Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum AmericaWith this book, Nancy Isenberg illuminates the origins of the women's rights movement. Rather than herald the singular achievements of the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, she examines the confluence of events and ideas--before and after 1848--that, in her view, marked the real birth of feminism. Drawing on a wide range of sources, she demonstrates that women's rights activists of the antebellum era crafted a coherent feminist critique of church, state, and family. In addition, Isenberg shows, they developed a rich theoretical tradition that influenced not only subsequent strains of feminist thought but also ideas about the nature of citizenship and rights more generally. By focusing on rights discourse and political theory, Isenberg moves beyond a narrow focus on suffrage. Democracy was in the process of being redefined in antebellum America by controversies over such volatile topics as fugitive slave laws, temperance, Sabbath laws, capital punishment, prostitution, the Mexican War, married women's property rights, and labor reform--all of which raised significant legal and constitutional questions. These pressing concerns, debated in women's rights conventions and the popular press, were inseparable from the gendered meaning of nineteenth-century citizenship. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 51
Page ix
... Ohio in general , and the Salem convention in particular , had been unjustifiably placed in a position subordinate to activism in New York , I resolved to do a more thorough investigation of the antebellum women's rights movement ...
... Ohio in general , and the Salem convention in particular , had been unjustifiably placed in a position subordinate to activism in New York , I resolved to do a more thorough investigation of the antebellum women's rights movement ...
Page xvi
... Ohio , and Massachusetts , addressing how activists collectively developed critiques of consent , national citizenship , and equal protection . In both chapters I offer evidence that the process of developing a rights discourse went ...
... Ohio , and Massachusetts , addressing how activists collectively developed critiques of consent , national citizenship , and equal protection . In both chapters I offer evidence that the process of developing a rights discourse went ...
Page 15
... Ohio , for the express purpose of securing equal rights to all persons " without distinction of sex or color . " 1 Although the 1848 Seneca Falls convention gained notoriety as the first women's rights convention , the Salem conven ...
... Ohio , for the express purpose of securing equal rights to all persons " without distinction of sex or color . " 1 Although the 1848 Seneca Falls convention gained notoriety as the first women's rights convention , the Salem conven ...
Page 17
... Ohio constitutional convention of 1850-51 continued this practice of revision and set another trend by debating the right of women to vote.14 Still , Ohio convention delegates rejected the proposal for woman suf- frage , and most ...
... Ohio constitutional convention of 1850-51 continued this practice of revision and set another trend by debating the right of women to vote.14 Still , Ohio convention delegates rejected the proposal for woman suf- frage , and most ...
Page 18
... Ohio constitutional convention succinctly declared in 1850 , every individual had the " right to revolutionize - to dig up the whole structure of our old government and scatter it to the winds . " 19 Constitutional revolution ...
... Ohio constitutional convention succinctly declared in 1850 , every individual had the " right to revolutionize - to dig up the whole structure of our old government and scatter it to the winds . " 19 Constitutional revolution ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
3 Visual Politics | 41 |
4 Conscience Custom and Church Politics | 75 |
5 The Political Fall of Woman | 103 |
6 The Bonds of Matrimony | 155 |
7 The Sovereign Body of the Citizen | 191 |
Notes | 205 |
Bibliography | 273 |
Index | 309 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
antebellum antebellum feminists antebellum period Anti-Slavery Bugle argued authority Bloomer body BONDS OF MATRIMONY Boston century Child Christian CHURCH POLITICS citizens CITIZENSHIP UNDERSTOOD civil claimed common law constitutional convention contract courts coverture Culture custody Declaration of Sentiments defined democratic divestment Divorce domestic duties Elizabeth Cady Stanton equal FALL OF WOMAN Feminism feminists fugitive slave Gage Gender Gerrit Smith husband Ibid issue John Journal labor letter liberty Lily Lucretia Mott Lydia Maria Child male marital marriage married women Mary Massachusetts meeting moral natural nineteenth Nineteenth-Century NOTES TO PAGES Ohio Paulina Wright Davis petition Philadelphia POLITICAL FALL Progressive Friends prostitutes protection public sphere Quaker reform religious Republican Review rule Sabbath Seneca Falls convention Sentiments sexual slavery social status Swisshelm theory tion University Press VISUAL POLITICS vote wages wife wife's William wives Woman Suffrage women's rights activists women's rights advocates women's rights convention Worcester WRC 1850