The Founding Mothers of the USA, 1: Deborah Franklin, Martha Washington & Abigail Adams

the founding mothers of the united states of america part one [Music] we hear a great deal about the ingenious and venerated founding fathers who revolted against the british to win liberty for the american colonies and crafted a revolutionary new form of democratic government but behind every great man is a great woman despite the many limitations placed on them women of the day also rose up to support the cause of independence while the founders were busying themselves with heady matters women were running their businesses and households raising their children making things happen during dinner party politics and writing words of encouragement and admonitions to remember the ladies in this four-part series we will learn about the lives of the women adjacent to the founding fathers of the united states of america and about five other women whose wise and valiant words and actions qualify them to be called the founding mothers deborah reed franklin debra reed was born in birmingham england to john and sarah reed a quaker couple when deborah was three years old she her parents and three siblings immigrated to the american colonies to escape religious persecution in philadelphia john established a moderately successful carpentry business when debra was 15 she saw an awkward young man of 17 walk past her home holding large bread rolls under each arm and eating a third she and the bedraggled printer's apprentice hit it off the young man benjamin franklin began to court deborah whom he affectionately called debbie benjamin proposed to his sweetheart the next year but her mother counseled against the match as he had no money to his name the couple postponed their nuptials until benjamin returned from a business trip to london which he hoped would improve his fortunes but while there he wrote debbie a terse breakup letter stating that he planned never to return heartbroken debbie was convinced by her mother to marry a british carpenter named john rogers but the marriage quickly turned sour as the sweet talking rogers failed to hold down a job squandered debbie's dowry and incurred mountains of debt when a friend from england visited rogers and informed his new bride of his old bride back in england debbie left the loud and returned home rogers eventually disappeared and it was later reported back to debbie that he had made his way to the west indies where he was killed in a fight around this time her first love benjamin franklin returned from london he began working in debbie's mother's sundry shop and set up his first printing press in the back rooms he soon began printing the pennsylvania gazette which greatly improved his prospects he and debbie forgave each other their past and picked up their relationship where they had left it off but because her husband's whereabouts were unknown they could not be legally married the laws of pennsylvania did not allow divorce on grounds of desertion and it was not known if rogers was truly dead if he ever reappeared in the colony debbie could be charged with bigamy a crime that carried a penalty of 39 lashes and life imprisonment with hard labor so benjamin and debbie decided on a common law marriage and held a small ceremony for family and friends celebrating their new arrangement the couple had two children francis and sarah sadly francis died of smallpox at the age of four debbie also raised benjamin's illegitimate son william as her own william was born shortly before debbie and benjamin were married and the identity of his mother was never known though it is speculated that he might have indeed been debbie's biological son but as he was born before his parents made their relationship official his origins had to remain murky for legal reasons over the following decades benjamin built up his printing business was appointed the first postmaster of philadelphia and became heavily involved in the politics of the revolution and the eventual establishment of the u.s government benjamin spent the majority of his later years in london and traveling europe on various diplomatic missions debbie refused to travel with him for fear of the long and arduous ocean crossing and instead stayed home to oversee the running of her husband's businesses and the postal service the maintenance of their home and the raising of their children despite her limited education and poor writing debbie was an astute businesswoman and supplied benjamin with the funds to maintain a gentleman's lifestyle in europe in london benjamin lived with another woman his fascination with younger ladies became legendary and was often joked about in newspapers back home in 1765 the british imposed the stamp act a deeply despised new tax on the american colonies the people of philadelphia felt that benjamin had not opposed the act strongly enough and an angry mob marched to his house intent on destroying it but debbie refused to be intimidated she grabbed some relatives and a rifle and defended her home benjamin wrote to her that he was pleased with how she was handling everything and that she should carry on but he ignored her request that he returned home debbie frequently requested that her husband come back to her especially to advise her on their daughter's courtship and to attend at the subsequent wedding but he refused she lamented having to act as mother and father to the bride in her 60s debbie suffered a series of strokes which severely impaired her speech and memory she wrote to benjamin one final time stating that her ill health and depression were the result of his long absence he again refused to leave paris where he was hailed as a hero and his wife never wrote him again he continued to write to her inquiring why her letters had stopped a year later debbie suffered a final stroke and died at the age of 66. benjamin franklin was buried next to her at christ church burial ground when he finally ran out of steam and died at the age of 84. martha washington martha dandridge was the eldest of eight children born to english-born virginia plantation owner john dandridge and his wife frances at 18 she married wealthy planter daniel park custis two decades her senior and moved with him to his property white house plantation a few miles from her parents home the couple had four children daniel who died at the age of two francis who died just before her fourth birthday and john and martha who both survived into adulthood daniel himself died of a heart attack at the age of 45 and left 25 year old martha a very rich widow she ably ran her five plantations totaling 17 500 acres and negotiated with british merchants to sell the tobacco they produced she also inherited 300 enslaved people her wealth and good nature made martha a very attractive prospect