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"... Esther teamed up with Benjamin Franklin’s daughter, Sarah Bache, and formed the Ladies Association of Philadelphia to support the troops. It proved to be the largest private fundraising campaign of the war.
The kick-off for the effort was the publication in January 1780 of a broadside written substantially by Esther herself. Titled Sentiments of a British-American Woman, it appealed to the patriotic instincts of all women who loved liberty. ...
She cited a long list of historical heroines who were “Born for Liberty”—naming biblical figures such as Deborah and Queen Esther and, later, saints such as Joan of Arc, but also including all the anonymous women who in wartime had ignored “the weakness of their sex” and built fortifications, dug trenches with their bare hands, and sacrificed their jewels, fine clothing, and money to save their country.
Esther and Sarah called for every female in Pennsylvania to come forth with “offerings” of money to help the war effort. Nothing, they declared, would be too small and everything would be put to good use. They would get the money to the troops through General Washington’s wife, Martha.
Letters between Esther Reed and General Washington (which you can read here) indicate that Esther initially wanted to give the money directly to the soldiers in the sum of two dollars each. But Washington, concerned that the men might spend it on liquor, urged her to use it instead to buy linen and cloth, and then enlist volunteers to sew it into clothes.
In short order, the Ladies Association raised more than $300,000 (more than $6 million in 2021 dollars) from over 1,600 Pennsylvanians, an astonishing sum. ...
The Ladies Association engendered huge enthusiasm among Philadelphia women, who not only sewed the clothing but also knocked on doors to raise the money. The effort was an inspiration across the colonies, leading to the formation of similar groups from New England to the South. ..."
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