the first woman i'd like to talk about is a woman named ester deburt reed. reed was born in london in 1747, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who traded with -- who was the daughter of a wealthy merchant who had extensive trading relationships with the american colonies. in 1763 joseph reed of new jers jersey, also the child of a merchant, went to london to study the law at the ends of court, a very common thing for american gentry to do in the prerevolutionary period. there through a common circle of social friends he met ester debert and ester and joseph were immediately enamored of one another. unfortunate unfortunately, family circumstances forced joseph reed to return to america in 1765, just as britain and the colonies were beginning their own pitched battle over the stamp act. ester and joseph correspondeded for five years. and like another more famous couple, john and abigail adams, their letters were filled with writings about political events going on at the time. both of them were obsessed with politics. both of them couldn't wait to learn more a