Penelope Barker and the Edenton Tea Party

Who organized the first women’s political demonstration before the American Revolution started? The demonstration was called the “Edenton Tea Party”, and her name was Penelope Barker. She was a tough, hard-working Patriot living in North Carolina.

She was born on June 17, 1728, in Edenton, NC. Her father was a physician and a farmer, and her mother was the daughter of a wealthy politician and planter, James Blount. When she was a teenager, her father and older sister passed away. In 1745, she married her sister’s husband, John Hodgson. They had two children together and were also raising her sister’s three children. In 1747, her husband died, leaving her to raise the five children alone.

In 1751, Penelope Barker married a wealthy planter named James Craven. He passed away in 1755, after four short years. She inherited his estate and became one of the wealthiest women in North Carolina. In 1757, she married an attorney in Edenton, NC, named Thomas Barker. He was 16 years older than her. Together, they had three children, but all passed away as infants.

Her husband was an agent of the North Carolina Colony, and in 1761, he left to work in England. He was not able to return home after the Revolutionary War began. They would not see each other again for over 17 years because of the British Naval Blockade. Penelope managed their household and estates by herself. She was an independent, tough, hardworking, and smart woman.

In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, which granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the American Colonies. The colonists hated having their freedom of choice taken away by the government. The leaders of the Patriots encouraged women to support the rebellion by boycotting British imports such as tea, fabric, and other household goods. The First Continental Congress passed the Non-Importation Resolutions in 1774 to hurt the English economy and show their anger with Parliament.

On October 25^, 1774, Penelope Barker brought together over 50 women in the home of her neighbor, Elizabeth King. There, they presented and signed a resolution supporting the boycott of English imported goods. They drank tea made from Mulberry Leaves, Lavender, and Local Fresh Herbs while they were signing the resolution. The resolution stated: “We the aforesaid Ladies, will not promote ye wear of any manufacturer from England until such time that all acts which tend to enslave our Native country shall be repealed”.

The women had participated in what became known as the “Edenton Tea Party”, the first recorded women’s political demonstration in America. The Colonial press praised the women for their strong show of support and encouraged other women to follow their lead.

The English press made fun of them and mocked them. They even published a famous cartoon showing them as bad mothers and women of loose morals. The English readers had no idea of the tough lives these women had lived and how much they supported the Revolution.

Her husband returned home from England in 1778, and she finally had help again. They built a new home and lived together as a family until her husband passed away in 1790. She lived alone until 1796, when she also passed away. She had lived an amazing life. She was a strong, independent, hard-working, smart, and tireless woman. Penelope Barker deserves to be remembered as a true Patriot Leader during the American Revolution.

Thanks for reading “Our History Matters” by T. J. Cox.

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