among the local bachelors and within two years she had accepted the proposal of decorated veteran of the french and indian war and the proprietor of the nearby plantation of mount vernon george washington the couple had a lavish wedding ceremony the groom wore a suit of blue and silver cloth with red trim and the bride wore silk shoes dyed purple the most costly color available they settled at mount vernon where they ran their two massive concerns and raised martha's two surviving children john and martha nicknamed patsy the young couple fully expected more children to come along but they never did it is unclear why though historians have speculated that a youthful bout of smallpox might have left george infertile george and martha got on well and had a solid marriage george had great respect for his wife and her abilities together they built up their wealth and property joining the social elite of virginia at the age of 16 patsy suffered an epileptic seizure and died in her stepfather's arms in 1758 george was elected to the virginia legislature and began to publicly oppose british taxation of the colonies and organize boycotts of british imports when the revolution broke out in 1775 george was strongly on the side of the revolution and raced to philadelphia to join the continental congress while there he was unanimously elected the commander-in-chief of the continental army martha did a great deal to support the war effort and her husband's command she would have preferred to remain home running their estates but instead each autumn she packed up cloth canned fruit and vegetables and dried meats and endured the multi-day journey over rough terrain to join her husband wherever the army was camped for the winter the soldiers cheered when lady washington entered the camp and her presence along with that of the other officer's wives greatly improved morale as the wife of the chief patriot martha was under constant threat of kidnapped by the british but she was determined to set an example of courage while at camp she served as her husband's social hostess entertaining the officers and camp visitors with dinners and parties once staying up all night dancing with general nathaniel green's wife kitty martha's only surviving child john park custis served as an aide to camp to his stepfather but john died at the age of 26 after contracting dysentery a common disease among soldiers owing to the poor sanitation in camp overwhelmed john's widow sent the youngest of her four children eleanor two and george just six months to be raised by their grandmother at mount vernon martha and george doted on their grandchildren in 1781 george and the revolutionary army defeated the british army at the battle of yorktown now freed of british rule george was eager to return home to virginia he arrived at mount vernon on christmas eve and fell back into his domestic felicity with martha but by 1787 the call of building a new government grew louder than he could ignore and george left home again to attend the constitutional convention in 1789 george was elected the first president of the united states martha had reservations about her husband's accepting the office but in the end she determined to support him in his historic role the couple left mount vernon and traveled to new york city the capitol at that time to lead the new nation and to find the office of the president and his wife the title of first lady was not established until the mid-1800s nonetheless martha known as lady washington set a precedent for the role as that of social hostess much like the queen's consort back in europe she was the head of the republican court she held weekly salons hosted visiting dignitaries and organized public receptions for her husband in an effort to project a dignified public image for the office the first couple occupied three presidential mansions during george's eight years in office the first on cherry street in new york city the second on broadway and the third in philadelphia when the capitol temporarily moved there the couple's grandchildren eleanor and george lived with them and helped to entertain guests the couple also brought with them a number of enslaved people who waited on them and ran the presidential household as the laws of the north allowed enslaved people to claim their freedom after six months the washingtons rotated the people they brought from mount vernon in order to deny them their liberty a few did manage to escape though including their cook hercules in 1797 after serving two terms george made the remarkable decision to leave the presidency and return home many supported him remaining in the office for life or even becoming a king the fact that he didn't have any biological children to pass the office onto may have been an important factor in this outcome he did a great service to his country by voluntarily stepping down to allow for a new administration to be elected setting the precedent for a two-term limit on the presidency george spent his final years resting under his own vine and fig tree with martha at mount vernon after 45 years of service to his nation he died in 1799 at the age of 67. one of the many legends of the greatness of george washington is that he freed all of the enslaved people he owned when he died but the story is more complicated than that washington did grapple with slavery in his later years though it had built his wealth in his younger years his will stated that the human beings he owned outright would be freed upon martha's death the problem was that most of the enslaved workers on the combined plantations were owned by martha or held in trust for her heirs who were not so keen on giving up their human property after george died only one man william lee a revolutionary war hero was set free the rest remained in bondage pending martha's demise martha began to fear those around her and after a mysterious fire in the house and rumors that one of the cooks was planning to poison her she felt compelled to grant freedom to the people george had owned but many of those 123 were spouses parents and children of the 153 enslaved people martha or her heirs owned who would never be set free so this good deed broke up many families martha's health declined after the death of her beloved husband she died two and a half years later at the age of 70. they are interred together on the mount vernon estate abigail adams abigail smith was born in the north parish congregational church in weymouth massachusetts her father william smith was a minister who taught reason and morality rather than the fire and brimstone popular at the time her mother elizabeth was a member of the prominent quincy family of new england politics abigail and her three sisters were not offered a formal education as their brother was a fact that abigail