Education Of Colonial Women During The Eighteenth-Century

For the majority of the colonial period, gender equality was far from a reality. Colonial women had fewer rights and were considered inferior to man. Despite the many responsibilities these women had to learn and fulfill, education was not one of them. Women were not permitted to be educated in fear that knowledge would be harmful for their minds. Writings from two eighteenth-century reformers validate the significance in education for woman. The eighteenth-century documents of Benjamin Rush, a physician and educator, and Judith Sargent Murray's, a women's rights activist, make evident the importance of female education, and defined the influence an educated woman has in everyday life. Colonial women did not have easy lives. As young girls,
Republican motherhood, or the idea that women should be educated to teach their children the nation's values to better serve their country, essentially paved the way for a brighter future for women. Prior to the Revolution, men were unwilling to give women equal rights, as well the ability to expand their academic knowledge. After the Revolution, people started to questioned how a mother could educate her sons about American principles if she was uneducated herself. This inquiry lead to new expectations. They started to believe that women, the primary caretakers of children, should be allowed to learn and pass on their learning's. Education for women was seen as a way to ready the" new country and its citizens for success" . They believed that the "expansion of women’s education was not meant for their own benefit but to place them in a position to mold future generations into good citizens and civic leaders" .These enlightened thinkers inspired the opportunities for women to learn and teach their children the values that could build a prosperous and successful