Social Issues of the Antebellum Era 197

progression, so that in one century from now, we shallhave a population of one hundred and sixty millions,but a few hundred thousands of whom at the utmostcan be citizens of foreign birth. Thus it may be seenthat foreign immigration is of very little account,beyond a celtain peliod, in the population of a coun-try, and at all times is an insignificant item. ...

In the infancy of this country the firstborn nativefound himself among a whole colony of foreigners.Now, the foreigner finds himself surrounded by asgreat a disproportion of natives, and the native babeand newly landed foreigner have about the sameamount, of either power or disposition, to endangerthe country in which they have anived; one, becausehe chose to come-the other because he could nothelp it.

I said the power or the disposition, for I have yetto learn that foreigners, whether German or Irish,English or French, are at all disposed to do an injuryto the asylum which wisdom has prepared and valorwon for the oppressed of all nations and religions. Iappeal to the observation of every man in this com-munity, whether the Germans and the Irish here,and throughout the country, are not as orderly, asindustrious, as quiet, and in the habit of performingas well the common duties of citizens as the greatmass of natives among us.

The worst thing that can be brought against anyportion of our foreign population is that in manycases they are poor, and when they sink under laborand privation, they have no resources but thealmshouse. Alas! shall the rich, for whom they havelabored, the owners of the houses they have helpedto build, refuse to treat them as kindly as they wouldtheir horses when incapable of further toil? Can theygrudge tllem shelter from the storm, and a placewhere they may die in peace?

FOi' Further ReadingEdith Abbott, Histolical Aspects of the Immigration Problem:

Select Documents. New York: Arno Press, 1969.Ray Allen Billington, The Protestant Crusade, 1800-1860: A

Study of the OrigillS of American Nativism. New York: Macmil-lan, 1938.

Maldwyn A. Jones, American Immigration. Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1992.

VIEWPOINT 27A

Women Hold An ExaltedStatus in America (1841)Catharine E. Beecher (1800-1878)

The issues of women's rights and the role ofwomen in American society began to gain national

prominence in the decades prior to the Civil War.During this time many people wrote and spoke ofthe importance of women in managing the house-hold and installing character in children. One of themost noted advocates of this point of view wasCatharine E. Beecher, a noted author and educationreformer. She was a member of a prominent NewEngland family; her father and brother were bothfamous preachers, and her sister was Harriet Beech-er Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. She foundedseveral educational institutions for women, and herbooks and writings were widely influential. Believingthat homemaking and teaching were the true profes-sions for women, she sought to improve their statusby stressing the importance of women in the "domes-tic sphere." Although active in the abolitionist andother social reform movements (especially women'seducation), Beecher opposed women's suffrage andother goals of the early feminist movement.

The following viewpoint is taken from the openingchapter of A Treatise on Domestic Economy, for theUse of Young Ladies At Home, and at School, a how-to book on homemaking that was a perennial best-seller in the 1840s and 1850s. Beecher argues thatAmerican women have attained respect and trueequality with men by remaining in the domesticsphere. She compares the United States favorablywith Europe regarding the position and treatment ofwomen, quoting extensively from Derrwcracy inAmerica, an influential book published in 1835 byFrench social philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville.

What basic principles guide American society,according to Beecher? What choices does she saywomen have regarding marriage? What importantresponsibilities does Beecher argue American womenhave?

There are some reasons why American womenshould feel an interest in the support of thedemocratic institutions of their Countly,which it is important that they should consider. Thegreat maxim, which is the basis of all our civil andpolitical institutions, is, that "all men are createdequal," and that they are equally entitled to "life, lib-erty, and the pursuit of happiness."

But it can readily be seen, that this is only anothermode of expressing the fundamental principle whichthe Great Ruler of the Universe has established, asthe law of His eternal government. "Thou shalt lovethy neighbor as thyself;" and "Whatsoever ye wouldthat men should do to you, do ye even so to them."These are the SCripture forms, by which the SupremeLawgiver requires that each individual of our raceFrom A Treatise 01/ Domestic Economy by Catharine E. Beecher (Boston:March. Capen. Lyon, and Webb, 1841).

