1. Look at the image carefully and answer the following questions:

a. What are the women at the table doing?
b. What is happening under the table?
c. What other activities are the other women in the room engaged in?

2. According to the cartoonist, what happens to women who engage in politics?

3. Patriots circumvented many of the early British tax measures by engaging in non-importation of the taxable goods—they refused to import the merchandise. The boycotts, however, were non-consumption strategies—colonists refused to buy or use the products. In this light, answer the following:

a. Evaluate the effectiveness of a non-importation strategy versus a non-consumption strategy on the British economy.
b. Assess women’s importance in of colonial women’s contribution to each of these strategies.

4. What does the cartoon suggest about British attitudes toward patriot activism in the colonies?

Revolutionary War: A Journey Towards Freedom
A student site containing the basic documents of the Revolutionary War period

Revolutionary War: Birth of a Nation
A gateway site most notable for its extensive list of links to Revolutionary period sites of all kinds

Liberty: The American Revolution
The site accompanying the PBS program of the same name, containing solid material pertaining to both the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary periods

In response to the Coercive Acts (several acts designed to restructure colonial government and reduce colonial freedoms passed in 1774), the colonies (except for Georgia) met at Philadelphia in the First Continental Congress. Along with a declaration of principle, the delegates also elected to boycott all British goods and cease exporting American products to Britain and its possessions. Women like those in North Carolina joined with their male counterparts and refused to buy and use British products, especially tea. You may wish to review the particulars of the Coercive Acts in your textbook before dealing with the questions.