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1 Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 Women in the Nineteenth Century Unitarian Controversy Kimberly Hornback Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact

2 THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES WOMEN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY UNITARIAN CONTROVERSY By Kimberly Hornback A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2007

3 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Kimberly Hornback defended on October 25, Neil Jumonville Professor Directing Thesis Maxine Jones Committee Member Amanda Porterfield Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii

4 This work is dedicated to my husband and my parents. Without your ability to see farther for me than I can see for myself, who knows where I would be. I am thankful for all of your love. iii

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract v Introduction 1 1. Private Lives Public Lives 37 Conclusion 55 References 58 Biographical Sketch 63 iv

6 ABSTRACT Despite the work that has been done on the Unitarian controversy in nineteenth century Boston, little is known about the effects of the controversy on women. This study examines the lives of Catharine Beecher, Elizabeth Peabody, and Mary Ware. An analysis of their lives yields answers to the question: How did the Unitarian controversy affect the private and social lives of these women? In addition, this study seeks to uncover some of the broader currents of American thought that accompanied the growth of Unitarianism. v

7 INTRODUCTION By 1805, the religious landscape of Boston was undergoing great changes. Some of these changes were due to the emergence of Unitarian theology and the break between the Congregational and Unitarian churches. The Unitarian controversy is not a new subject of study to historians. Much work has been done over the years on the theological and legal disputes contained within the Unitarian controversy. Additionally, the thoughts of leading Calvinist and Unitarian theologians have been well-documented. What has not been thoroughly examined, however, are the effects of this religious disagreement on Bostonian culture and society at large especially on the women of Boston. Because of the rancorous nature and church-splitting consequences of the Unitarian controversy, it is not likely that the debate or the effect of growing religious liberality was limited to rival theologians. The objective of this study is to look at the effects of the Unitarian controversy on the lives and roles of three white, middle to upper class antebellum women of Massachusetts. For example, how did this controversy affect the private and social lives of the women who had some connections with the theological rivalry? Did the controversy affect them at all? This will be examined on a microcosmic scale through the evaluation of three women: Mary L. Ware, Catharine Beecher, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. Moreover, I hope to answer, in some small part, the question that Donald M. Scott raised in his book review of Daniel Walker Howe s The Unitarian Conscience: what can the growth of Unitarianism tell us about the changes that were transforming American society? 1 So, in addition to examining the ramifications of the Unitarian controversy upon women, I hope to uncover some of the broader currents of American thought with regards to women which made room for the Unitarian church to arise in the first place. In the late eighteenth century, New England was a bastion of Calvinist thought. The bulwark which supported this thought was the Congregational church a loose connection of parish churches which held basic beliefs in common yet still maintained control over their local congregation. The founding tenets of American Congregationalism were based in the hopes of a holy commonwealth in which dissenters 1 Donald Scott, The Unitarian Conscience: Harvard Moral Philosophy, , Church History 41, no.3 (September, 1972):

8 were unwelcome. 2 Through this commonwealth, the early Congregationalists would act as a city on a hill, thereby serving as an example for the rest of the world. Notably for this early commonwealth was the fact that it operated as both a civil authority and a religious authority. This pattern of civic and religious domination remained in place until the nineteenth century. Due to its early roots in America, the Congregational churches in Massachusetts were supported by taxes collected from the local parishes. Though each church maintained its own control, the parish as a whole supported the individual churches. So, if parish members did not attend a Congregational church or were not accepted into it due to an inability to prove their own conversion those members still owed taxes to support the church. These taxes were collected until the year The impetus for the Unitarian challenge found its roots in the growth of a liberal theology which had begun in the Congregational church before the nineteenth century. This theology embraced the rational ideas of the enlightenment, thereby allowing reason to be an instrument of scriptural interpretation and religious guidance. Throughout the latter part of the eighteenth century, a strand of liberal sentiment had been running through the Congregational church. Several Congregational pastors challenged the vigor of The Great Awakening and its proponents such as Jonathan Edwards, and George Whitfield. Whereas traditional Calvinism and men like Edwards and Whitfield placed salvation solely within the hands of a God who predestined believers for salvation, others began to give humans more agency. These men looked for an enlightened rationalism within their theology which argued against doctrines of man s complete depravity and predestination. 4 This form of religious doctrine was directly counter to the traditional Calvinist view that God had chosen to save a select group of people and that all others were subject to eternal damnation. Instead, proponents of a more liberal theology invoked what they perceived to be the kindness of God, as well as the ability of 2 J. William T. Youngs, The Congregationalists, Denominations in America, No. 4 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990), 3. 3 Richard O. Curry, Lawrence B. Goodheart, The Trinitarian Indictment of Unitarianism: The Letters of Elizur Wright, Jr., , Journal of the Early Republic, no. 3 (Autumn, 1983): , Gary Dorrien, The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 1. 2

