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2010 Family of Science: Education, Gender, and Science in the Colden Family of 1720-1770 Colleen Beck-Kaplan

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COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

FAMILY OF SCIENCE: EDUCATION, GENDER, AND SCIENCE IN THE COLDEN

FAMILY OF NEW YORK 1720-1770

By

COLLEEN BECK-KAPLAN

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Degree Awarded Spring Semester, 2010

The members of the committee approve the thesis of Colleen Beck-Kaplan defended on March 26, 2010.

______Edward Gray Professor Directing Thesis

______Jennifer Koslow Committee Member

______Frederick Davis Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract………………………………………………………………………….iv

1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………1

2. THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD OF THE COLDEN

FAMILY………...……………………………………………………………..7

3. THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER AND FAMILY……………………….22

4. EDUCATION IN THE COLONIES AND IN THE COLDEN

FAMILY…………..…………………………………………………………..41

5. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………....54

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………….57

7. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH…………………………………………………63

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ABSTRACT

Investigation into how the Jane and Cadwallader Colden navigated the physical, social, and cultural environment of colonial New York both as regular people representative of their class, and as scientists offers insight into the changing nature of colonial society and views of science in the mid 1700s. The work of the Coldens is especially important to this topic because it shows the influence of Enlightenment thought in creating “proper” fields of science and intellectual activity in the English colonies on in the mid to late 18th century when this “feminization” of certain sciences is often seen as primarily an English phenomenon of the 19th century. Instead, their work shows that this was a trans-Atlantic change with earlier origins. As elite women participated in the sciences with greater frequency, multiple narratives emerged in both and the American colonies, to justify this change and place it in an understandable context. For men, society accepted participation in sciences as a manifestation of Enlightenment values focused on reason. Women‟s participation in the sciences, on the other hand, was often justified through an appeal to natural philosophy or through emphasis on continuity with established beliefs about manners and hetero- gender social interaction that generally mandated familial support for their endeavors. By examining the writings of the Colden family and commentary on changes to intellectual culture that emerged in popular pamphlets and behavior manuals we can see that the groundwork for the „feminization‟ of certain intellectual subjects such as was already in place in the 18th century and examine some of the cultural forces that led to this trend which would continue into the 19th century.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Cadwallader Colden and his daughter Jane were active participants in the trans- Atlantic exchange of ideas and natural specimens that marked the 18th century „age of reason.‟ Cadwallader was one of the very few colonial American scientists of his time to write works on theoretical or “pure” science for the international community. He did so although he lived far from British centers of learning and therefore lacked strong institutional support and patronage. Jane Colden also participated in the international exchange of ideas while compiling a classification of New York plants according to Linnaeus‟ method. Jane‟s engagement with botany was groundbreaking for her gender, but in other respects she, like her father, was a typical colonial. Thus for most of his life Cadwallader‟s primary occupation was governance or medicine, never physics or natural science. Likewise Jane‟s time was dominated not by botany, but by household duties and the social obligations of women of her class first in her role as a daughter, and after she married, as mistress of her own home. Investigation into how the Coldens navigated the physical, social, and cultural environment of colonial New York both as regular people representative of their class, and as scientists offers insight into the changing nature of elite colonial society and views of science in the mid 1700s. Furthermore, examination of the importance of gender and family in mediating how one participated in natural philosophy in the colonies also offers a new perspective on the history of science and on the colonial period more broadly.

The 18th century was a time of great change in the scientific world, and Cadwallader Colden‟s writings help illuminate how changes in scientific thought were understood in the colonies. They not only show the interplay between natural theology and an emerging focus on rationalism that was so critical to this era, but also illuminate some of the paths for reception and transmission of ideas in the colonies of the British Atlantic world which occurred in informal settings dominated by the influence of family

1 and personal relationships. Among the most important ideas that can be traced in the work of the Coldens is that of Linnaean taxonomy from Cadwallader to Jane through an intergenerational transmission of ideas and from Cadwallader to other of his associates in the New World who were linked to him by friendship and common interest. Taken together, the lives and collected writings of this father-daughter pair expose some of the limits and expectations placed on scientific writing by duty, family, gender, and colonial status.