198 Part III. Antebellum America, 1803-1855

shall regard the happiness of others, as of the samevalue as his own; and which forbids any institution, inprivate or civil life, which secures advantages to oneclass, by sacrificing the interests of another.

The principles of democracy, then, are identicalwith the principles of Christianity.

But, in order that each individual may pursue andsecure the highest degree of happiness within hisreach, unimpeded by the selfish interests of others, asystem of laws must be established, which sustaincertain relations and dependencies in social and civillife. What these relations and their attending obliga-tions shall be, are to be determined, not with refer-ence to the wishes and interests of a few, but solelywith reference to the general good of all; so that eachindividual shall have his own interest, as much as thepublic benefit, secured by them.

The Duties of SubordinationFor this purpose, it is needful that certain relations

be sustained, that involve the duties of subordina-tion. There must be the magistrate and the subject,one of whom is the superior, and the other the infe-rior. There must be the relations of husband andwife, parent and child, teacher and pupil, employerand employed, each involving the relative duties ofsubordination. The superior in certain particulars isto direct, and the inferior is to yield obedience. Soci-ety could never go forward, harmoniously, nor couldany craft or profession be successfully pursued,unless these superior and subordinate relations be'\.'I:\.'S\'\.\'-''-~~"''I:\.~ 'S'-''S\''''\.'I:\.~~.

But who shall take the higher, and who the subor-dinate, stations in social and civil life? This matter, inthe case of parents and children, is decided by theCreator. He has given children to the control of par-ents, as their superiors, and to them they remainsubordinate, to a certain age, or so long as they aremembers of their household. And parents can dele-gate such a portion of their authority to teachers andemployers, as the interests of their children require.

In most other cases, in a truly democratic state,each individual is allowed to choose for himself, whoshall take the position of his superior. No woman isforced to obey any husband but the one she choosesfor herself; nor is she obliged to take a husband, ifshe prefers to remain single. So every domestic, andevery artisan or laborer, after passing from parentalcontrol, can choose the employer to whom he is toaccord obedience, or, if he prefers to relinquish cer-tain advantages, he can remain without taking a sub-ordinate place to any employer.

Each subject, also, has equal power with everyother, to decide who shall be his superior as a ruler.The weakest, the poorest, the most illiterate, has thesame opportunity to determine this question, as the

richest, the most learned, and the most exalted.And the various privileges that wealth secures, are

equally open to all classes. Every man may aim atriches, unimpeded by any law or institution thatsecures peculiar privileges to a favored class at theexpense of another. Every law, and every institution,is tested by examining whether it secures equaladvantages to all; and if the people become con-vinced that any regulation sacrifices the good of themajority to the interests of the smaller number, theyhave power to abolish it.

The institutions of monarchical and aristocraticnations are based on precisely opposite principles.They secure, to certain small and favored classes,advantages which can be maintained, only by sacri-ficing the interests of the great mass of the people.Thus, the throne and aristocracy of England are sup-ported by laws and customs, that burden the lowerclasses with taxes, so enormous, as to deprive themof all the luxuries, and of most of the comforts, oflife. Poor dwellings, scanty food, unhealthy employ-ments, excessive labor, and entire destitution of themeans and time for education, are appointed for thelower classes, that a few may live in palaces, and riotin every indulgence.

The Interests of American WomenThe tendencies of democratic institutions, in ref-

erence to the rights and interests of the female sex,have been fully developed in the United States; andit is in this aspect, that the subject is one of peculiar\.'I:\.\~'~'S\ ,-", ~fu~n

Social Issues of the Antebellum Era 199

thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other,both are degraded; and from so preposterous amedley of the works of Nature, nothing could everresult, but weak men and disorderly women.