9 man to reason his way through what had heretofore been supernatural, unknowable territory. The arguments of these early theologians did not, in themselves, produce the disagreements that would later create such a split in the Congregational church. What they do reveal, however, is the fact that there was an increasingly defined theological search for a way of belief that was softer than orthodox Calvinism. For many (such as Elizabeth Palmer Peabody), Calvinism was associated with punishment and censure. Unitarianism, however, allowed for a more benevolent God who was interested in individuals. Reason began to be introduced into religious discussions and, as the politics, philosophy, and social reality of America was changing, so was the religion. Liberal theologians began to develop other ideas such as Unitarianism which, at its core, believed that God s nature was one rather than three. This, in turn, denied the divinity of Jesus and placed him in the role of an exemplary man rather than a divine. Additionally, proponents of Unitarianism argued that man was not innately depraved. This countered traditional scriptural teachings of original sin and the need for salvation. 5 These doctrinal considerations were not the sole factors in the rancor that later erupted in the nineteenth century, however. For orthodox Calvinists, the Unitarian beliefs were a direct refusal of scripture and, thus, a way of life. Further, if scriptural confidence were to be shaken in areas such as the nature of God, original sin, and the divinity of Jesus, it was likely to be shaken even further in other areas. In essence, leaving the beliefs of Unitarians unchallenged was, for the Orthodox, akin to allowing a leak in the dam of morality that would ultimately burst and ruin the young nation. Many Unitarians, however, resented the social control and censure that they felt accompanied Orthodox Calvinism. They also resisted the thought that there was no room for rationalism in religion. They wanted to interpret God differently and wanted the social approbation to do so. So, though the Unitarian controversy erupted over doctrinal issues, its fires were fanned by issues of social control, punishment vs. benevolence, scriptural confidence, rationalism, morality, and independence. 5 Bruce Kuklick, ed., The Unitarian Controversy, (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1987), vol.1, 3. 3

10 Though Unitarianism itself was not considered a defined system of belief until the 1820 s (when it broke off from the Congregational church), there were many who departed from traditional Trinitarian beliefs in favor of Unitarian beliefs. The theological differences as well as the reaction among remaining Trinitarians were so strong that it necessarily created two systems of belief. Finally, at the turn of the nineteenth century, this mixture of religion and enlightenment reasoning took on a defined form in a polemical debate. The Unitarian controversy arose out of the debate between these two belief systems and their corresponding educational institutions. In 1805, a situation arose at Harvard that revealed all the force of these underlying liberal tendencies and not only changed the face of Congregationalism but also changed the course of Protestant religion in America. David Tappan, a moderate Calvinist and the Hollis Professor of Divinity died and left Harvard s Professorship of Divinity vacant. As the Hollis professorship was such an influential position in the community, the vacancy became a source of contention for almost two years. 6 The professor of Divinity at Harvard was in a prime position to influence the minds of the future and most influential clergymen of the region. This being the case, the appointment to this post mattered a great deal for the religious makeup of Boston. 7 Adding to the debate, Dr. Joseph Willard, the president of Harvard died in late 1804 during the deliberations over the Hollis professorship. Willard had also been a moderate Calvinist. 8 With his death, there were now two vital positions at Harvard that needed to be filled. These positions stood to be the determining factors in the religious balance of power at the new nation s foremost Divinity school. Consequently, they would also permanently alter the delicate religious landscape of Boston. Finally, the Unitarian Henry Ware, Sr. was chosen as the Hollis Professor of Divinity. Additionally, another Unitarian, Samuel Webber, was chosen as the president of Harvard. 9 After the long, acrimonious debate, the appointments of these two gentlemen did not create a cessation to hostilities. Rather, their appointments acted as a spark which 6 Conrad Wright, The Beginnings of Unitarianism in America (Boston: Starr King Press, 1955), ; Daniel Walker Howe, The Unitarian Conscience: Harvard Moral Philosophy, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970), 4. 7 Gaius Glenn Atkins and Frederick L. Fagley, History of American Congregationalism (Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1942), Wright, The Beginnings of Unitarianism in America, Howe, The Unitarian Conscience, 4. 4

