now discovering that their family background lies with the Lenni Lenape.
Though not the kind they originally desired, the Lenape are finally able to live in peace.

Prudence Wright

Prudence Wright by Lauren


When Revolutionary-era men thought of the word strong, they typically think of women, but Prudence
Wright proved strength comes in many forms.

Very little is known about Prudence Wright's childhood. Wright was born on November
26, 1740. She had two brothers, Samuel and Thomas Cummings. They loved her very much, but
as they grew older she became a Patriot and her brothers became Loyalists.

Wright is best known for a daring act she pursued one night. She and a few friends heard
a British message was coming to Pepperell, Massachusetts. So they put on their husbands
clothes, grabbed some weapons, and hid under the Pewett bridge. Eventually they heard Captain
Whiting and Samuel Cummings. They jumped out, stole the message they were carrying and set
them free on terms that they leave the colony. No one knows what the message said.

Prudence Wright died young, at the age of forty-two in the year of 1824.

William Dawes

William Dawes by Paige

William Dawes's modesty cost him a place in history and the recognition he deserves.

Little is known about Dawes's childhood, but what is known is positive. In 1745 in Boston, Massachusetts, William Dawes was born to William and Lydia Dawes. He became a
tanner and got married. At his wedding, he wore a suit made entirely in America to show that he was a Patriot.

Dawes's role in the Revolutionary War is not known by many people. Assigned by Dr. Joseph Warren, William Dawes took off on April 18, 1775 for his Midnight ride with Paul Revere. The Midnight ride was a mission to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were trying to arrest them. He also warned the militia that the British were coming so
they had time to prepare. Dawes and Revere made it from Boston to Lexington, but Revere soon
got arrested. The British started to chase Dawes. He knew his horse was too tired to run very far,
so he pulled up to a farm house and tricked the British into thinking that he lead them into an
ambush.

After the war, William Dawes had a peaceful life. Dawes was ordered to join an
expedition against American Indians. Dawes thought this was not necessary, and he refused.
Dawes died in 1799, at age fifty-three. He was buried in his hometown, Boston, soon after his
death.

Though not recognized by many, William Dawes's role in the revolution saved lives, and
helped us win the war.

Esther Reed

Esther Reed by Caroline
All though little is known about Esther Reed, she sewed through fabric and through the hearts of the grateful American soldiers.

Esther Reed had a very pleasant childhood. She was born on October 22, 1746 in London. She had a happy family, and loved to read. She lived in a wonderful house. She married Joseph Reed on May 31, 1770.

Esther Reed played a simple, yet important role in the Revolutionary war. She was the leader of a group called The Ladies Association of Philadelphia. They collected money and made clothes for soldiers. In all she collected $7000, and made 2000 shirts for soldiers.

When she died in 1780, Sarah Franklin Bache took Esther Reed's place, and became the leader of the group. Esther Reed changed the way people saw women. She inspired women to help out in the Revolutionary war.

Esther Reed sewed the clothes of freedom, that the soldiers wore winning the battles, and freedom itself. All though she may not still be with us, Esther Reed taught us that just a little needle and thread can go a long way.

  

Deborah Sampson, Soldier (Tess)

Deborah Sampson by Tess

Deborah Sampson was not an average house wife. She was born on December 17, 1760. She had a very depressing childhood. When she was little, her father abandoned her family to fight in the Revolutionary war. A few months later, he died at sea. Soon, her mother became very ill and could not take care of the kids, so she sent the all away to become indentured servants.

During the Revolutionary War, Sampson did something that no one thought a women would do. She dressed up as a man and enlisted herself in the military. She chose to fight under the name "Robert Shirtiff". Everything was going as planned until she was shot in the leg. She knew that if she let the doctor heal her, he would find out her secret. She knew the only way to save her secret was to pull the bullet out of her leg herself. Soon, she was injured again, and the doctor found out that she was a women.

He sent her home, without letting her finish her time in the war. Soon she became a teacher, and fell in love with a man named Benjamin Gannett. Together, they had three children, Earl, Mary and Patience, and adopted one little girl name Susanna. Sampson died on April 29, 1827 at age sixty-six, in Sharon, Massachusetts.

Daughters of Liberty, Ferocious Patriots

Daughters of Liberty by Greta
The Daughters of Liberty were women who were ferocious with a spinning wheel and furious with the British.

The birth of The Daughters of Liberty formed in 1765. They supported American resistance and boycotted British goods. They even made their own goods so that British goods were not needed.

Like many secret clubs at the time, The Daughters of Liberty had many rituals. They had secret code words and medals. They also had confidential symbols. The Daughters had these in their group so when they were carrying messages the British couldn't listen in. In January 1770, 538 Boston women (including The Daughters Of Liberty) signed an agreement, vowing not to drink tea as long as it was taxed. Proving their commitment to "the cause of liberty and industry," they openly opposed the Tea Act of 1773, and experimented to find substitutes for tea. Discoveries like boiled basil leaves to make a tea-like drink helped lift spirits.

Their main activity was "Spinning Bees". The Daughters held this event to see who could spin the fastest. The main purpose of the "Spinning Bees" was to block all materials imported from England. Mostly women attended, but sometimes men did too.

Even though The Daughters of Liberty ended, they were still known for their actions, for example, the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. These women helped the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots, protesting the monopoly on American tea importation recently granted by Parliament to the East India Company, seized 342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into the harbor.

They were American Patriots, Northern and Southern, young and old. They were The Daughters of Liberty.

Lydia Darragh

Lydia Darragh by Tatum

Sometimes great contributions to help one's country are made with just a few words.

Little is known about Lydia Darragh's early life. Darragh was born in 1728, in Dublin, Ireland. She married William Darragh in 1753 at the age of twenty-four. She immigrated to America, where she settled in Philadelphia before the Revolutionary War.

All because of Darragh, George Washington's army was prepared for a British ambush. Darragh was a Quaker, so the British wanted to use her household for meetings.  At one meeting, the British demanded that the whole family stay in one bedroom. Suspicious, Darragh snuck out of the room and hid in a chamber closet. In the closet, she overheard about an ambush on Washington's army. Hearing signs of the meeting concluding, she scurried back to the bedroom and pretended to be asleep. They knocked on the door, but when she opened, they did not suspect anything was wrong. The next morning, she announced that she needed flour. Instead, she delivered the information to a General, who she didn't believe would report back to Whitemarsh. Washington's troop was ready for the ambush on December, 1777, and turned a British victory into a disappointment.

            

After the war, Lydia lived a normal life. Her husband died in 1783. In 1786, she moved to a new house and ran a store. Darragh then died on December 28, 1789. In 1827, her daughter Ann published a book on her mother's spy work.

Darragh's courage throughout the war proved that women can be just as good as men.