Sampson Inspired to Fight

Deborah Sampson wanted to help serve her country since she was young. At thirteen years old, Sampson heard about the Boston Tea Party and she knew Americans were fighting the British. She started collecting newspapers, wanting to learn everything she could about the war. She taught herself how to read and write by the time she was eighteen. Sampson was still single (which was very rare) by then and she decided she wanted to serve in the war. Her family was also very poor at the time and the military needed more soldiers, so if you enlisted in the military, you would receive a large bounty. Additionally, she knew that women weren't allowed to serve. So she took the name Timothy Thayer and broke barriers by enlisting in the military. She collected the bounty and went back to being her true identity. She did not want to be in the military then, she only needed the money to help her family. She failed to report for duty, news spread, revealing her gender. Inspired to make a difference, she changed her name again to Robert Shurtliff - the name of her brother who died before she was born - and headed to Boston to try to enlist again. On May 20, 1782, she dressed as Robert Shurtliff and reported for duty in Worcester, Massachusetts.

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