resented all her life but they were educated well by their mother and grandmother and read widely from the extensive libraries of their male relatives when abigail was 15 her older sister's fiance brought a friend to dinner a 24 year old country lawyer named john adams abigail's mother was not impressed with john and said his manners still reeked of the farm but abigail saw something special in her suitor and her parents agreed to the match her father presided over the ceremony and the newlyweds mounted a single horse to ride home to john's small cottage abigail gave birth to their first child nine months after the wedding and went on to have six children in the 12 years of their marriage abigail john quincy the future sixth president of the united states grace susanna who died at the age of two charles thomas and elizabeth who was stillborn the family moved to boston for several years but returned to the country during the lead-up to the revolutionary war when boston became far too dangerous as john traveled for his law practice and later to the continental congress abigail remained at home to manage the family and the farm she also invested her husband's money wisely in revolutionary war bonds which paid off handsomely when alexander hamilton secured congressional approval to pay back the war debt with federal funds she thus secured the family's fortune for generations to come abigail and john wrote hundreds of letters back and forth and it is clear that he prized her opinion advice and approval and had a great deal of respect for her in her most famous letter written to her husband while he was attending the continental congress she made clear her feminist resolve when she instructed him to remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands remember all men would be tyrants if they could if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies we are determined to foment a rebellion and will not hold ourselves bound to any laws in which we have no voice or representation john laughed off her request and american women would have to wait another century to begin seeing their rights secured by law abigail's plea to remember the ladies became a popular slogan of the suffragette movement in the early 1900s but the idea of women having the vote would have been far-fetched to a colonial woman from puritan boston what abigail wanted her husband to do was write laws which protected women from abuse at the hands of their husbands and allow women the right to an education and to own property so they had some measures of freedom at the time women were legally at the property of their husbands following the american victory in the revolution jon was appointed ambassador to france and abigail and their two eldest children abigail called nabi and john quincy accompanied them to paris though initially fearful of the journey abigail grew to love the city of lights where she made many friends and developed a great affection for theater and opera though she lamented that she would never be a particularly fashionable woman the next year john was assigned to the ambassadorship to great britain but abigail did not care for london where she was cold-shouldered by polite society after four years in europe the family returned to their home peace field in quincy massachusetts in 1789 john became the first vice president of the united states serving under george washington and eight years later he was elected the second president of the united states abigail accompanied him to philadelphia to fill the role martha washington had established of society hostess but abigail was not content to simply throw state dinner parties and 4th of july celebrations she was active in politics and was as always her husband's most trusted political advisor his rivals took to calling her mrs president in 1800 the couple relocated to the new federal capital washington dc and moved into what was then called the president's mansion now known as the white house the mansion was still under construction and the new city had only barely emerged from the wilderness abigail found the conditions quite inhospitable the swampy locale was cold and damp and she had a great deal of trouble finding domestic servants in the nearby community to help her run the large household or chop wood for the fires that needed to be kept lit constantly she took to hanging up laundry in the east room to keep it out of the rain her four months there took a toll on her health abigail was also caring for the children of several relatives including those of her son charles who had recently died of alcoholism abigail staunchly supported her husband and planted favorable stories about him in the press she even backed his passage of the alien and sedition acts which made immigration to the u.s much more difficult and was so unpopular that it cost adams a second term in office when he was defeated in the election of 1800 the family returned to peace field where abigail continued to raise her grandchildren and watched over john quincy's children when he served as ambassador to russia she lived to see her son appointed secretary of state but not to see him elected the sixth president of the united states abigail died at the age of 73 of typhoid fever she was buried at the united first parish church and her constant companion john was laid to rest next to her when he died at the age of 90. in the next episode we'll meet martha wales jefferson declaration of independence author thomas jefferson's beloved wife who after the physical toll of seven pregnancies died at just 33 and didn't have a chance to serve as first lady and sally himmings an enslaved young woman jefferson took as a lover after his wife's death who gave up her own freedom for a better life for her children a special thank you goes to my patron anissa de hamna don't want to wait to see the rest of the series patrons get exclusive early access to all four parts now in fact i release almost all of my multi-part series on patreon early if you would like to become a patron and help me make more fascinating history videos check out the link in the description thank you for watching

Channel: Lindsay Holiday

Views: 64,738

Rating: 4.9557858 out of 5

Keywords: history, documentary, bbc, england, women, europe, historic costumes, queen, Feminism, Feminist, american history, united states of america, first lady, founding fathers, founding mothers, revolutionary war, paris france, london england, philadelphia, new york city, colonial america, fourth of july, declaration of independence, constitution, inaguration, inaugural ball, benjamin franklin, martha washington, deborah franklin, Abigail Adams, hamilton, lin manuel miranda, eliza, 1700s

Id: N7kqNR2l704

Length: 22min 3sec (1323 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 29 2020