Citizen Nation

All women were omitted from many of the privileges of American citizenship, and some of them strenuously and articulately resisted. In addition, millions of women suffered under the double burden of being both female *and* enslaved. Even free white women used “slavery” as a way to talk about their legal predicament, and to advocate not only for abolition but for gender equality. We will read three examples of nineteenth-century women’s writings on citizenship and legal rights, plus a short overview from a women’s history textbook.

Reminder: Soapbox presenters are listed under the Soapbox tab above

Reading for Thurs 9/22:
1) Start with this 4-page PDF packet. Page 1 is a brief overview of the legal status of women in early America. Pages 2-4 are an excerpt of an 1843 essay by the Massachusetts editor of the Transcendentalist journal, The Dial, Margaret Fuller, titled “The Great Lawsuit.”

2) Online, read an 1837 letter from abolitionist Sarah Grimke, responding to a “women should keep to their place” letter drafted by New England clergy, who called the Grimke sisters “unnatural” and umwomanly for their public speeches.

3) And then, read the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, drafted at the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York. As it follows the form (and function?) of the Declaration of Independence, it called attention to the neglect of women in the nation’s legal and Constitutional framework. It’s bold for its time, but note how it is framed as a declaration of sentiments, i.e. feelings and emotions, the “natural” province of 19th century women. Clever strategy!

Prepare for discussion with these questions:

Compare two or more of these readings to each other. What are areas of potential agreement or disagreement?

What basis of authority do these writers claim for women’s rights? How broadly would they like those rights extended?

What demands, if any, are they making? Would these seem reasonable to their audiences, given what you know about the values and concerns of emerging American democracy? For whom are they speaking? All women? Just some women? Which women?

What in these documents was new or surprising to you? What context does it connect to for you? What did you already know about life for antebellum American women?

Other resources: “Women and the Law” primary source collection from Harvard Baker Business Library

Image: 1859 drawing of a fictional women’s rights convention, showing angry men in the gallery denouncing the proceedings (Harpers Weekly, source: Library of Congress)