It is not thus that the Americans understand thespecies of democratic equality, which may be estab-lished between the sexes.They admit, that, as Naturehas appointed such wide differences between thephysical and moral constitutions of man and woman,her manifest design was, to give a distinct employ-ment to their various faculties; and they hold, thatimprovement does not consist in making beings sodissimilar do pretty nearly the same things, but ingetting each of them to fulfil their respective tasks, inthe best possible manner. The Amelicans haveapplied to the sexes the great principle of politicaleconomy, which governs the manufactories of ourage, by carefully dividing the duties of man fromthose of woman, in order that the great work of soci-ety may be the better carried on.

In no country has such constant care been taken, asin Amelica, to trace two clearly distinct lines ofaction for the two sexes, and to make them keeppace one with the other, but in two pathways whichare always different. American women never man-age the outward concerns of the family, or conducta business, or take a part in political life; nor arethey, on the other hand, ever compelled to performthe rough labor of the fields, or to make any of thoselaborious exeltions, which demand the exertion ofphysical strength. No families are so poor, as to forman exception to this rule ..

Thus the Amelicans do not think that man andwoman have either the duty, or the light, to performthe same offices, but they show an equal regard forboth their respective parts; and, though their lot isdifferent, they consider both of them, as beings ofequal value. They do not give to the courage ofwoman the same form, or the same direction, as tothat of man; but they never doubt her courage: andif they hold that man and his partner ought notalways to exercise their intellect and understandingin the same manner, they at least believe the under-standing of the one to be as sound as that of theother, and her intellect to be as clear. Thus, then,while they have allowed the social inferiOlity ofwoman to subsist, they have done all they could toraise her, morally and intellectually, to the level ofman; and, in this respect, they appear to me to haveexcellently understood tlle true principle of demo-cratic improvement.

As for myself, I do not hesitate to avow, that,altllOugh the women of the United States are con-fined witllin the narrow circle of domestic life, andtheir situation is, in some respects, one of extremedependence, I have nowhere seen women occupy-ing a loftier position; and if I were asked, now I amdrav.ringto the close of this work, in which I havespoken of so many important things done by the

Americans, to what the singular prosperity andgrowing strength of that people ought mainly to beattributed, I should reply,-to the superiority oftheir women.

Women's Lofty PositionThis testimony of a foreigner, who has had abun-

dant opportunities of making a comparison, is sanc-tioned by the assent of all candid and intelligentmen, who have enjoyed similar opportunities.It appears, then, that it is in America, alone, that

women are raised to an equality with the other sex;and that, both in theory and practice, their interestsare regarded as of equal value. They are made sub-ordinate in station, only where a regard to their bestinterests demands it, while, as if in compensation forthis, by custom and courtesy, they are always treatedas superiors. Universally, in this Country, throughevery class of society, precedence is given to woman,in all the comforts, conveniences, and courtesies, oflife.

In civil and political affairs, American women takeno interest or concern, except so far as they sympa-thize with their family and personal friends; but in allcases, in which they do feel a concern, their opinionsand feelings have a consideration, equal, or evensuperior, to that of the other sex.

In matters pertaining to the education of theirchildren, in the selection and support of a clergy-man, in all benevolent enterprises, and in all ques-tions relating to morals or manners, they have asuperior influence. In all such concerns, it would beimpossible to carry a point contrary to their judge-ment and feelings; while an enterprise, sustained bythem, will seldom fail of success.

•"The derrwcratic institutions of this

Country ... have secured to Americanwomen a lofty and fortunate position. "

•If those who are bewailing themselves over the

fancied wrongs and injuries of women in this Nation,could only see things as they are, they would know,that, whatever remnants of a barbarous or aristocrat-ic age may remain in our civil institutions, in refer-ence to the interests of women, it is only becausethey are ignorant of it, or do not use their influenceto have them rectified; for it is very certain that tllereis nothing reasonable which American women wouldunite in asking, that would not readily be bestowed.

The preceding remarks, then, illustrate the posi-tion that the democratic institutions of this Countryare in reality no other than the principles of Chris-

200 Part III: Antebellum America, 1803-1855

tianity carried into operation, and that they tend toplace woman in her true position in society, as havingequal rights with the other sex; and that, in fact, theyhave secured to American women a lofty and fortu-nate position, which, as yet, has been attained by thewomen of no other nation ....