11 ignited Boston for at least two more decades. Over the next few years, there was a strong conservative response to the new liberal balance of power at Harvard. In 1808, for example, orthodox Calvinists founded Andover Theological Seminary in direct opposition to Harvard s divinity school. Andover was to be a strictly orthodox seminary. To maintain these standards, the founders created a confession of faith which was to be subscribed to by all who were hired to fill professional chairs. 10 A quarrelsome debate arose between these two institutions about theological matters such as the trinity, God and man s roles in salvation, the nature of man, and the importance of scripture. This debate has come to be known as the Unitarian Controversy. 11 The debate that initially belonged to theological professors quickly became of regional importance as the issues were spread about in the media of the day. Years after the heat of the controversy waned, the dispute still took up space in the popular periodicals of the day. In 1853, for instance, The New York Daily Times characterized the Unitarian controversy as one of the warmest and most acrimonious religious controversies ever waged in a Christian age and community which led to bitter estrangements, religious and social. 12 Though all agreed that the strife brought caustic parish divisions, many, such as an 1829 observer in Boston considered that taking a moral stand within the debate was necessary to try the moral or religious strength of the cause engaged which is nothing more than truth and justice. 13 As a result, scores of people converted to a Unitarian point of view and churches became divided over these theological issues. Ultimately, numerous orthodox Calvinists seceded from their churches and formed new congregations thereby beginning full-fledged fights over church control, choice of ministers, and the control of property and finance. 14 This growth of liberal theology and its resultant actions led to a permanent change in the religious and political landscape of Massachusetts especially in that it led to a separation between church and state. Because of this, much has been written about the 10 Atkins, History of American Congregationalism, Kuklick, ed., The Unitarian Controversy, Religious History, New York Daily Times ( ), Nov. 19, 1853, On Neutrality, Boston Recorder and Religious Telegraph ( ), Feb. 26, 1829, Vol.14, Iss. 9, Curry, The Trinitarian Indictment., William G. McLoughlin, New England Dissent : The Baptists and the Separation of Church and State, vol. II (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971),

12 rise of Unitarianism in antebellum Boston. Among the secondary works on the rise of Unitarianism is The Unitarian Conscience: Harvard Moral Philosophy, by Daniel Walker Howe. The timeframe of this thesis has been derived from Howe s research. Howe locates the bulk of the Unitarian controversy between the years of 1805 and This seems to be the case as the national Unitarian denomination was splintering after 1860 primarily over slavery and abolition issues. Thus, the Unitarians did not have the same momentum which propelled more Orthodox congregations. Though the controversy did maintain its partisans until approximately 1861, the bulk of the vitriolic argument seems to have been prior to Hence, this thesis utilizes Howe s start date of 1805 but limits the scope of research to the early 1840 s. The objective of The Unitarian Conscience was twofold: to describe Unitarian moral philosophy in early nineteenth century New England and to show why this philosophy was important to the development of American culture. Also instrumental in understanding the arguments of the Unitarian controversy is The Unitarian Controversy: , edited by Bruce Kuklick. Kuklick s work contains invaluable letters and sermons written by leaders among both the Unitarians and the Orthodox Calvinists. Finally, The Congregationalists, written by J. William T. Youngs, gives a thorough background on the history of the Congregational church in New England. Though not much has been written about the effects of the Unitarian controversy on women, there are several works on women in antebellum New England that are essential to this analysis. As the research on antebellum women in New England is so vast, it has been necessary to narrow the perusal of these works to the relevant subjects of religion, education, domesticity, and reform. Additionally, to come to a deeper understanding of Bostonian women within the Unitarian controversy, it is mandatory to look at them through the nineteenth century lens of gender separation. Among these important works are Nancy Cott s The Bonds of Womanhood: Woman s Sphere in New England, , which offers a unique view of the world of antebellum womanhood in New England through the themes of work, domesticity, education, religion, and sisterhood. Within this, Cott addresses the religious rhetoric common to women of the period and she asserts that religion and its rhetoric was a powerful force used among women to both draw them together and establish their roles in society. Anne 6

13 Boylan, on the other hand, in The Origins of Women s Activism: New York and Boston, , asserts that organizations of women working together served to deepen racial and class divisions among women. Within this argument, however, she does assert that those of a similar background who worked together did experience an increase in their sense of self-worth as well as their extra-religious social lives. Debra Gold Hansen s Strained Sisterhood: Gender and Class in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society is another work which touches on the lives of antebellum New England women. Hansen seems to agree with Boylan that women claimed a larger public role in antebellum America by their assumption of religious and benevolent roles. According to Hansen, the religious and benevolent activity of antebellum women is evidence of their increasing status in American society. She also attributes religious revival and social activism to economic change which was occurring in Boston. 15 This thesis builds on the arguments asserted by Cott, Boylan, and Hansen. Recognizing the religious rhetoric described by Cott, and the social enlargement put fort by Boylan, I will add to Hansen s argument of the larger public role claimed by women. Specifically, the growing competition for religious adherents and converts made use of religious rhetoric to allow women increased latitude for religious and benevolent activity. An essay written by Nancy A. Hewitt entitled Religion, Reform, and Radicalism in the Antebellum era, provides a framework for this thesis. In her examination, Hewitt views domesticity, evangelicalism, and radicalism as markers of the antebellum era as well as of the inquiry of women s historians. Her research emphasizes the fact that women pursued reform and activism according to their social circumstances and cultural traditions. 16 Hewitt demonstrates how historians have adjusted their inquiry over time to increase their understanding of the circumstances and traditions of antebellum women from an emphasis on female power gained through gender ideals to the importance of religion in the growing activism of women, to an increased focus on women outside of northern, white, middle class society. Throughout these changes in focus, however, Hewitt demonstrates that there has been a consistent confluence of domesticity, religion, 15 Debra Gold Hansen, Strained Sisterhood: Gender and Class in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (Amherst, Mass.: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993), 47, Nancy A. Hewitt, ed., A Companion to American Women s History (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd., 2002),