Cadwallader Colden was a loyalist and has therefore been neglected in much of the historiography of late colonial American in favor of those who supported the revolution. As an outsider, his writings present an opportunity to look at colonial science somewhat removed from a nationalistic narrative. This is especially important in the years leading up to the American Revolution because of the ease with which any narrative about the Enlightenment in the colonies can be conflated with the rise of American national identity. At the root of the problem of nationalistic narratives in the history of science for colonial America is defining what constitutes American science. As with the general population, some colonial scientists/natural philosophers more closely identified themselves as English and some as Americans which has led to some confusion about how historians should classify the men and women of this era. Because there were few colonists who were internationally known for their work, Earlier works which predated the emergence of the Atlantic World as a popular thematic approach were especially prone to characterize colonial American science as either wholly derivative of English work or wholly unique to the exclusion of English connections.1 Such a focus was also due in part to studies that were heavily focused either on institutions or great men rather than the transmission of ideas and establishment of both trans-Atlantic and tran-colonial networks of intellectual exchange.2

1 One foundational works on colonial American science which takes the first view is Stearns‟ work whereas books highlighting American contributions tend to focus on recognizably American figures . Phinea Raymond Stearns, Science in the British Colonies of America (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1970) and Bernard Cohen. 's Science (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University, 1990) 2 The focus on institutions has also often led to the assumption that American science did not really start until the 1840s with the establishment of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2

Examination of Jane Colden‟s place in the scientific community helps bring these networks to light because her entrance into the field was so dependent on personal and familial networks of support. Jane had to navigate many social expectations of her gender such as the expectation for women to be modest and quiet which generally precluded most women of this era from publishing works for a large audience. By working with her father, however, the involvement in a family project protected her reputation. As a native-born colonist she had easy access to the natural wonders of the new world, but was also reliant on books from Europe and her father‟s attention to her education to be able to present them in an acceptable ways to authorities in Europe. She also had to confront biases against colonial production of new knowledge, but was born into a small but growing network of intellectuals in the colonies many of whom were very supportive of her work, and who could then in turn, share their Atlantic connections.3

Jane‟s role in this community also brings into focus how 18th century colonial American society understood gender roles in regards to women‟s increased participation in intellectual activities.4 Caroline Winterer delves into great detail about how society created new expectations of behavior as a result of women‟s increased access to classical texts and education, but a similar development in the natural sciences--exemplified in the life of Jane Colden--has not been fully explored.5 One reason the scientific aspect of this shift has been overlooked is because a surge of alongside many universities. Sally Gregory Kohlstedt, “Parlors, Primers, and Public Schooling: Education for Science in Nineteenth-Century America” Isis, Vol. 81, No. 3 (Sep., 1990): 424-445 3 Susan Scott Parrish‟s American Curiosity does an excellent job looking at the trans-Atlantic exchange of ideas in regards to natural history and pays particular attention to the power dynamics inherent in such exchange. Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006) 4 During the late 18th century an increasing number of women had access to higher education, but a great deal of the intellectual life available to women was informal. To include these important activities such as attendance at lectures on various academic subjects, and reading groups, and increased corresponded with each other or with men of their social circles on literary and scientific matters, I have adopted the term intellectual activities 5 Caroline Winterer. The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002) and Caroline Winterer “The Female World of Classical Reading in Eighteenth-Century America” in Reading Women: Literacy, Authorship, and Culture in the Atlantic World, 1500-1800. ed. Heidi Brayman Hackel and Catherine E. Kelly (: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008 3 female participation in the sciences in the early 19th century has overshadowed these early shifts, especially in American developments. One reason for the later focus is the sheer number of books on botany targeted towards women in the 19th century. Among the most influential were John Lindley‟s Ladies’s Botany and Jane Loudon‟s Botany for Ladies which was later re-titled Modern Botany. 6 The focus on the 19th century also comes out of a tendency to start histories of science as a history of professionalization. A few books are starting to push the boundaries earlier, but with the exception Parrish‟s American Curiosity, no major monographs on gender and science focus on the American colonial period in an Atlantic context. Shteir briefly addresses 18th century female participation in botany, but, only in England, and in her other works, focuses more on other colonial spaces as does Londa Schiebinger, who writes primarily on the Caribbean. Considering the similarity of the rhetoric surrounding women‟s scientific activity in both centuries, it is logical to consider Jane‟s work, and that of other colonial women, as part of the „feminization‟ of certain sciences--a process that extended well into the next century. Similarly, Jane‟s work is but one reason to locate the beginnings of this process in the 18th century rather that in the 19th and to recognize the role of colonial participants in this shift.7

