Cassandra Good

“I disregard the opinion that women make but indifferent politicians,” American writer Mercy Otis Warren wrote to a friend on the eve of the American Revolution. “Politicians” were more than elected officials; they were all of those engaged in politics as the United States became an independent nation and expanded across the continent. Despite their inability to vote or hold office, many American women were so-called “female politicians.” From writing political commentary to attending political rallies, from conducting petition campaigns to advising presidential campaigns, and from leading reform efforts to serving as intermediaries for or even leaders of their tribal communities, women of all races played key roles in the new nation.

“Female Politicians” weaves together stories of diverse women into a compelling chronicle that challenges how we think about the early development of politics in America. This book particularly attends to the visual and material artifacts of women’s political participation. Whether appearing in great numbers in paintings and prints of political events, tending to their hair with a brush adorned with William Henry Harrison’s face, or sewing a quilt with past presidents’ images as teaching tools for their children, women’s political presence is evident in myriad ways in the material record. Even purportedly apolitical items like portraits could embed political messages.

This book will synthesize the wealth of existing but fragmented scholarship on early American women’s political participation from the Revolution to Reconstruction and offer new insights from both understudied archives and material and visual sources. It will also be the first book to tell the stories of White, Black, and Native women’s political involvement in this era as a single narrative, recognizing that none of their contributions can be fully understood in isolation. Written for a public audience, “Female Politicians” will change how readers understand both early American women and political power itself.