14 and social activism. 17 Further, she argues that there is still much to be learned about these antebellum women and the complexities of their activism. Also, she emphasizes the need to draw connections among the agendas and visions of diverse groups of men and women. For the purposes of this thesis, Hewitt s defined areas of domesticity, religion, and social activism have been enlarged to become home, church, and community. The interconnection of these realms is where the examination of women within the Unitarian controversy takes place. By so doing, this thesis will illuminate a little examined aspect of the lives of antebellum women in Boston. The concept of domesticity is one that is found in most literature on women in the nineteenth century. In May of 1807, an anonymous writer contributed a piece to The Monthly Anthology and Boston Review which described a common view of the realm of women. The author stated that these pretty favourites of nature must not too curiously peep into the dark and winding recesses of science. The delicacy of their minds may be made still sweeter by apportioning their time to the endearing order and peaceful security of domestick life 18 Sources such as these have fostered the idea among historians that there were limited and clearly defined spheres for antebellum men and women. Though the women of Boston would have considered themselves separate from the men around them and would have acted accordingly, it is not entirely clear when examining the lives of these women that they operated solely within a domestic sphere. Though the focus among antebellum women was largely domestic, there was some room for crossover between men and women especially in the intellectual and religious arenas. Though women were largely precluded from public expression of their ideas to a mixed audience, they were avid consumers of the news of their day. In their article Political News and Female Readership in Antebellum Boston and its Region, Mary and Ronald Zboray examine the often overlooked participation of antebellum women in the news of their day. Through their research of thirty collections of Boston family papers, the Zboray s prove that Bostonian women were well-versed in the political culture that surrounded them. They were quite familiar with the news of multiple newspapers and often discussed popular issues in letters, diaries, and within their family 17 Hewitt, ed., A Companion to American Women s History, The Monthly Anthology, and Boston Review Containing Sketches and Reports of Philosophy, Religion, History, Arts and Manners ( ), May, 1807 Vol. 4, Issue 5, 253. APS Online 8

15 circle. This element of female readership challenges the concept that antebellum women were solely occupied with domestic activities or the perusal of novels, sentimental literature, and recipe books. So, though the domestic sphere was a dominant residence for women, it did not preclude their participation in the news, controversies, discussions, or decisions of the day. 19 Just as these women were involved in the political debates of Boston, they were also involved in the religious debates. The Unitarian controversy was a major issue in Boston and middle-class women were very aware of the issues at hand, as well as the theological considerations. They were familiar with the dilemmas facing the Bostonian religious establishment and gave serious thought to these issues. They were, however, antebellum women and, as such, did not have the public platform that men did at the time. This being the case, the women must be looked at as a sub-group within the largely male-dominated Unitarian controversy. It is not enough to examine the theological and legal ramifications of a large-scale religious debate while ignoring the social and religious upheaval that affected a portion of the population. Also, it is important to assess the effects of the controversy upon women who were a vital but under-explored part of the controversy. Because women were considered separately from men, they would have been affected in different ways from the well documented men of the time and would have reacted within their own accepted social format. A discussion of domesticity would not be complete without consideration of gender roles and the roles which women were both assigned and volunteered for. The concept of separate gender spheres was extremely popular in antebellum America. It is also the starting point from which many historians view the early nineteenth century. According to Rosemary Zagarri, this separation is notable in the rights discourse of the early republic. In her estimation, men were dignified by liberties which allowed choices while women were given benefits which, in turn, imposed familial and social duties upon them Mary Saracino and Ronald J. Zboray, Political News and Female Readership in Antebellum Boston and its Region, Journalism History, Spring 1996, Rosemarie Zagarri, The Rights of Man and Woman in Post-Revolutionary America, The William and Mary Quarterly, April 1998,