Because education was a critical part of scientific development in the colonies it is likewise important to examine changes to education and educational philosophy prior to the American Revolution for both boys and girls. The Colden family provides two ways of looking at education for this period. The first is in the writings of Cadwallader and the second in the actual education of his children which is very revealing of some of the social tensions surrounding female education at the time. The greatest number of changes to the educational system occurred after the American Revolution, but the

6 John Lindley, Ladies Botany or A Familiar Introduction to the Natural System of Botany ( London: Henry G. Bohn, 1865) and Jane Wells Loudon. Botany for Ladies: Or a Popular Introduction to the Natural System of Plants, According to the Classification of de Condolle ( London: John Murray, 1842) 7 Ann B Shteir, Cultivating Women, Cultivating Science: Flora's Daughters and Botany in England, 1760- 1860 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,1996) supports the idea of the feminization of botany as primarily a 19th century phenomenon. Accompanying books that address this trend is also a set of literary works on the gendered language and imagery of botany textbooks and botanical poetry such as Sam George. “The Cultivation of the Female Mind: Enlightened Growth, Luxuriant Decay and Botanical Analogy in Eighteenth-Century texts” History of European Ideas (31):209-223, 2005. 4 foundations for new ideas about education, institutional support of science, and the importance of place in the natural sciences evolved during the middle of the 18th century as part of a shift towards public adoption of more rationalist thinking which came out of the writings of many Enlightenment philosophers.8 The shift towards an education for women based on these ideas that occurred in the early 18th century, also, bears looking at because of the change it had on colonial society as a part of the British Atlantic instead of a proto-United States. Like other aspects of elite culture, education could reinforce either English or colonial identify.9 For example, the formation of the American Philosophical Society under Benjamin Franklin is often cited as an example of colonial unity and therefore a move towards independence, but for some of the early participants such as Cadwallader, it was a way to become more recognizably English.10

Cadwallader and Jane Colden provide a lens through which to investigate the intellectual culture of Colonial America within an Atlantic framework. They are especially suitable because each of them maintained a strong trans-Atlantic network of contacts with other scientists alongside one based in the colonies. While the Coldens‟ work provides an Atlantic framework, their achievements also argue for something of a maturation of Colonial science in the mid 18th century which goes against much of the literature that frames colonial science as derivative of English advancement. Colonial

8 Full adoption of Enlightenment values in regards to education is hard to trace. Mary Kelly argues that finishing schools and seminaries for women that emerged at this time allowed entrance into the public sphere for the rising numbers of highly-educated women as they used connections made at school to form literary societies and to extend their energy outside of the home in what she calls “gendered Republicanism.” In the pre-Revolutionary era women such as Jane Colden used their education to engage in a world outside of the home, but framed their activities as furthering science or learning in general rather than as bettering the nation. Mary Kelley, Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America’s Republic (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 2006) 9 Because of the simpler structure of a nationalist narrative, educational histories of America start with the Early Republic. While this has led to some very important concepts such as Kerber‟s idea of Republican Motherhood, there is a side to this period that is not so driven by nationalistic concerns. 10 The major contribution to this trend in the historiography is the appeal of works that focus on the philosophical or scientific values of founding fathers which highlight a nationalistic narrative. To my knowledge, there is not a monograph that specifically looks at how science specifically supported a loyalist worldview, nor is that my intention here, but rather to bring to light the work of the Coldens who were removed from revolutionary circles. As an example of works that focus on prominent revolutionaries as scientists look at Bernard Cohen‟s works on Benjamin Franklin and his. Science and the Founding Fathers: Science in the Political Thought of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison. (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997) which also helped shape the history of science as a discipline. 5 science built upon English advancements, but the Coldens also authored works which their contemporaries would have seen as the production of new knowledge. Looking at the social and familial environment that the two worked in also highlights how important social networks and easy access to the natural world was to the development of botany and natural philosophy in the colonies more generally.