The Important Task of WomenThe success of democratic institutions, as is con-

ceded by all, depends upon the intellectual andmoral character of the mass of the people. If they areintelligent and virtuous, democracy is a blessing; butif they are ignorant and wicked, it is only a curse, andas much more dreadful than any other form of civilgovernment, as a thousand tyrants are more to bedreaded than one. It is equally conceded, that theformation of the moral and intellectual character ofthe young is committed mainly to the female hand.The mother writes the character of the future man;the sister bends the fibres that hereafter are the for-est tree; the wife sways the heart, whose energiesmay turn for good or for evil the destinies of a nation.Let the women of a country be made virtuous andintelligent, and the men will certainly be the same.The proper education of a man decides the welfareof an individual; but educate a woman, and the inter-ests of a whole family are secured.If this be so, as none will deny, then to American

women, more than to any others on earth, is com-mitted the exalted privilege of extending over theworld those blessed influences, that are to renovatedegraded man, and" clothe all climes with beauty."

No American woman, then, has any occasion forfeeling that hers is an humble or insignificant lot.The value of what an individual accomplishes, is tobe estimated by the importance of the enterpriseachieved, and not by the particular position of thelaborer. The drops of heaven that freshen the earthare each of equal value, whether they fall in the low-land meadow, or the princely parterre. The buildersof a temple are of equal importance, whether theylabor on the foundations, or toil upon the dome.

Thus, also, with those labors that are to be madeeffectual in the regeneration of the Earth. Thewoman who is rearing a family of children; thewoman who labors in the schoolroom; the womanwho, in her retired chamber, earns, with her needle,the mite to contribute for the intellectual and moralelevation of her country; even the humble domestic,whose example and influence may be moulding andforming young minds, while her faithful services sus-tain a prosperous domestic state;-each and all maybe cheered by the consciousness, that they areagents in accomplishing the greatest work that everwas committed to human responsibility. It is thebuilding of a glorious temple, whose base shall be

coextensive with the bounds of the earth, whosesummit shall pierce the skies,whose splendor shallbeam on all lands, and those who hew the lowlieststone, as much as those who carve the highest capi-tal, will be equally honored when its top-stone shallbe laid, with new rejoicings of the morning stars, andshoutings of the sons of God.

VIEWPOINT 27B

Women Hold a DegradedStatus in America (1848)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)and the Seneca Falls Convention

The Seneca Falls Convention, held on July 18-19,1848, in Seneca Falls, New York, was the first publicpolitical meeting on women's rights in the UnitedStates. It was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stantonand Lucretia Mott, two abolitionists who had met in1840 at the World's Anti-Slavery Convention in Lon-don, where they and other female delegates weredenied recognition and participation because of theirgender. Stanton and Mott resolved to start a women'srights movement in the United States; their effortsresulted in the Seneca Falls Convention eight yearslater. Stanton, who would go on to devote her life towomen's lights, drafted a Declaration of Sentiments(based on America's Declaration of Independence)and a series of resolutions calling for women's rights.Both the declaration and the resolutions were debat-ed, reworded slightly, and adopted by the severalhundred women and men assembled at Seneca Falls.All the resolutions save one were passed unanimous-ly; the resolution for women's suffrage passed by onlya narrow margin.

What resemblances exist between this documentand the Declaration of Independence (reprinted onp. 100)? What examples of oppression does Stantonprovide? Judging from the contents of viewpoints27A and 27B, which points of the Seneca Falls Dec-laration might Catharine E. Beecher, author of theopposing viewpoint, agree with? Which would shemost oppose?

Declaration of Sentiments

When, in the course of human events, itbecomes necessary for one portion of thefamily of man to assume among the peopleof the earth a position different from that which theyhave hitherto occupied, but one to which the laws ofFrom History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 1, edited by Elizabeth CadyStanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage (New York: Fowler &Wells, 1881).

