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384 Chapter 13 | Antebellum Idealism and Reform Impulses, 1820–1860
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Read the entire text of the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments (http://openstaxcollege.org/l/15SenecaFalls) in the Internet Modern History Sourcebook at Fordham University.
REPUBLICAN MOTHERHOOD IN THE ANTEBELLUM YEARS
Some northern female reformers saw new and vital roles for their sex in the realm of education. They believed in traditional gender roles, viewing women as inherently more moral and nurturing than men. Because of these attributes, the feminists argued, women were uniquely qualified to take up the roles of educators of children.
Catharine Beecher, the daughter of Lyman Beecher, pushed for women’s roles as educators. In her 1845 book, The Duty of American Women to Their Country, she argued that the United States had lost its moral compass due to democratic excess. Both “intelligence and virtue” were imperiled in an age of riots and disorder. Women, she argued, could restore the moral center by instilling in children a sense of right and wrong. Beecher represented a northern, middle-class female sensibility. The home, especially the parlor, became the site of northern female authority.
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