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CHAPTER TWO

THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD OF THE COLDEN FAMILY

Cadwallader Colden was born in Dunse, Scotland in 1688 and immigrated to Philadelphia in 1710 after studying medicine at the . He worked as a doctor and merchant in the colonies and after establishing himself in business, married his wife Alice Chryste in 1715. In 1718 he relocated to New York after a fortuitous meeting with the Governor, General Hunter, who offered Cadwallader a place in the government as surveyor-general to the colony. Cadwallader served the administration of New York in various functions for the next few decades balancing his duties with research, a wide correspondence, and many publications. In 1728 Cadwallader relocated his wife and six children to his rural estate, nicknamed Coldenham, which was both a working farm and a place of retreat for Cadwallader‟s study of natural philosophy. In 1760 he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New York and he served in this position until his death in 1776.11

Cadwallader‟s fellow naturalist and daughter Jane Colden was born in 1724 and died in 1766. She was raised on the family estate in New York and was educated at home by her parents. In her early 20s, Jane started to apply herself to the study of botany and over the next few years, collected and catalogued many native New York plants and corresponded with noted colonial and European botanists. In 1759 Jane married William Farquhar, a New York Doctor also of Scottish descent, who was a part of many of the same social and intellectual circles as the Colden family. Little is known about Jane after her marriage except that she bore one child who passed away a few months prior to her own death.

The Coldens‟ largest contribution to theoretical science in the colonies was their active promotion and adoption of the Linnaean classification system for plants which

11 Purple, E.R. Genealogical Notes of the Colden Family in America (New York: Privately Printed, 1873) 7 allowed for precise identification of new species. They also worked to spread Linnaeus‟ system of plant classification in the colonies just as other naturalists committed to the system were doing all over the world. By taking on the role of classifier, both Cadwallader and Jane asserted active roles in the creation of “new knowledge” in the colonies. Cadwallader‟s works on physics were also among the first theoretical works published by a permanent resident in the New World and represented a maturation of colonial scientific ability. His work is also indicative of the gradual secularization of ideas, particularly concerning the natural world, which marked the American adoption of rationalist and more secular thought in the 18th century.12 Cadwallader Colden is a somewhat unique subject of study for the spread of natural philosophy in the colonies because unlike many other notable natural philosophers, he was not trained in religion.13 He nonetheless reflected the common spiritual values of his day and so adopted a teleological framework for his more general works on physics, though in other writing he passed over religion entirely. In an era where many of the noted Colonial American authors and intellectuals were also ministers, Cadwallader provides an example of great achievement in the secular realm.14 He was not irreligious by any means, but Cadwallader‟s writings were more heavily influenced by rationalism and his own innate curiosity about the world than by religion.

Cadwallader was also influenced by his education which provided grounding in the science prior to his immigration to New York. Indeed for those permanently residing in the colonies, familiarity with the newest science came only through independent study or, as in the case of Jane Colden, through the influence of an earlier European- educated generation. Cadwallader, for example, gained familiarity with botany during his time at the University of Edinburgh first as a young man where he “learn‟d

12 Some of the important writers participating in this shift are John Loch, Rousseau, and Thomas Jefferson who located authority in human reason rather than in religion or past precedence and who often questioned the validity of long-held traditions. 13 Colden in fact abandoned the study of theology at the University of Edinburg as a young man in favor of medicine. It should also be noted that many other American philosophers after Colden continued to try to fit their observations of nature into a teleological framework where those observation supported the idea of structure by design. 14 Take for example the work of Jonathan Edwards, a contemporary of Cadwallader Colden as well as the bulk of earlier writings in natural philosophy in the colonies such as Cotton Mather‟s Christian Philosopher. 8

Rudiments of Botany under Dr. Preston” and later on his own through reading Linnaeus‟ Genera Plantarum. 15 Such a background was sufficient for the type of work Cadwallader carried out although in the common assumption of a tone of personal humility, Cadwallader recounted to a friend that he had “no pretensions to any Merit in that Science [botany]” though he felt comfortable enough to undertake a study of the plants near his home in rural New York.16 Considering the size of the Colden estate and the fact that it was located in an understudied area, this was in truth no mean feat. In fact, the rich assortment of flora on the grounds of Coldingham and the surrounding lands provided subject matter for both father and daughter which they then shared with a broader intellectual community. Such studies were occurring world-wide as a part of a European drive to catalogue the flora and fauna of the world.

