Courage of a Young Lady

Courage of a Young Lady

Deborah Sampson was born into poverty in Plympton, Massachusetts, in 1760. Later, she became a heroic young lady fighting in the Revolutionary War. From 1760-1780 was the age of revolution, many people were inspired to fight for their rights and beliefs. Their main goal was to get independence from Britain. As a result, Deborah Sampson was able to be part of the creation of our nation because she dressed like a man, later her sex was discovered, and her courage was rewarded by the federal government. She left out the safe environment of a woman which consisted of staying home, take care of children, and cook; becoming the first brave woman to actually fight in a war.

During her childhood she grew up admiring her patriotic family. Her great-grandfather had been the second governor of the colony in Plympton. Deborah Sampson was ashamed of her father for being a vicious man and irresponsible for leaving his family. Therefore, her family fell into poverty and her mother was not able to maintain her own children. She decided to send them with relatives and for them to be servants. Deborah Sampson was auspicious because she had an opportunity to go to school as soon she had finalized her chores.

As she grew up, Deborah Sampson was a witness of the frightened children and women during the battles of Lexington and Concord. In 1777, her term as servant had finished, but she did not get married like it was expected during the colonial era. She was well educated and was able to support her life though replacing male teachers who fought in the revolutionary war. Other things that she would do was spinning and weaving.

In 1782, Deborah Sampson had a lot of courage to decide to fight in the revolutionary war. Women were not allowed to fight. With this in mind, she decided to go under the name, Robert Shurtleff. Robert Shurtleff was Deborah Sampson's brother who died when she was a little girl. She bounded her chest and tied her hair back in a ponytail. When she was in the continental army she was assigned hard duties and was successful. Other soldiers were proud of Shurtleff because even with his short height was very efficient.

Even though, most of the people honored Deborah Sampson not everyone was pleased with her actions. The Third Baptist Church accused her of being immoral and took away her membership. The Church was very strict during this era and was not going to accept her behavior. Therefore, Deborah Sampson had to make a Christian approval. Her actions were unchristian, but Deborah Sampson never returned. To put it differently, Church was not going to let Christians rebel for Deborah's actions. Women were supposed to stay home and never wear pants.

For eighteen months, Deborah Sampson served as any regular solder. She got hurt two times, but her courage saved her the first time. During her patrolling near Tarrytown, she