Republican Motherhood and Its Discontents 9.26.23

• HIS 379 The Family in America
• Year 4

Republican Motherhood and Its Discontents

The History of Family in America (HIST 379)
Dr. Caitlin Wiesner
Main Hall Room 213
September 26, 2023

Patriarchs and Good Wives in Puritan New England

“When we undertake to be obedient to him, [we do so] on behalfe of every soule that belongs to us . . . Our wives, and children, and servants and kindred”

- Reverend John Cotton (1641)

Good Wives’ “revered subjection” for their husbands.

• Respectful obedience
  
• “He for God only, she for God in him”
• “Be helpful in the propagating of mankind.”
  

“You have stept out of your place. You have rather been a Husband than a Wife and a Preacher than a Hearer, and a Magistrate than a subject.” 

- Excommunication Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1638)

Sex and Marriage in "Bawdy Philadelphia"

• Marriage is not being actively policed by state, church, or community, like it is in New England.

• Working as domestic servants, midwives, tavern owners --> women have greater freedom to leave dissatisfying marriages

• Serial monogamy: subsequent long-term sexual relationships that do not involve legal marriage.
  
• Self divorce: dissolving marriages without seeking the permission of church or state.

Painting by John Lewis Krimmel (Philadelphia artist)

“Dance in a Country Tavern,” 1820

William Orchard (Freehold, Monmouth County)

East New-Jersey Pennsylvania Gazette (June 4, 1772)

“Whereas ELEANOR, Wife of the Subscriber, hath eloped from him, and run him considerably in Debt, besides pilfering from him a valuable Sum of Money, and sundry Effects of Value, and continues to strole about the Country, with a certain red haired Highland Tinker, who calls himself JOHN M’DONALL . . . and passes for his Wife; and as he has Reason to fear she will run him yet farther in Debt, takes this Method of requesting all Persons, not to trust her on his Account, for he will pay no Debts of her contracting, after the Date hereof.”

Pennsylvania Gazette (1750)

“I take this method to give a true state of the case between me and my husband, to convince the public what a brutish, malicious, scandalous fellow he is; for it is well known to all my neighbours and, of sufficient credit, to testify the same, and that I am neither a whore, thief, or a drunkard; but it being my misfortune to marry so disagreeable a person as the said Michael Hebert is.”

“If a man gets a woman with child and is willing to marry her, either before or after confinement, then he has atoned for his sin and is not punished by the authorities. But if he is unwilling and she sues him, he must either marry her or give some money. Fornication is not punished”

- Gottlieb Mittelberger, Journey to Pennsylvania (1755)

Scarce had five Months expir’d since Ralph did wed | When lo! His fruitful Wife was brought to Bed. | How now, quoth Ralph—this is too soon, my Kate? | No, Ralph, quoth she,--you marry’d me too late.  
- Poor Richard’s Almanack (1772)

Republican Motherhood

Coverture remains intact after the American Revolution

Women are economically and legally dependent upon their husbands and therefore cannot be full citizens (vote)

 "Republican Mothers" can and should educate their sons to be virtuous future citizens

Painting by Charles Wilson Peale

"Mrs. James Smith and Grandson" (1776)

Discuss: Benjamin Rush,

"Thoughts Upon Female Education" (1787)

• According to Rush, on what grounds should women of America be educated?
• What purpose does it serve?
• What role does the educated woman play in the family of the Early Republic?
  
• How does the idea of “Republican motherhood” approximate citizenship?
  

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Author of the Declaration of Independence (1776)

First Secretary of State (1790-1793)

Third President of the United States (1801-1809)

An 1804 cartoon depicting Jefferson as a rooster and Sally Hemings as a hen

www.nature.com

Discuss: Madison Hemings, "Life Among the Lowly" (1873)

• According to Madison Hemings, how did the relationship between his master Thomas Jefferson and his mother Sally Hemings begin? How did it progress?
• What relationship did Thomas Jefferson have to his enslaved children by Sally?
  
• Why do you think Sally agreed to return to Virginia with Jefferson?
  
• Can we say that Thomas and Sally loved each other? Why or why not?

A fact is an objective and incontrovertible piece of information.
Evidence is the application of one or more facts to support an argument.
An argument is a subjective claim made to expand an area of knowledge.

We will begin discussion of readings each class with an FAQ (Fact, Argument, Question) Exercise. All students will free write the following:

     A fact that stood out to you in the reading (please include page number)
    An explanation of how that fact works as evidence for the historian’s argument
    A question that the reading raised for you

A fact is an objective and incontrovertible piece of information.
Evidence is the application of one or more facts to support an argument.
An argument is a subjective claim made to expand an area of knowledge.

FAQ (Fact, Argument, Question) Exercise

All students will free write the following:

1.  A fact that stood out to you in the reading (please include page number)
2. An explanation of how that fact works as evidence for the historian’s argument
3. A question that the reading raised for you

Nancy Cott, Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation , Chapter 2-Chapter 6

1) What was the relationship between state legislatures, judges, and local communities in recognizing and regulating marriage in the Early Republic? How did this relationship change over time?

2) How did abolitionists, pro-slavery Southerners, women’s rights activists, and utopian “free love” advocates invoke the concept of marriage in their respective movements? 

3) What role did marriage play in the transition from slavery to freedom after the Civil War? How did the civil right of marriage for citizens link to political rights like voting?

4) Why did the federal government respond vigorously to the Mormon plural marriage (polygamy) controversy after the Civil War? What other actions did the state take to enforce Christian monogamy across America?

5) How did laws governing immigration in the late 19th intersect with the politics of marriage? According to these laws, what constituted consent in marriage and what did not?