Social Issues of the Antebellum Era 201

nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decentrespect to the opinions of mankind requires that theyshould declare the causes that impel them to such acourse.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that allmen and women are created equal; that they areendowed by their Creator with certain inalienablerights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pur-suit of happiness; that to secure these rights govern-ments are instituted, deriving their just powers fromthe consent of the governed. Whenever any form ofgovernment becomes destructive of these ends, it isthe right of those who suffer from it to refuse alle-giance to it, and to insist upon the institution of anew government, laying its foundation on such prin-ciples, and organizing its powers in such form, as tothem shall seem most likely to effect their safety andhappiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that gov-ernments long established should not be changed forlight and transient causes; and accordingly all experi-ence hath shown that mankind are more disposed tosuffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right them-selves by abolishing the forms to which they areaccustomed. But when a long train of abuses andusurpations, pursuing invariably the same object,evinces a design to reduce them under absolutedespotism, it is their duty to throw off such govern-ment, and to provide new guards for their futuresecurity. Such has been the patient sufferance of thewomen under this government, and such is now thenecessity which constrains them to demand theequal station to which they are entitled.

The history of mankind is a history of repeatedinjuries and usurpations on the part of man towardwoman, having in direct object the establishment ofan absolute tyranny over her. To prove this, let factsbe submitted to a candid world.

He has never permitted her to exercise herinalienable right to the elective franchise.

He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the for-mation of which she had no voice.

He has withheld from her rights which are given tothe most ignorant and degraded men-both nativesand foreigners.

Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen,the elective franchise, thereby leaving her withoutrepresentation in the halls of legislation, he hasoppressed her on all sides.

He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law,civilly dead.

He has taken from her all right in property, even tothe wages she earns.

He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being,as she can commit many crimes with impunity, pro-vided they be done in the presence of her husband.In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to

promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, toall intents and purposes, her master-the law givinghim power to deprive her of her liberty, and toadminister chastisement.

He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to whatshall be the proper causes, and in case of separation,to whom the guardianship of the children shall begiven, as to be wholly regardless of the happiness ofwomen-the law, in all cases, going upon a false sup-position of the supremacy of man, and giving allpower into his hands.

•"Because women do feel themselves

aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulentlydeprived of their rrwst sacred rights, we

insist that they have immediate admissionto all the rights and priVileges which belongto them as citizens of the United States."

•

After depriving her of all rights as a marriedwoman, if Single, and the owner of property, he hastaxed her to support a government which recognizesher only when her property can be made profitableto it.

He has monopolized nearly all the profitableemployments, and from those she is permitted to fol-low, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He clos-es against her all the avenues to wealth and distinc-tion which he considers most honorable to himself.As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is notknown.

He has denied her the facilities for obtaining athorough education, all colleges being closed againsther.

He allows her in Church, as well as State, but asubordinate position, claiming Apostolic authorityfor her exclusion from the ministry, and, with someexceptions, from any public participation in theaffairs of the Church.

He has created a false public sentiment by givingto the world a different code of morals for men andwomen, by which moral delinquencies which excludewomen from society, are not only tolerated, butdeemed of little account in man.

He has usurped the prerogative of Jehovah him-self, claiming it as his right to assign for her a sphereof action, when that belongs to her conscience and toher God.

He has endeavored, in every way that he could. todestroy her confidence in her own powers. to lessher self-respect and to make her \

202 Part III: Antebellum America, 1803-1855

dependent and abject life.Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-

half the people of this country, their social and reli-gious degradation-in view of the unjust laws abovementioned, and because women do feel themselvesaggrieved, oppressed, and fraudulently deprived oftheir most sacred rights, we insist that they haveimmediate admission to all the rights and privilegeswhich belong to them as citizens of the United States.

In entering upon the great work before us, weanticipate no small amount of misconception, mis-representation, and lidicule; but we shall use everyinstrumentality within our power to effect ourobject. We shall employ agents, circulate tracts, peti-tion the State and National legislatures, and endeav-or to enlist the pulpit and the press in our behalf. Wehope this Convention will be followed by a series ofConventions embracing evelY part of the counby.

