Seduced, abandoned, and reborn: visions of youth in middle-class America, 1780-1850

264 Pages·2005·14.505 MB·English

by  Hessinger, Rodney

Seduced, Abandoned, and Reborn
EARLY AMERICAN STUDIES
Daniel K. Richter and Kathleen M. Brown, Series Editors
Exploring neglected aspects ofour colonial, revolutionary, and
earlynational historyand culture, EarlyAmerican Studies reinterprets
familiar themes and events in fresh ways. Interdisciplinaryin character,
andwith aspecial emphasis on the period from about 1600 to 1850,
the series is published in partnership with the McNeil Centerfor
EarlyAmerican Studies.
Acomplete list ofbooks in the series is available from the publisher.
Seduced, Abandoned,
and Reborn
Visions of Youth in Middle-Class America,
1780-1850
Rodney Hessinger
PENN
UniversityofPennsylvania Press
Philadelphia
Copyright© 2005 UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Allrightsreserved
Printedinthe UnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Publishedby
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania19104-4112
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Hessinger, Rodney.
Seduced, abandoned, andreborn:visionsofyouthin middle-classArnerica,1780-1850/
RodneyHessinger.
p. cm.- (EarlyAmericanstudies)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8122-3879-6(cloth: alk.paper)
1. Youth-UnitedStates-HistorY-18thcentury. 2. Youth-UnitedStates-HistorY-19th
century. 3. Youth-Booksandreading-UnitedStates-History. 4. Socialcontrol-United
States-History. 5. Moraleducation-UnitedStates-History. 6. UnitedStates-Social
conditions-18thcentury. 7. UnitedStates-Socialconditions-19thcentury. 8. United
States-Moralconditions. I. Title. II. Series
HQ796.H4652005
305.235'086220973-dc22 2005042228
In memory ofFrank Hessinger, Jr.
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Contents
Introduction
1 "Victims at the Shrine ofLibertinism":
Gender in the Seduction Tales ofthe Late Eighteenth
Century 23
2 Victim ofSeduction orVicious Woman? Conceptions ofthe
Prostitute at the Philadelphia Magdalen Societyand
Beyond 44
3 "The Most Powerful Instrument ofCollege Discipline":
The UniversityofPennsylvania and the
Advent ofMeritocracyin the EarlyRepublic 69
4 HarvestingYouth: The Competition for Souls in
EarlyNineteenth-CenturyPhiladelphia and Beyond
5 "The Young Man's Friend": Advice Manuals
and the Dangerous Journeyto Self-MadeManhood 125
6 Private Libertines: Emergent Strategies for the
Control ofMale Youth in Bourgeois America
Conclusion 177
Notes 183
Bibliography 233
Index 249
Acknowledgments 253
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Introduction
Recording his famous impressions of America in the 1830s,
Alexis de Tocqueville expressed surprise at the pervasiveness ofAmerican
democracy. Its spirit had reached far beyond the realm ofpolitics, extend
ing even into the traditional institution ofthe family. Commenting on the
relations between parents and children, the French aristocrat and traveler
observed that while "vestiges" of parental authority remained, they were
exercisedonlyduringthe "firstyears ofchildhood."Adults rapidlyreleased
restraints on theyoung: "As soon as theyoungAmerican approaches man
hood, the ties offilial obedience are relaxed, daybyday." Youth were soon
wholly independent: "at the close ofboyhood the man appears and begins
to trace out his own path." In America, Tocqueville concluded, there was
"strictly speaking, no adolescence."l His words were both perceptive and
prophetic. Youth didlargelystand as adults in the earlyAmerican republic.
The modern notion ofadolescence, conceived as a period ofprotected de
pendency following childhood, would not take shape until the end ofthe
nineteenth century.2
Ho\v had this occurred? Patriarchal control overyouth had eroded to
an unprecedented extent in the earlyAmerican republic. To be sure, adults
have always had some trouble ruling the young. Colonial America was no
exception. By the late seventeenth century, ministers in New England al
readyfelttheirgraspslipping,findingthemselvesdeliveringsexuallysugges
tive sermonsjustto capturethe attentionofyouth.3Yetpowerfulinfluences
were at work to uphold patriarchy in the colonial era. In subsistence farm
communities, parents relied heavily on the labor oftheir sons and daugh
ters. For this reason, parents were slow to give their children the means to
establish their own families. With a highly restricted land market and few
opportunities for wages, children had no choice but to wait patiently for
parents to bestowpropertyonthembefore theycould set up ontheir own.
In addition, village churches and courts steered the courting behavior of
young adults. Puritan elders whipped youth for fornication, while Quaker
men and women investigated young couples through committees oftheir