The earliest work on botany published by Cadwallader Colden to come out of the colonies was his description in the Linnaean method of over 100 plants found in New York titled Plantae Coldenhamiae published in two parts in 1743 and 1749 in the Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis. 17 Colden‟s work later appeared in Linnaeus's 1753 compendium of the world's plants, Species Plantarum which was one of the most notable collections of natural history of its age. In order to compile this collection of plant life, Linnaeus corresponded widely with botanists all over the world. In North America both John Clayton and Cadwallader Colden contributed descriptions of native plants to the Species Plantarum and the Acta Upsaliensis and although Clayton eventually returned to England, the two men collected their information while living in the colonies and provided descriptions and plant specimens for review by prominent European botanists.18

15 Linnaeus‟ Genera Plantarum was published in 1737 and contains descriptions of all the plant genera known to him at the time, It, like Linnaeus‟ Species Plantarum, was organized around the sexual system of classification. 16 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Kalm in answer to his letter of Jan. 4, 1751 in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):16-17 17 Colden, Cadwallader. (1749, 1751). Plantae Coldenhamiae in provincia noveboracensi americes sponte crescentes. Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis, 1743: 81-136 (1749 ed.); 1744-50: 47-82 (1751 ed.). The Acta is comparable to the Transactions of the Royal Society of London 18 Johannes Fredericus Gronovious and reviewed and presented both Clayton and Colden‟s work to various academic bodies in England. Much of Clayton‟s work was reprinted in the Flora Virginica published under Gronovious‟ name. 9

Colden‟s participation in this endeavor reveals a few things about the colonial ability to participate in the larger scholarly world and about prevailing views of nature in the colonies. He was able to contribute to Linnaeus‟ Species Plantarum because he made and maintained connections across Europe. Correspondence with various botanists not only provided Colden with access to the broader intellectual world, but also validated his efforts in the colonies as legitimate science and not simply acts of observation.19 On a more mundane level, sharing information with as many people as possible assured that work sent from the colonies reached the intended audience in Europe because of the trouble with reliable communication. Cadwallader, for example, heard that Gronovious 20 was submitting the Plantae Coldenhamiae to the Acta on his behalf instead of from Gronovious himself because of slowed communication. This tenuous connection to the legitimizing force of European publication and societies created a special eagerness on the part of colonists to be a part of something bigger which was recognized in the way colonists recounted their experience to others on a tone of gratitude. Cadwallader wrote to Peter Collinson, for example that “all lovers of botany and the people of America in general are obliged to that gentleman [Gronovius] and ought to assist him as they can.”21

Assistance, in the form of collection of species of plants and animals, was a far more accepted role for colonists in general because it required minimal formal training, just access to unexplored or un-catalogued areas. Indeed Cadwallader‟s original plan for his daughter may have been for her to fulfill the role of collector, although he quickly moved to teach Jane theory when she showed interest. The difference Cadwallader saw in these two roles can actually be seen in his comment concerning his contemporary, the Pennsylvania traveler and naturalist, to Peter Collinson

19 For more on this subject see Susan Scott Parrish American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006):117-118 20 Jan Frederick Gronovious ( Johannes Fredericus) was a Dutch Botanist and patron to Linnaeus. He was friends with Peter Collinson and John Clayton as well as Cadwallader Colden. Gronovious is probably best known for his publication of Flora Virginica in the mid 18th century which presented much of John Clayton‟s work to the public without Clayton‟s permission. 21 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, June 1744. in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):268 10 where Cadwallader called Bartram a “naturally a wonderful observer” but who had “not acquired sufficient knowledge of the principles of Botany as a Science” when they had met previously in part because of Bartram‟s “want of the Latin tongue.”22 Only once Bartram gained this skill, like Jane, could either of their works be considered scientific by those more centrally connected to scientific authority by class or education. Although Latin was becoming less central to the scientific community, it was still a useful tool for sharing new knowledge that could be understood across the spectrum of the scientific elite.23 Incidentally, the adoption of the Linnaean system by colonials also reflected their quick acceptance of new theory, since Binomial nomenclature was not really fully accepted until the publication and overwhelming success of Species Plantarum.24

