Would working class women in early 18th century colonial America have carried weapons? I’m doing living history about colonial days in early 18th century in northern Florida, and could use some help and preferably cites, or websites. (I’ve done a lot of searching online with no success.) I’m portraying an English farm woman (with husband) visiting a town whose residents are primarily Spanish; a coastal fort nearby is held by the Spanish military. I’ve haven’t had much trouble with attire; at this point, I dress pretty much like the other women (although there are a few differences as most of the women do Spanish). I decided I’d like to do something different besides wear an apron, carry a basket, and smile prettily. Hubby suggested I carry a flintlock pistol (replica) – our story being that we have to be prepared to defend ourselves in a Spanish-held town. I like this idea, but in case I’m challenged on the authenticity of such a portrayal, I want to be able to say (and cite a source) that 18th century working women might very well have carried a weapon of some kind, especially in “hostile” territory.
Most definitely yes! Those who could afford them, that is. Many women of that period had to use knives and other weapons for self-defense and traps for hunting.
ETA: And here’s one source: Blown Away - American Women and Guns: A Book by Caitlin Kelly : About the Book. You won’t have trouble finding plenty of sources. Just Google “colonial america women guns”.
This is a picture of a (non-firing replica of an authentic) Muff Pistol (in this thread as in life I’m not gonna touch it), so called because women wealthy enough to wear muffs (work safe- I promise) could conceal them there. So, there were actually weapons specifically marketed for women.
As for the “non muff owning” segments of society, oh yeah. There are accounts of women sharpshooters, women who held off redcoats (or Continentals if they were Tory) with rifles and muskets, etc… Even Benjamin Franklin’s wife, Deborah Reade Franklin, a lifelong city dweller and gentlewoman, once held angry men protesting the Stamp Act of 1765 and threatening to burn her house, at bay with a musket and a pistol. (Her husband was in England at the time), then a more famous Deborah- surname Samson- was one of several women known to have disguised her gender and served with distinction in the Continental Army.
So yes, they could use weapons and could certainly have carried them. (Slaves could actually carry weapons in some areas, though after the Revolution their rights to carry firearms were sharply curtailed due to so many running away to serve the British and proving that they really weren’t happy to be slaves.)
Thank you both for the very helpful info. It made sense to me that some women of that period would have carried weapons. I’m going to order a flintlock for myself right now!
My mother grew up on a farm in the 1920’s and 30’s and knew how to use a gun. As did her mother and sisters.
There’s a scene in Pan’s Labyrinth of women working in the kitchen and features one of them folding a knife into her apron matter-of-factly. I did similiar when I worked in a big hotel cleaning rooms, except I carried a carpet knife in my apron pocket. I could see any farm wife carrying a blade for any number of chores including self-defense.
Sycorax, this is really one for the General Questions forum, not for Cafe Society. Assuming it wasn’t just inadvertent, you might want to re-read the forum descriptions. Factual answer: GQ. Discussion of arts/entertainment: CS. I’m moving it.
(PS - this kind of thing isn’t a “warning” or any kind of black mark unless it becomes habitual. OTherwise, it’s just moderator being friendly and helpful, getting things in the right forum where you’ll most likely get more responses.)
It’s not in Amelia Island, is it?