Date

1-2016

Department

History

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Chair

Carey Roberts

Keywords

American Revolution, Edenton, NC, Edenton Tea Party, North Carolina First Provincial Congress, Penelope Barker, Women's History

Abstract

In the midst of the Revolutionary fervor, fifty-one women from Edenton, North Carolina stood against British policies, specifically the Tea and Coercive Acts. While it is easy to assume that the women banded together for the not just the Revolutionary but the Feminist cause due to their gender and socio-economic statuses, a deeper analysis of the petition shows that the petition was gender-neutral and influenced by the earlier North Carolina Provincial Congress Resolutions. Incidentally, it was Penelope Barker, the supposed ring-leader of the Edenton Tea Party, who sent a fiery letter along with the petition to London that spurred most of the controversy and had a Feminist flare. Through an analysis of Edenton, the signers of the petition, the details surrounding the event, and the response to the petition and letter, this thesis demonstrates the importance of the Edenton Tea Party in the discussion of Revolutionary America.

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