Although not published abroad, Jane‟s systematic descriptions of local plant life in her unpublished Botanic Manuscript is an important example of botanic theory put into practice in the colonies.25 Because of her gender, Jane was unlikely to publish formally and the manuscript was therefore created purely as an intellectual exercise to be shared among family and friends in order to protect Jane‟s modesty. 26 Because the

22 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, June, 744. in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):269. Although Cadwallader seems rather critical of Bartram here, in other places the respect the two men had for each other is clear. For example in 1742 Cadwallader wrote to Peter Collinson that he was amazed at what Bartram accomplished due to his “force of Industry & his own Genius”. Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, November 13, 1742. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37 vol. II): 280. 23 Take for example Linnaeus‟ circle of correspondents. Although the Coldens and others published similar works in English, even in scientific journals such as the one run by the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, Latin was the only language that the Dutch botanists could employ with people all over the world. 24 First published in 1753, the Species Plantarum is Linnaeus‟ major collection of descriptions of plants in his system of binomial nomenclature. The book drew on contributions by botanists and botanic enthusiasts all over the world who embraced Linnaeus‟ method. It is currently the starting point for plant nomenclature even today as the names given to plants by Linnaeus were the ones the scientific community accepted by his near contemporaries in the case of competing nomenclature. 25 Her work was not published in any easily accessible form until 1963. Jane Colden, Botanic Manuscript. (New York: Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties, New York, 1963) 26Although the distinction was blurry at times, I am considering formal publication any manuscript that was published by a scientific society, or by a publisher, even for limited circulation. This is in contrast to the many treatises and short works that individuals, such as Jane, worked on, but only circulated among friends. Another women who botanist who crossed this boundary was Maria Sibylla, who‟s New Flower Book of engravings was published in 1675 and Insects of Suriname in 1705. 11 former activity required much more public presences which transgressed expected boundaries of family and business, few women in the early modern period wrote works for public consumption. Her father‟s connections however provided Jane with a broad social circle that included many men of high scientific. She also had the opportunity of influencing others‟ scientific interest such as Samuel Bard who spent the summer of 1756 with the Colden family as a teenager when Jane was in her 20s and accompanied Jane on many of her plant-hunting expeditions. He later attributed his interest in botany to this summer spent in Jane‟s company. 27

Jane‟s work is almost identical in format to her father‟s descriptions of plants and follows Linneaus‟ system for plant identification which gained in acceptance over the course of the Coldens‟ lifetimes. Her work also reflects the ability to observe plants closely over many seasons as a result of her exceptional access to plants in the wild. Unlike most contemporary botanists, however, Jane used Latin terms used in conjunction with English because of her different educational background. It included many illustrations of plants which complemented the verbal description of plants modeled after Linnaean format, but which would not have been included in most formal collections on plant identification at this date in time. Cadwallader‟s description of Lobelia praecocior published in the Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis 28 and Jane‟s description of the Indian Posey, to which she gives the modified Latin name, Autumnal Gnaphalium margantaicum illustrate this comparison.29

Jane‟s description of the gardenia plant was eventually published posthumously in Essays and Observations of the Philosophical Society in Edinburgh Philosophical Society of Edinburgh. Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary. Read Before the Philosophical Society in Edinburgh, and Published by Them. (Volume III. Vol. 3. Edinburgh, 1771,1756) vol. 2 27 Mary Harrison, “Jane Colden, Colonial American Botanist” in Arnoldia: The Magazine of the Arnold Arboreum of Harvard University, ( Volume 55 Number 2 – Spring, 1995): 22. Samual Bard later became a prominent colonial physician. 28 The Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis was the scientific publication of the Swedish Scientific academy. Colden, Cadwallader. Plantae Coldenhamiae in provincia noveboracensi americes sponte crescentes. Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis, 1743: 81-136 (1749 ed.); 1744-50: 47-82 (1751 ed.). 68-69 29 Jane Colden, Botanic Manuscript, (New York: Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties, New York, 1963): 118-119 12

