1. Republican Motherhood and the Cult of Domesticity

2. Post-Revolutionary Era
The American Revolution  equality, rationality, & citizenship
Mothers are the ones who instill these values in their children
Concept of civic virtue: unselfishness of citizens to the common good

3. Republican Motherhood
Selfless devotion of mothers to the family
Role=teaching morals & civic virtue to future generations
Early example shown in Abigail Adams

4. Effects More educational opportunities for women
Republican mothers= responsible for national survival
Increased respect

5. 19th Century Changes Men worked for wages outside of the home
Women still confined to “female” jobs
Women’s (house)work didn’t earn wages

6. Cult of Domesticity
 Women are naturally loving, nurturing, calm, and faithful
Needed to instill these virtues in the home
Women provide husbands with a sanctuary from his job and politics
Women who tried to go beyond the private sphere were shunned

7. Four Cardinal Rules of the COD
Piety
Purity
Submission
Domesticity

8. Family Effects People married for love
Women had fewer children and were more devoted to the individual child
Families were closer and more affectionate

9. Society Effects Decreasing amount of working women in America
Step up in overall conditions
Family size grew smaller & birth rates dropped