Revolutionary Backlash: Women and Politics in the Early American Republic

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction 1 1. The Rights of Woman 11 2. Female Politicians 46 3. Patriotism and Partisanship 82 4. Women and the ‘‘War of Politics’’ 115 5. A Democracy—For Whom? 148 Epilogue: Memory and Forgetting 181 Notes 187 Index 221 Acknowledgments 231 Figure 1. Liberty Displaying the Arts & Sciences [or The Genius of America Encouraging the Emancipation of the Blacks] (1792), by Samuel Jennings. This image shows the goddess Liberty, portrayed as a modern woman, holding a staff with a liberty cap on top. She is surrounded by the artifacts of learning and refinement—books, a globe, scientific instruments, an artist’s palette, a musician’s lyre, a sculptor’s bust. In the foreground, a group of African Americans bow in front of these symbols of advancement. In the background, African Americans dance around a liberty pole. For women and for blacks, the post-revolutionary era offered a brief moment of hope for improvement in their status. (The Library Company of Philadelphia.) ...