Women in American History to 1880: A Documentary Reader

Women in American History to 1880 presents a collection of primary source documents that illuminate the rich diversity of women’s experiences from the colonial period through Reconstruction. Carefully chosen readings reveal the simultaneous processes of constructing gender and national identity, and examine how women viewed colonization, slavery, the American Revolution, industrialization, sectional conflict, and emancipation from very different –– and often clashing –– religious, ethnic, racial, and national perspectives. The readings show not only how politicians, businessmen, and writers utilized abstract images of women as symbols for a variety of causes, but also reveal the ways in which many women articulated their own political perspectives. With images, poems, newspaper articles, and personal letters, many of which are collected here for the first time, Women in American History to 1880 illuminates the ways women contributed to and challenged the gender roles that emerged with the young nation and helped shape America’s future national identity.

List of Illustrations ix Series Editors′ Preface x Source Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Seekers, 1540–1680 15 1 Luys Hernandez de Biedma on the Destruction of Mavila, 1540 15 2 A Chieff Ladye of Pomeiooc , 1590 17 3 John Rolfe, Letter to Sir Thomas Dale, 1614 18 4 Pocahontas , 1616 21 5 Examination of Anne Hutchinson, 1637 23 6 Anne Bradstreet, "A Letter to Her Husband Absent upon Public Employment," 1650 26 7 John Hammond, Excerpt from Leah and Rachel, or, The Two Fruitful Sisters Virginia and Mary–land , 1656 27 8 Samuel Willard on Elizabeth Knapp, 1671–1672 29 Chapter 2: Colonists and Colonized, 1660–1730 35 1 Excerpts from the Code Noir, 1685 35 2 Assembly of Virginia, Act XII, 1662 36 3 Father Chrestien Le Clercq on Micmac Women, 1691 37 4 Examination of Tituba, 1692 38 5 Petition of Abigail Faulkner, 1692 41 6 Fray Francisco de Vargas on Taking Indian Captives, 1696 42 7 John Lawson on Native American Women and Childbirth, 1709 43 8 An Act Concerning Feme Sole Traders, 1718 45 9 Letters of Sister Mary Magdalene Hachard, 1728 47 Chapter 3: Conceptions of Liberty, 1730–1780 50 1 John Taylor, Excerpt from The Value of a Child , 1753 50 2 William Smith on the Relations between Indians and Their Captives during Pontiac′s War, 1764 53 3 Fugitive Slave Ad for Violet, 1766 54 4 Phillis Wheatley, "On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield," 1770 55 5 Edenton Ladies′ Agreement, 1774 58 6 A Society of Patriotic Ladies , 1775 59 7 Hannah Griffitts, "Upon Reading a book Entituled [sic] Common Sense," 1776 60 Chapter 4: Revolution, 1780–1810 63 1 Jemima Wilkinson, Excerpts from The Universal Friend′s Advice, to Those of the Same Religious Society , 1784 63 2 Indenture of Eunice Allis, 1789 65 3 Judith Sargent Murray, "On the Equality of the Sexes," 1790 66 4 Sarah Pierce, Verses, 1792 70 5 Susanna Rowson, Excerpt from Charlotte Temple , 1794 72 6 Liberty, 1796 73 7 Excerpt from the Will of David Bush, Connecticut Slave Owner, 1797 75 8 Elizabeth Seton, Letters to Archbishop John Carroll, 1809–1810 76 9 Portrait of Elizabeth Freeman, 1811 79 10 Mary Jemison on her Experiences during the American Revolution, 1824 81 11 William A. Whitehead on New Jersey′s Early Female Voters, 1858 82 Chapter 5: Awakenings, 1810–1835 85 1 Scenes from a Seminary for Young Ladies , c.1810–1820 85 2 Frederick Douglass Describes His Mother, 1845 85 3 Catharine Beecher, "Circular Addressed to Benevolent Ladies of the U. States," 1829 88 4 Cherokee Women’s Petition against Removal, 1831 92 5 Mrs. Mary Mathews to Mrs. Lydia Finney, 1831 93 6 Maria Stewart, Lecture Delivered at Franklin Hall, 1832 96 7 Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, "On the Use of Free Produce," 1832 99 8 Jarena Lee, "My Call to Preach the Gospel," 1836 100 Chapter 6: Contested Spheres, 1835–1845 104 1 Lucy Larcom, Beginning to Work, 1889 104 2 Angelina Grimke, "An Appeal to the Women of the Nominally Free States," 1837 107 3 L.T.Y., "Just Treatment of Licentious Men," 1838 111 4 Petition Protesting the Gag Rule, 1838 112 5 S.E.C., "Mothers and Daughters," 1840 114 6 Oregon Missionary Narcissa Whitman, Letter to her Mother, May 2, 1840 117 7 "Lives of the Nymphs: Amanda B. Thompson and her Attache," 1841 120 8 Catharine Beecher, Excerpt from A Treatise on Domestic Economy , 1845 122 Chapter 7: Partisans, 1845–1860 126 1 Susan Shelby Magoffin Describes Dona Gertrudis "La Tules" Barcelo, 1846 126 2 Lucretia Mott, Letter to Edmund Quincy, 1848 128 3 Imogen Mercein Describes the Five Points Mission, 1852 130 4 Excerpt on Complex Marriage from Bible Communism , 1853 132 5 Women of the Oneida Community, undated 137 6 Julia Gardiner Tyler, "To the Duchess of Sutherland and Ladies of England," 1853 139 7 Horace Greeley et al., "Woman and Work," 1854 142 8 Clarina Howard Nichols, "To the Women of the State of New York," c.1856 145 9 Illustration of Women′s Procession, Lynn, Mass., Shoemakers′ Strike, 1860 147 10 Ernestine Rose on Divorce, 1860 148 Chapter 8: Civil Wars 152 1 Louisa May Alcott Treats the Wounded after the Battle of Fredericksburg, 1863 152 2 Advertisement for the Great Western Sanitary Fair, 1863 154 3 John Burnside and Abisha Scofield, Affidavits on the Removal of Black Soldiers′ Families from Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864 155 4 Thomas Nast, Emancipation , 1865 158 5 Jane Kamper, Milly Johnson, and Rebecca Parsons, Testimony on the Apprenticeship of Their Children, 1864–1867 160 6 Testimony of Rhoda Ann Childs, 1866 161 7 Historical Sketch of the Ladies′ Memorial Society of New Bern, North Carolina, 1885 163 Chapter 9: Redefining Citizenship, 1865–1880 166 1 Jeannette Gilder and Senator Cattell, Correspondence Regarding Job in the US Mint, 1867–1868 166 2 Susan B. Anthony, Remarks to the American Equal Rights Association, 1869 167 3 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Speech on the Acquittal of Daniel McFarland, 1870 170 4 Our Goddess of Liberty , 1870 174 5 Mother [Eliza Daniel] Stewart, Excerpt from Memories of the Crusade , 1873 176 6 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Speech at the Centennial of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, 1875 179 7 Florence Kelley, Letter to William D. Kelley, 1878 181 8 Pretty Shield Describes the Disappearance of the Buffalo, 1932 183 Further Reading 186 Index 190

Carol Faulkner is an Associate Professor of History at Syracuse University. She is the author of Women’s Radical Reconstruction: The Freedmen’s Aid Movement (2003) and is currently writing a biography of Lucretia Mott. Faulkner has also taught American women’s history at SUNY Geneseo, where she received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.