Sons & Daughters of Liberty 

and textile, whichbecame known as homespun. One such group of 18 ladies met on April 3, 1766 inProvidence, Rhode Island at the home of Dr. Ephraim Bowen’s home. They spun cloth,ate dinner, and declared the Stamp Act unconstitutional. A larger group of over 100daughters met in a courthouse in Norwich, Connecticut for another spinning match onMay 1, 1766. The daughters ultimately influenced the decision made by the ContinentalCongress to boycott all British goods in 1774.

     The daughters helped to organize activities to protest the British and to helpsupport American colonial culture. In January of 1770, 538 Bostonian women signed an agreement vowing not to drink tea while it was being taxed. After the Tea Act was passedin 1773, several more women signed petitions promising not to drink British tea and they were influential in discouraging others from buying and drinking it as well. Many experimented to find substitutes for tea, such as boiling basil leaves to make a tea-like drink.