The Political Thought of America’s Founding Feminists

280 Pages·2017·2.09 MB·English

by  Lisa Pace Vetter

The Political Thought of America’s Founding Feminists
The Political Thought of America’s Founding
Feminists
Lisa Pace Vetter
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
www.nyupress.org
© 2017 by New York University All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New
York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript
was prepared.
ISBN: 978-1-4798-5334-2 (hardback) ISBN: 978-1-4798-9325-6 (paperback) For Library of Congress
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction: Political Theory and the Founding of American Feminism
1. Lifting the “Claud-Lorraine Tint” over the Republic: Frances Wright’s
Critique of Society and Manners in America
2. Harriet Martineau on the Theory and Practice of Democracy in America
3. Facing the “Sledge Hammer of Truth”: Angelina Grimké and the Rhetoric of
Reform
4. Sarah Grimké’s Quaker Liberalism
5. “The Most Belligerent Non-Resistant”: Lucretia Mott on Women’s Rights
6. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Rhetoric of Ridicule and Reform
7. The Shadow and the Substance of Sojourner Truth
Conclusion: America’s Founding Feminists
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Acknowledgments
When I began this book project, I joked that it would take me ten years to write
it. Turns out, I was correct. Not surprisingly, I have incurred many debts over
that long stretch of time. First and foremost, I thank my husband Joseph Vetter
for his unflagging enthusiasm about this project and his unwavering support
through some trying times. I am deeply grateful to my University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, colleagues Devin Hagerty and Carole McCann for reading
the entire manuscript and providing much-needed encouragement. Additional
colleagues, including Jeffrey Davis, Carolyn Forestiere, Arthur Johnson, and
Thomas Schaller offered helpful advice and support at various stages of the
project. Michael Nance graciously invited me to incorporate my research into the
UMBC Humanities Seminar we co-taught in Spring 2016. Gracie Bradford
provided invaluable teaching and research assistance when I needed it the most.
I am deeply thankful to Patricia LaNoue for welcoming me back into the UMBC
fold and to Steven McAlpine and Carrie Sauter for being such great colleagues. I
thank Mary Dietz for her perseverance in guiding my article on Harriet
Martineau to publication in Political Theory and Eileen Hunt Botting for
providing me with opportunities to present and publish parts of this project.
I received several awards that allowed me to perform archival research and
devote myself full time to writing at crucial stages of the project: a UMBC
Dresher Center Summer Faculty Research Fellowship; a UMBC Summer
Faculty Fellowship; a UMBC Travel Grant; a Caroline D. Bain Scholar-in-
Residence Fellowship, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College; and a National
Endowment for the Humanities Summer Research Stipend. Sincere thanks to
Jessica Berman, director, Dresher Center for the Humanities, UMBC, and Scott
Casper, dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, UMBC, for
their support. For their invaluable assistance, I thank Margaret Jessup, assistant
curator of the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College; Christopher Densmore,
curator of Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College; and the research staff
at the Boston Public Library and the Nantucket Historical Society.
It has been a true pleasure to work with Ilene Kalish, executive editor, and
Caelyn Cobb, assistant editor, at NYU Press. I appreciate their encouragement
and enthusiasm for the project. The comments provided by two anonymous
reviewers were very helpful as I revised the final version of the manuscript.
It takes a village to write a book—or at least it did mine. I thank my parents,
Madge Pace and Cecil Pace, for always having faith in me and my in-laws David
Vetter, Carole Vetter, and Neil Van Valkenburgh, for their generosity. The
comradery of the Bethesda Edge(moor) Cycling Club ladies group, led by Sue
Hendrickson, has often buoyed my spirits, and I am grateful to Kevin Beverly
for introducing me. And our recently adopted dog Paulie has provided welcome
distraction, refusing to believe that writing a book is more important than a game
of fetch.
An earlier version of chapter 2 was published as “Harriet Martineau on the
Theory and Practice of Democracy in America,” Political Theory 36, no. 3 (June
2008): 424–455. Reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher.
An earlier version of chapter 5 was published as “‘The Most Belligerent Non-
Resistant’: Lucretia Mott on Women’s Rights,” Political Theory 43, no. 5
(October 2015): 600–630. Reprinted by permission of the author and the
publisher.