Washington Square

With a new afterword by Michael CunninghamWhat Catherine Sloper lacks in brains and beauty, she makes up for by being "very good." The handsome Morris Townsend would do anything to win her hand-even if it means pretending that he loves the homely ingenue, and cares nothing for her opulent wealth. Throughout time, the women of the world always had limited rights when it came to anything. You could almost say they were being discriminated just because of their gender. However, this all changed because of one woman in particular: Deborah Sampson. Deborah Sampson was the first known American woman to impersonate a man in order to join the army and take part in combat. She was born in Plympton, Massachusetts on December 17, 1760 as the oldest of three daughters and three sons of Jonathan and Deborah Sampson. Her family descended from one of the original colonists, Priscilla Mullins Alden, who was John Alden’s wife and later immortalized in Longfellow's poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish." ((Quote)…Near him was seated John Alden, his friend, and household companion…) Deborah's youth was spent in poverty. Her father abandoned the family we she was young and went off to sea. Her mother was of poor health and could not support the children, so she sent them off to live with various neighbors and relatives. At the young age of around 8-10, Deborah Sampson became an indentured servant in the household of Jeremiah and Susannah Thomas in Middleborough, Massachusetts.