Catharine Beecher's Republican Motherhood

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Republican Motherhood “Republican Motherhood is a concept that deals with the role of women and their duties to both family and country at the time of the American Revolution. In this context, the word “republican” relates to the foundation of the United States as a new republic and is not at all concerned with the modern-day Republican political party” (Leach 2). Republican Motherhood meant civic duty. It is a 20th century term used for the attitude towards women’s roles in the United States. “It reinforced the idea of domestic women’s sphere separate from the public world of men” (Kerber 1). That is what encouraged women to get an education and become something bigger then what people saw them as. The movement for women’s education started …show more content…

Catharine was teaching ten to twelve subjects a day which resulted in not having a lot of time to spend on each subject she taught. She had no other choice but to skim over the subjects and teach what was necessary rather than cover some of the core concepts. Beecher taught a bunch of classes such as philosophy, chemistry, ancient and modern history, geography, grammar, geometry, Latin and many more. She expanded her school to become Hartford Female Seminary where she hired eight teachers who would focus on only a few subjects each in order to teach each subject in a “complete manner”. Catharine Beecher was one of the first to emphasize exercise for women. (NWHM 1) America’s youth began to choose their spouses based on romance and companionship. In response to this, parents felt that their girls should get an education that would make them more attractive to well-bred husbands. Education was also beneficial for those women who had the misfortune to marry less reliable men, in that case they would be more capable of educating their own children and managing family businesses. Thomas Jefferson once stated this very reason for educating his daughter, Martha …show more content…

The American Revolution changed women’s role in society. Women who ran the household in the absence of men became more assertive. Women were thought to be weaker then men. The country was thought of as a patriarchy. “A patriarchy is a social structure in which the father is the head of the household, and he has absolute authority over his wife and children” (Leach 2). The image of women being weak was challenged when women began to participate in the conflicts, whether it was helping soldiers or being nurses/caregivers. People perceived women as worthless and that they had no value. Men and women are created equal and nobody is more valuable than another. “With the growing emphasis being placed on republicanism, women were expected to help promote these values; they had a special role in raising the next generation” (Kerber 1). The women of this time period were a big influence of the next generation to come. What they did created a huge reflection on them. Equality was a big struggle faced back then and still to this day. The role of these women wasn’t embraced until later on. Women had a lot of responsibilities and that put a lot of pressure on them

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