16 Nancy Cott also acknowledges the separate spheres ideology so prevalent in the early nineteenth century. For her, however, these spheres were developed as a byproduct of changes in the economy, work, and education of women. For instance, as industrialization increased, men began to work outside the homes and women remained within the homes. This left women within their own sphere and, out of this, a canon of domesticity developed. 21 Anne Boylan s The Origins of Women s Activism is framed to answer the question of how the nineteenth century gender system, and its accompanying ideas of feminine and masculine spheres came into place. Her conclusion is that women used the ideology of spheres of the nineteenth century to emphasize equality among men and women and to mitigate the concept of female subordination to men. This was possible because women had a realm of duty that was equally important as that of men. Additionally, as women subscribed to the ideology of separate spheres, they further enhanced the idea of their own uniqueness and importance. This spherical ideology was an element in the development of female activism. 22 Finally, Linda Kerber analyzes the differences between the two sexes with regards to the state. Kerber looks at the obligations and benefits of citizenship which were required of and offered to both men and women. She grounds her understanding of the nineteenth century spheres in the fact that women were exempt from some obligations of citizenship but required to fulfill others. Also, they were exempt from some of the benefits of citizenship (such as voting) while men had free access by virtue of their being male. 23 Though historians disagree on the origin of the separate spheres ideology and some, such as Catherine Kelly, would argue that the spheres were nonexistent but rather gendered examples of broad transformations of the household economy the fact that an ideology of separate spheres existed and was commonly referred to by antebellum men and women is an incontrovertible fact Nancy Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood: Woman s Sphere in New England, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977). 22 Anne M. Boylan, The Origins of Women s Activism: New York and Boston, (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002). 23 Linda K. Kerber, No Constitutional Right to be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship (New York: Hill and Wang, 1998). 24 Catherine Kelly, Gender and Class Formations in the Antebellum North in A Companion to American Women s History, ed. Nancy A. Hewitt (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 2002),

17 Whether women were relegated to a domestic sphere because of economic changes, a system of civic obligations, or personal subscription, it is clear that antebellum women also considered this domesticity to be a force that would change the world around them. Antebellum sources reveal the fact that middle-class women considered themselves to be strategically placed to affect the country. They understood that they were relegated to a domestic circle. They also understood that there was a level of power to be obtained within this circle. In an article entitled Woman s Sphere, for example, an 1835 contributor asserted that since the days of Eve, a woman s duties remain the same. She is still the wife and companion, the mother and adviser. According to the contributor, however, there had been an expansion in the role of woman, as her influence as a member of the community is now exerted over a more spacious field. 25 Though the article s author was careful to remind everyone that woman must never forget that home is the very centre of her sphere, the author did not back away from the idea that when the real good of society is concerned, the influence of the one is worth as much as that of the other. 26 Within the acceptable domain of women lay religion and reform. An aspect of the religious activity condoned for middle-class women in antebellum Boston was charity benevolence and activism. Charity was a virtue condoned Biblically and it was an evident character strength of the oft-referenced virtuous woman from Proverbs 31 in the Bible. Charity was an attribute which did not violate the nineteenth century ideals of motherhood, piety, and domesticity. 27 It was an area in which a woman became not only the mother of her own children, but of needy ones around her. In Boston, middle and upper class women formed Bible studies, Sunday schools, sewing circles, organizations to help the sick and needy such as the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Boston Dispensary, the Boston Female Asylum, and the Dorcas Society, which clothed the poor and evangelical societies such as the Female Seaman s Friend Society, which attempted 25 Woman s Sphere, American Ladies Magazine; Containing Original Tales, Essays, Literary & Historical Sketches, Poetry, Criticism, Music, and a Great Variety of Matter Connected with Many Subjects of Importance and Interest ( ), May Vol. 8, Iss. 5, Woman s Sphere, American Ladies Magazine, Jane H. Pease and William H. Pease, Ladies, Women, and Wenches: Choice and Constraint in Antebellum Charleston and Boston (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1990),

18 evangelizing to Seamen. 28 Within these groups, women were often able to control the agenda of the societies. Even more, women in Boston were actually operators of many charitable operations such as orphanages and shelters. 29 These organizations were places in which women were able to leave the domestic circle and involve themselves politically, economically and civically at an administrative level while maintaining the ideals of true womanhood. Antebellum rhetoric about women was a conflation of ideas about femininity, morality, and charity. 30 That being the case, the benevolence and reform activities in and around Boston had Christian undertones or foundations. A woman could work yet be feminine. She could be a pious woman and also a public moral crusader. Finally, a woman could leave her home, busy herself about the community, and be publicly lauded for her charitable and benevolent acts. In many ways, benevolence was a dwelling place of women just as much as the home was. Noticeably, Bostonian benevolence organizations shifted focus in the years of Although concern for women and children still marked the core of women s activity, societies developed which operated solely for religious purposes. 31 As Boston was in a flurry of religious controversy, this fact is not surprising. Clergymen and churches were vying for the ears of the faithful in Boston during these years. Newspapers, letters, and diaries of the time period point to a popular participation in the religious debates. The concern over the growth of Unitarianism sparked many orthodox Christians into action and women were not immune to this. In a two year time period, for example, three new societies for women arose in Boston. A Female Bible Society, Female Society for the Promotion of Christianity among the Jews, and a Female Tract Society appeared all under the umbrella of orthodox Congregationalism. Additionally, at least two societies were formed which provided assistance to those young men who were studying for ministry within the congregational church. 32 What this reveals is the fact that women were deeply interested and involved in the religious conflict of the day. Though they may not have publicly debated the finer theological 28 Ibid., Ibid., Lori D. Ginzberg, Women and the Work of Benevolence: Morality, Politics, and Class in the Nineteenth- Century United States (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), Boylan, The Origins of Women s Activism, Ibid.,

