Primary+Source+1

There are some reasons why American women should feel an interest in the support of the democratic institutions of their Country, which it is important that they should consider. The great maxim, which is the basis of all our civil and political institutions, is, that "all men are created equal," and that they are equally entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."But it can readily be seen, that this is only another mode of expressing the fundamental principle which the Great Ruler of the Universe has established, as the law of his eternal government. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" and "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." …The principles of democracy, then, are identical with the principles of Christianity…The tendencies of democratic institutions, in reference to the rights and interests of the female sex, have been fully developed in the United States; and it is in this aspect, that the subject is one of peculiar interest to American women. In this Country, it is established, both by opinion and by practice, that woman has an equal interest in all social and civil concerns; and that no domestic, civil, or political, institution, is right, which sacrifices her interest to promote that of the other sex. But in order to secure her the more firmly in all these privileges, it is decided, that, in the domestic relation, she take a subordinate station, and that, in civil and political concerns, her interests be intrusted to the other sex, without her taking any part in voting, or in making and administering laws… "There are people in Europe, who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make of man and woman, beings not only equal, but alike. They would give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant to both the same rights…preposterous a medley of the works of Nature, nothing could ever result, but weak men and, disorderly women."It is not thus that the Americans understand the species of democratic equality, which may be established between the sexes. They admit, that, as Nature has appointed such wide: differences between the physical and moral constitutions of man and woman, her manifest design was, to give a distinct employment to their various faculties… The Americans have, applied to the sexes the great principle of political economy, which governs the manufactories of our age by carefully dividing the duties of man from those of woman, in order that the great work of society may be the better carried on.

Source: Beecher, Catharine E. “Peculiar Responsibilities of American Women.” //The Treatise on Domestic Economy//. N.p., 1841. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. .

This document is a passage from a book written by Catharine Beecher, an educator with strong opinions about women, in 1841 called //The Treatise on Domestic Economy.// It is a justification of women’s lower place in society in relation to the cult of domesticity. This part of the book is from the first chapter and highlights on some of the main ideas of the cult of domesticity. These main ideas are piety, domesticity, purity, and submissiveness. Religious piety and domesticity are brought up here in relation to how these ideas affected the state of the country at this point in time. The idea of domesticity is illuminated when Beecher talks about women’s role in society, and how there is a reason that men and women need to have different roles, men having the jobs to support everyone else. This shows how even though the cult of domesticity made women “below” men, there was justification behind it, giving a reason to these new standards. By tying these ideas into religion, the Ten Commandments mainly, we can see how religion was a justification of the cult of domesticity, and it was an important value for Americans to have. These ideas about freedom and women and men having separate roles to support the country politically and economically show how these gender constructions were effects of the market revolution with the new jobs and the change in the economy. These latter ideas are shown in the last sentence of the passage. The emphasis on freedom and equality with the new gender constructions of the cult of domesticity also shows how as America changed during the market revolution, and they still wanted to instill this idea of freedom from early on, but changing it for their benefit. The way that Beecher talks about the differences between America and European countries’ ideas of freedom shows how America was separating themselves from Europe as they gained more confidence with the market revolution, having their own ideas about freedom constructions.

ACS