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Republican motherhood was a movement during the American Revolution where women used their influence in the domestic sphere to teach their children the importance of national liberty and civic duty. It was a way for women to instill republican values in their children and pave the way for later movements such as suffrage and feminism. Women were largely responsible for the education of their children and set the standard for how they should behave and the ideologies they should endorse. This movement played a major role in women later gaining the ability to vote in the United States.
Republican motherhood is a concept that deals with the role of women and their duties to family and country at the time of the American Revolution. In this context, the word “Republican” refers to the founding of the United States as a new republic and is not at all about the modern-day Republican political party. When the United States was still under English rule, women generally held subordinate, largely domestic roles that supported the king’s patriarchal power. As the nation rebelled and began to carve out its identity as an independent nation, women slowly began to change their roles. Republican motherhood is essentially an unspoken movement through which women have used their influence in the domestic and family spheres to teach their children the importance of national liberty and civic duty. It has some significant differences from suffrage, feminism, and actual pushes for women’s equality, but many scholars see a connection and believe that the work of these first American wives and mothers may have paved the way for many of the later movements.
Basic concept and basic idea
At the time of the revolution, which began in 1775, mothers were largely entrusted with the education of their children at home. Women who were literate and educated were able to provide the best opportunities for their children, although in most cases they passed on much more than just book knowledge. As teachers and leaders, they set the standard for how children should behave and the ideologies they should grow up endorsing.
Many scholars today acknowledge that the main tenets of republicanism probably would not have passed as strongly to future generations as if women of the era had not spent so much time instilling these kinds of values in their children. The education of the daughters was very important in this context, but so was the influence on the boys. These boys would develop into young men who, in the social sphere, could help build a prosperous nation and become patriots in their own right.
Link to civic duty
Sometimes it’s easier to think of Republican motherhood as a civic duty assumed by women of the time. The United States was founded as a system of government where the people are sovereign and emphasizes the freedom and rights of the people. However, for these values to last beyond the patriots who fought the war, and for the country to retain its independence and free spirit, the next generation had to adopt the same beliefs. Not all women who were part of this movement were active in the social sphere at all. Some were, but the majority were more of a quieter influence at home. Through their example and teachings, they were able to have a profound impact on the ideologies of the new nation.
Women during the revolution
Women were widely believed to be weaker and inferior to men during the time of the revolution, and the country was generally regarded as a patriarchy. A patriarchy is a social structure in which the father is the breadwinner and has absolute authority over his wife and children. This image of women as weak and submissive was challenged during the Revolutionary War, as women actively participated in conflict, whether at home helping house soldiers or in the fields as nurses or carers. Their role has remained primarily domestic, but the nature of that domestic space has changed from a passive place of obedience to a seedbed of change.
Enlightenment philosophy in the 18th century helped further support the ideals of female education and the influence of the domestic sphere. The Enlightenment advocated reason as a source of authority and legitimacy. Based on this set of ideas, it was concluded that stable government required a well-educated and moral population as a foundation, and that foundations had to be built within the home and the family.
Important examples
Women such as Abigail Adams, the wife of United States Founding Father John Adams, helped support their husbands in founding a new government and promoted the idea that women had a civic role and duty to their government. Born in 1744, she believed that women should be educated and should not obey laws that were not created with their interests in mind. Until her death in 1801, Adams argued that men should no longer have absolute authority in their homes.
Not all leaders of the movement were so outspoken. Poet Lydia Sigourney advocated for education, particularly related to patriotism, and was one of the founders of a girls’ school in Connecticut. Writer Catharine Maria Sedgwick is also credited with being a leader through word and deed.
Relationship with suffrage
While Republican motherhood was not necessarily the cause of the suffrage movement, it played a major role in women later gaining the ability to vote in the United States. From the late 18th to early 20th centuries, she helped support and increase female literacy and encouraged women to be responsible for their own education. Many people believed that these movements were the forerunners of modern feminism.