ResolutionsWHEREAS,The great precept of nature is conced-

ed to be, that "man shall pursue his own true andsubstantial happiness." [William] Blackstone in hisCommentaries [on the Laws of England] remarks,that this law of Nature being coeval with mankind,and dictated by God himself, is of course superior inobligation to any other. It is binding over all theglobe, in all countries and at all times; no human lawsare of any validity if contrary to this, and such ofthem as are valid, derive all their force, and all theirvalidity, and all their authOrity, mediately and imme-diately, from this original; therefore,

Resolved, That such laws as conflict, in any way withthe true and substantial happiness of woman, are con-trary to the great precept of nature and of no validity,for this is "superior in obligation to any other."

Resolved, That all laws which prevent woman fromoccupying such a station in society as her conscienceshall dictate, or which place her in a position infeli-or to that of man, are contrary to the great precept ofnature, and therefore of no force or authority.

Resolved, That woman is man's equal-wasintended to be so by the Creator, and the highestgood of the race demands that she should be recog-nized as such.

Resolved, That the women of this countly ought tobe enlightened in regard to the laws under whichthey live, that they may no longer publish theirdegradation by declaring themselves satisfIed withtheir present position, nor their ignorance, byassert-ing that they have all the lights they want.

Resolved, That inasmuch as man, while claimingfor himself intellectual superiOlity, does accord towoman moral superiority, it is pre-eminently his dutyto encourage her to speak and teach, as she has anopportunity, in all religious assemblies.

Resolved, That the same amount of viltue, delica-cy, and refinement of behavior that is required ofwoman in the social state, should also be required ofman, and the same transgressions should be visitedwith equal severity on both man and woman.

Resolved, That tlle objection of indelicacy andimpropliety, which is so often brought against womanwhen she addresses a public audience, comes with avery ill-grace from those who encourage, by theirattendance, her appearance on the stage, in the con-cert, or in feats of the circus.

Resolved, That woman has too long rested satisfiedin the circumscribed limits which corrupt customsand a perverted application of the Scriptures havemarked out for her, and that it is time she shouldmove in the enlarged sphere which her great Creatorhas assigned her.

Resolved, That it is the duty of the women of thiscounby to secure to themselves their sacred right tothe elective franchise.

Resolved, That the equality of human rights resultsnecessarily from the fact of the identity of the race incapabilities and responsibilities.

Resolved, therefore, That, being invested by theCreator with the same capabilities, and the sameconsciousness of responsibility for their exercise, it isdemonstrably the right and duty of woman, equallywith man, to promote every righteous cause by everyrighteous means; and especially in regard to thegreat subjects of morals and religion, it is self-evidently her right to participate \vith her brother inteaching them, both in private and in public, by writ-ing and by speaking, by any instmmentalities properto be used, and in any assemblies proper to be held;and this being a self-evident truth growing out of thedivinely implanted prinCiples of human nature, anycustom or authority adverse to it, whether modern orwearing the hoary sanction of antiquity, is to beregarded as a self-evident falsehood, and at war withmankind.

Resolved, That the speedy success of our causedepends upon the zealous and untiring efforts ofboth men and women, for the overthrow of themonopoly of the pulpit, and for the secUling towomen an equal participation with men in the vari-ous trades, profeSSions, and commerce.For Further ReadingVirginia Bernhard and Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, cds., The Birth of

American Feminism: The Seneca Falls '¥oman~s Convention of1848. St. James, NY: Brandy,.vine Press, HJ95.

Jeanne Boydston et aI., The Limits of Sisterhood: The Beecher Sis-ters on Women~s Rights and WO/JUln~s Sphere. Chapel Hill: Uni-versity of North Carolina Press, 1988.

Elizabeth Gliffith, In Her Own Right: The Life ofEl'izabeth CadyStanton. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.

Miriam Gurko, The Ladies of Seneca Falls: The Birth of the'Women's Bights Movement. New York: Macmillan, 1974.

