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“Get Married Or Teach School”: Women’S Writing And Women’S Education In Antebellum America, Lindsey Sheppard

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Abstract: This article will examine the views expressed by American female writers about the roles of women and purposes of women’s education in the early 19th century. During the antebellum period (1820-1860), the American education system prepared white female students for two roles: to be teachers before marriage and to be ideal wives and mothers. This society believed that women, as wives and mothers, should manage the home and instill traditional American and Christian values in their children. During this period, women wrote a large body of nonfiction articles about social issues, such as education reform, and the roles of …