19 points, they took action in the ways that were acceptable for them. Both the Congregationalists and Unitarians of Boston were seeking to gain the hearts and souls of Boston s Christians and women engaged in this effort, as well. Mary Ware, Catharine Beecher, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody are examples of women who were fully engaged in the fight for souls. In each of their cases, the benevolent activities to which they subscribed were dictated by their standards of faith. The acceptable, motherly form of activism acquired another branch, however, in the 1830 s. What had, before, been charitable benevolence or social reform intended to alleviate spiritual and physical want gained a parallel branch of reform. During the 1820 s and 1830 s, women s groups began to arise which focused on issues of reform that would affect society at large both culturally and politically. Rather than focusing their attentions primarily on widows, orphans, or the unsaved, women also began to shower attention on causes such as abolition, moral reform (i.e. prostitution and prohibition), and suffrage. These later organizations consented to a general view of womanhood and the place of women in society that was different and broader than those who had come before them. 33 In her analysis of organizational life in Boston, Anne Boylan reports the primary difference in the two groups to be that later reform societies were willing to identify with all manner of clients, and to encourage women to identify with those of their sex who needed help. 34 The emphasis, then, became one of gender and reform rather than spirituality and social respectability. Also, with this emphasis on the sisterhood of all women, there was an exhibited awareness of men as separate and culpable forces. 35 These two branches of benevolence and reform were inhabited by different types of women. Largely, the women of Boston who joined more liberal societies (such as those that supported moral reform or antislavery) were usually religious liberals who also challenged the traditional view of women s roles in society. Conversely, those women who assisted one another in benevolent societies tended to be 33 Anne Boylan, Women in Groups: An Analysis of Women s Benevolent Organizations in New York and Boston, in History of Women in the United States: 16: Women Together: Organizational Life, ed. Nancy F. Cott (New Providence: K.G. Saur, 1994), Ibid., Ibid.,

20 religiously orthodox as well, maintaining their traditional views of women s roles in society. 36 Another branch of reform which was also an acceptable form of female labor was education. It was commonly considered an important thing for Northeastern women to be somewhat educated. In order for women to play their roles as republican mothers they needed to be able to read and have a basic education. 37 This education was, however, limited to the upper-middle class of women and was originally fashioned as a function of social order. In terms of social class, it was important to have at least a basic understanding of history, philosophy, and the classics. Without these road markers of taste, people were assumed to be of a lower, more vulgar class and with this education, women were enabled to be part of a social and cultural elite. 38 Around the turn of the nineteenth century, this education was to be used primarily at home. It was expected that women of the republic be able to nurture their children in the rhetoric and ideals of the new nation. So, though early education was considered an important part of uppermiddle class womanhood, it was primarily domestic in its usefulness. 39 Within the first few decades of the nineteenth century, however, there was a subtle change in the education of women. Whereas in the post-revolutionary period, there had been a smattering of schools for women, there instead began to be hundreds. Schooling for women became a more standard practice than before. Additionally, the growing middle class of America became part of this educational trend. Many women attended these educational institutions not only to refine their understanding but also to gain training for the profession of teaching. 40 This revealed a shift in the acceptable roles of women in America. Albeit, women (especially in the Northeast) were no strangers to education, their reasons for education began to change. No longer were their minds and training to be utilized strictly at home. Instead, women were preparing to take a place in civil society to train minds and souls that were not part of their families. Women as teachers were still considered to be within the acceptable realm of true womanhood, yet it 36 Ibid., Michael Goldberg, Breaking New Ground: in No Small Courage: A History of Women in the United States, ed. by Nancy F. Cott (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), , Mary Kelley, Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America s Republic (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2006), Ibid., Ibid.,