Social Issues of the Antebellum Era 197

progression, so that in one century from now, we shallhave a population of one hundred and sixty millions,but a few hundred thousands of whom at the utmostcan be citizens of foreign birth. Thus it may be seenthat foreign immigration is of very little account,beyond a celtain peliod, in the population of a coun-try, and at all times is an insignificant item. ...

In the infancy of this country the firstborn nativefound himself among a whole colony of foreigners.Now, the foreigner finds himself surrounded by asgreat a disproportion of natives, and the native babeand newly landed foreigner have about the sameamount, of either power or disposition, to endangerthe country in which they have anived; one, becausehe chose to come-the other because he could nothelp it.

I said the power or the disposition, for I have yetto learn that foreigners, whether German or Irish,English or French, are at all disposed to do an injuryto the asylum which wisdom has prepared and valorwon for the oppressed of all nations and religions. Iappeal to the observation of every man in this com-munity, whether the Germans and the Irish here,and throughout the country, are not as orderly, asindustrious, as quiet, and in the habit of performingas well the common duties of citizens as the greatmass of natives among us.

The worst thing that can be brought against anyportion of our foreign population is that in manycases they are poor, and when they sink under laborand privation, they have no resources but thealmshouse. Alas! shall the rich, for whom they havelabored, the owners of the houses they have helpedto build, refuse to treat them as kindly as they wouldtheir horses when incapable of further toil? Can theygrudge tllem shelter from the storm, and a placewhere they may die in peace?

FOi' Further ReadingEdith Abbott, Histolical Aspects of the Immigration Problem:

Select Documents. New York: Arno Press, 1969.Ray Allen Billington, The Protestant Crusade, 1800-1860: A

Study of the OrigillS of American Nativism. New York: Macmil-lan, 1938.

Maldwyn A. Jones, American Immigration. Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1992.

VIEWPOINT 27A

Women Hold An ExaltedStatus in America (1841)Catharine E. Beecher (1800-1878)

The issues of women's rights and the role ofwomen in American society began to gain national

prominence in the decades prior to the Civil War.During this time many people wrote and spoke ofthe importance of women in managing the house-hold and installing character in children. One of themost noted advocates of this point of view wasCatharine E. Beecher, a noted author and educationreformer. She was a member of a prominent NewEngland family; her father and brother were bothfamous preachers, and her sister was Harriet Beech-er Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. She foundedseveral educational institutions for women, and herbooks and writings were widely influential. Believingthat homemaking and teaching were the true profes-sions for women, she sought to improve their statusby stressing the importance of women in the "domes-tic sphere." Although active in the abolitionist andother social reform movements (especially women'seducation), Beecher opposed women's suffrage andother goals of the early feminist movement.

The following viewpoint is taken from the openingchapter of A Treatise on Domestic Economy, for theUse of Young Ladies At Home, and at School, a how-to book on homemaking that was a perennial best-seller in the 1840s and 1850s. Beecher argues thatAmerican women have attained respect and trueequality with men by remaining in the domesticsphere. She compares the United States favorablywith Europe regarding the position and treatment ofwomen, quoting extensively from Derrwcracy inAmerica, an influential book published in 1835 byFrench social philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville.

What basic principles guide American society,according to Beecher? What choices does she saywomen have regarding marriage? What importantresponsibilities does Beecher argue American womenhave?

There are some reasons why American womenshould feel an interest in the support of thedemocratic institutions of their Country,which it is important that they should consider. Thegreat maxim, which is the basis of all our civil andpolitical institutions, is, that "all men are createdequal," and that they are equally entitled to "life, lib-erty, and the pursuit of happiness."

But it can readily be seen, that this is only anothermode of expressing the fundamental principle whichthe Great Ruler of the Universe has established, asthe law of His eternal government. "Thou shalt lovethy neighbor as thyself;" and "Whatsoever ye wouldthat men should do to you, do ye even so to them."These are the SCripture forms, by which the SupremeLawgiver requires that each individual of our raceFrom A Treatise 01/ Domestic Economy by Catharine E. Beecher (Boston:March, Capen. Lyon, and Webb, 1841).