Betsy Ross

Summary
Learn about the life of famous American Betsy Ross.

Objectives
• Students will learn about the life of Betsy Ross.

• Students will learn about the history of the American Flag.

Suggested Grades
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
Betsy Ross had sixteen brothers and sisters! She was born Elizabeth Griscom in 1752 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her family was Quakers, and Betsy learned to read, write, keep house and sew in Quaker Schools. While she was an apprentice to an upholsterer, Betsy met John Ross, the son of an Episcopal minister. Though her family disapproved of marriages between Quakers and members of other religions, Betsy and John eloped in 1773. They went to New Jersey, where Benjamin Franklin?s son William married them. John opened an upholstery shop, but business was slow because of the Revolutionary War. John then joined the Pennsylvania militia and was killed in a gunpowder explosion in 1776. Betsy took over the upholstery business and is said to have sewn the first official flag of the United States, which was used from 1777 to 1795.

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