21 is important to note that, though teaching fell within the acceptable range of domestically-inspired tasks, it was no longer in itself domestic. Rather, women were gaining an acknowledged place as trainers within the civil realm. It was a logical next step for women to become teachers. They were already seen to be endowed with a duty particular to womankind that of the physical, intellectual, and moral education of children the care of the health, and the formation of the character, of the future citizen of this great nation. 41 Women were not just to be mothers and character guides of their children. Rather, they considered themselves in a national light as moral and intellectual guides for every future citizen. Children, also, were not simply seen as children. Rather, they were resources who were instilled with female instruction in anticipation of the day when they would be running the country. In this light, and as public education became gradually more systematic, women were the natural choice to act as teachers for the young of the nation. Many of these women were unmarried young ladies who wanted a profession. Though they were limited in their choice of professions because of the domestic emphasis placed on women, these young ladies were able to use the domestic phraseology of the day to actually form a profession for themselves outside of the home. The roles of women within the subtly changing landscape of education were growing. Although earlier educated women had belonged primarily to elite families, the beginning of the nineteenth century saw a surge of middle class women attending educational institutions. The growth of these institutions also precipitated an increasing need for teachers. The advanced need for teachers required more administrators, and so on. The educational changes of antebellum America were perpetuating more changes. Women, then, were no longer simply being trained for their place in the home. Instead, they became teachers, teacher trainers, school administrators, and fundraisers. So, as the role of education grew in antebellum America, its needs grew as well. These needs included noticeable gaps in the quality of education, as well as punctuated awareness of the privation that abounded in educational resources, facilities, and pay for those who 41 Catherine Beecher, Essay on the Education of Female Teachers, in Pioneers of Women s Education in the United States, ed. Willystine Goodsell (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1931),

22 were poised to make education their career. Nineteenth century education reformers stepped into these gaps. Building on the idea that women were naturally fitted for the job of teaching America s young men and women, reformers were thus able to request and lobby for better funds, resources, and permanency for women s institutions. For many reformers, this role in itself became a profession. In her 1835 Essay on the Education of Female Teachers, Catharine Beecher addressed some of these needs of women s education. In her argument for the financial endowment of schools for women, Beecher was careful to put the onus of control upon men. Her argument was that, without the permanence of female institutions that comes from monetary investment and corporate oversight, communities were almost entirely dependent upon chance, both for the character and the perpetuity of schools. 42 Her powers of cogency came to bear as she reminded the men that, under such conditions, the character, the conduct, and the continuance of those who are so extensively to mould the character of the future wives and mothers of this nation, are almost entirely removed from the control of those most deeply interested. 43 In short, Beecher contended that money was required if the men with whom she argued were to maintain any control over the educational development of women. By doing this, Beecher used the separate sphere ideology of the day to enhance opportunities for women. Beecher, a religious and social conservative, joined the ranks of other education reformers of the time. Despite the verbal agreement with the popular sentiments regarding women and their place in the home, she used the language of domesticity to both advance the role of teachers in the nation and to further her own career as teacher and education reformer. Education and educational reform, then, was a primary place for the convergence of domesticity, religion, and social activism. Mary Kelley evaluates the role of education in the lives of women of the early republic. Her recent publication, Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America s Republic, proclaims that learning and the accompanying aspirations of learning played a key role in the unprecedented entry of women into the nation s public life. Additionally, Kelley argues that education afforded middle and 42 Ibid., Ibid.,

23 lower class women with a degree of cultural capital that at least somewhat elevated them in social life. 44 In her book, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America, Linda Kerber presents the argument that the improvement of schooling in the early republic was the greatest social change to affect women because it opened their way to the modern world. She also places the closing of the literacy gap between men and women to be between the years of 1780 and 1850, as well as putting the vast improvements to female education between the years of 1790 and 1830 precisely during the time of the Unitarian controversy. For Kerber, these improvements in education could be traced to the idea of republican motherhood in which the creation of virtuous citizens was dependent on the presence of wives and mothers who were well informed. 45 Additionally, Kerber argues that there was a growing emphasis on educational training for women because the new print culture demanded the participation of literate adults. 46 In his essay, Breaking New Ground: , Michael Goldberg also addresses the vast changes that occurred in women s literacy and education between the revolution and He briefly accounts for the rise of women s seminaries after 1810 and places their origin within a new ideal of women s education that arose around According to Goldberg, the idea of women s sphere was very strong but was enlarging to include more knowledge of topics such as literature, physiology, and moral philosophy. In addition to the changing beliefs on women s education, Goldberg contends that teaching and administration became opportunities that enabled women to support themselves thus changing the options that had previously been available to women. 47 In 1844, Horace Mann, the secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, reported that during his first seven years as secretary the number of male teachers in the state had grown by 159. In contrast, the number of 44 Mary Kelley, Learning to Stand and Speak, Linda Kerber, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980), , Ibid., Michael Goldberg, Breaking New Ground: , in No Small Courage: A History of Women in the United States, ed. Nancy F. Cott, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000),

