Edenton, North Carolina

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On October 25, 1774, fifty-one women of Edenton signed a petition pledging to boycott British tea and cloth in support of the colonial resistance — one of the earliest documented examples of organized political action by American women. The Edenton Tea Party predates Lexington by six months. British newspapers mocked the action; the signatories are now recognized as early examples of women's political engagement in colonial America. The Penelope Barker House, home of one organizer, survives in Edenton.