24 female teachers in the state had grown by Clearly, women were eagerly taking advantage of the opportunities that education afforded them. Mary Ware, Catharine Beecher, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody shared the emphases placed on religion, education, domesticity, and reform by nineteenth century New Englanders. Each of them was well-educated by Bostonian standards and each taught school at some point. Two of them remained unmarried and eventually opened their own schools becoming education reformers as well as teachers and administrators. The three are divided in their allegiance to a particular religious doctrine. Two were Unitarians and one was an Orthodox Calvinist. Besides these differences, there are multiple shared traits among the women. They were all young, middle-class, white women around the time of the Unitarian Controversy; they were each committed to reform in one shape or another; they were connected with a male member of the Trinitarian-Unitarian dispute; they each lived in Boston or its near vicinity; and their lives were shaped and directed by their conversion experiences. In analyzing secondary sources on the Unitarian controversy and antebellum womanhood, as well as primary sources such as diaries, letters, newspaper articles, magazine articles, published manuscripts, and sermons, it is my hope to discover the effects of the Unitarian controversy on the religious, familial, and communal choices that these women made. Additionally, by investigating the public activities fueled by their religious choices, I seek to ascertain whether or not the involvement of these women in the religious quarrel of their day impacted society. Finally, I question what the lives of these women in the midst of the Unitarian controversy can tell us of the larger forces that were at work in American society. The value of this study is that it delineates the direct changes that occurred in the private and public lives of Bostonian women because of the Unitarian controversy. Additionally, it illuminates the cultural shifts taking place in Boston during the first part of the nineteenth century. Chapter one will examine the private lives of three women: Mary L.Ware, Catharine Beecher, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. Primarily, the early lives of these women will be discussed with a focus on their conversion experiences. 48 James M. Wallace, The Feminization of Teaching in Massachusetts: A Reconsideration, in Women of the Commonwealth: Work, Family, and Social Change in Nineteenth Century Massachusetts, ed. Susan L. Porter (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1996), pp

25 Additionally, chapter one will explore the family life, education, and religious struggles of each of these women. The final aspect of chapter one will be the impact of the Unitarian controversy on the private lives of these women. Specifically, did it affect them and, if so, how? Also, did the Unitarian controversy impact both their religious choices and their religious and educational opportunities? Following the discussion of the private lives of these women, chapter two will introduce the public lives of Mary Ware, Catharine Beecher, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. The emphasis in chapter two will be on the public roles that each of these women played in their church and/or community. Specifically, what avenues of reform, activism, and benevolence did they travel and how were these influenced by both personal choices and the Unitarian controversy? Finally, the thesis will conclude with a discussion of the impact of the Unitarian controversy on the women of middle class Boston. 19

26 CHAPTER ONE: PRIVATE LIVES The focus of this chapter is on the private lives of Mary Ware, Elizabeth Peabody, and Catharine Beecher. Specifically, I examine the domestic, religious, and educational aspects of their lives especially with a view towards their conversion experiences. The final objective of Chapter one will be to appraise the impact of the Unitarian controversy on the religious choices and opportunities of Mary Ware, Elizabeth Peabody, and Catharine Beecher. Mary L. Ware ( ) was the wife of Henry Ware, Jr. first a minister of the Second Church in Boston and, following the resignation of his pastorship, the Harvard professor of Pastoral Theology and Pulpit Eloquence and the daughter-in-law of Henry Ware, Sr., the contested Harvard Hollis Professor of Divinity. 49 Mary was born Mary Pickard the daughter of an English merchant who had decided to remain in Boston. She was very close to her mother who died when Mary was thirteen years old. Upon the death of her mother, Mary s father became despondent. As a result, Mary lived with her grandparents in Boston where she also attended school. After two years of this living situation, she attended a boarding school in Boston. 50 Early in her life, Mary was baptized into the Episcopal Trinity Church in Boston but, by the time she was sixteen, she was searching for some other religious truth. She was dissatisfied with what she heard from the pulpit of her church and desired something else which would lead her towards virtue. It was evident from this point that she was not as interested in keeping religious doctrines as she was in something which would encourage her towards piety. The result of this dissatisfaction was a private devotional life of prayer, reading, and meditation through which she became convinced that she had been leading a very different life from that which was requisite to form the character of a true Christian. 51 One of her answers for attaining Christian perfection was to become a member of the church. She viewed this as a duty which she must perform in order to obey the commandments of God. 52 Mary thought for over a year about this desire, however, as it 49 Howe, The Unitarian Conscience, 12, R.L. Carpenter, Some Account of Mrs. Henry Ware, Jun. of America: Derived from Dr. Hall s Memoir (London: The Christian Tract Society, 1853), Edward B. Hall, Memoir of Mary L. Ware, Wife of Henry Ware, Jr. (Boston: Crosby Nichols, & Co., 1853), Ibid.,