Both descriptions follow the general Linnaean rule of starting with the root or stalk of the plant and moving up to the tips of the flower and then describing the outside of the plant before the inside anatomy.30 In Cadwallader‟s work he uses the abbreviated term “CAL” to refer to the calyx of the flower and in Jane‟s manuscript she starts her description with “the common covering of the flower”. Both botanists end their descriptions with notes on when the plants flower and what they look like in bloom. Jane‟s emulation of her father‟s format is unsurprising, but the adaptations to the Linnaean method the Coldens came up with to accommodate Jane‟s lack of Latin are revealing of Cadwallader‟s view of his daughter‟s capability. By introducing the organization of the Linnaean method, such as pistol and leaves, Cadwallader recognized his daughter‟s ability to perceive detail and organize information, but not to relate detail to abstract terms in an unfamiliar language; hence Jane uses “covering” instead of “calyx” in her plant descriptions.

Because a large portion of 18th century natural science revolved around classification and description, Jane‟s focus on collecting and organizing data mirrored the work of many of her male contemporaries. Her methodology was in line with the broader scientific community of naturalists and was deemed useful not just by her father, but by other botanists as well, some of whom advocated for a species to be named in her honor. In this age the belief that women were particularly good at noting detail was a reason to include them in valued scientific work. The rather persistent belief that women were particularly good observers or that they would struggle with abstraction, however, played out differently in the following centuries. As cutting edge science moved away from classification, women were often still relegated to observation and organization of data rather than producing theory or more advanced lab work.

The father and daughter‟s botanic descriptions also reflect the need to establish whether or not species had been catalogued elsewhere in order to better elaborate on the description of the plant, or to include it in the rolls of known species. Therefore

30 William T. Stearn, Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology, and Vocabulary, (New York: Hafner Pub. Co., 1966): 155-157 13

Cadwallader‟s descriptions in the Acta are peppered with references to other descriptions of the same plant by his contemporaries such as Colden‟s reference to “Gron. Virg. 188” under his description number 225 of Pentandria ambrosia.31 Jane also encountered crossover between her work and that of other colonial botanists such as when she and Alexander Garden both submitted their descriptions of a new plant to each other for review and it turned out to be the same species with Jane‟s description predating that of Gardner.32 The implication for Jane‟s adoption of the Linnaean system in regards to gendered participation in the sciences is discussed in more depth in chapter two, but her use of the system facilitated her acceptance among the Atlantic naturalist community.

For all the effort the Coldens put into spreading information in the colonies, their impact was focused on a small North American community of philosophers and naturalists. Cadwallader‟s more focused work was also due in part to the lack of patronage on the part of Cadwallader, who made time for his interest in botany, but had to “lay aside all kind of Study that was attended with expensive of time & money” when a small salary allocated to him for writing a natural history by the New York government fell through.33 Although there was increased interest in botany during the Coldens‟ lifetimes, neither Jane nor her father‟s botanic work ever reached large, popular circulation. The recipients of their work were members of the intellectual circles of correspondence they both participated in as well as the general readership of various philosophical societies. Cadwallader Colden had aspirations for some of his works on natural philosophy to reach wider circulation, and were therefore aimed at a general educated audience. His botanical treatises, while accessible for „general‟ consumption,

31 Cadwallader Colden, Plantae Coldenhamiae in provincia noveboracensi americes sponte crescentes. Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis, 1743: 81-136 (1749 ed.); 1744-50: 47-82 (1751 ed.). 78. Pentandria reflects one of Linnaeus‟ 10 classes set out in Philosophia Botanica and Ambrosia a specific species. 32 Alexander Garden was an 18th century English naturalist who studied the plant life of the Carolinas and like Colden, contributed specimens and descriptions of plants to Linnaeus. The Gardenia plant was named in his honor by Karl Linnaeus. Gronim, Sara Stidstone. “What Jane Knew A Woman Botanist in the Eighteenth Century” in the Journal of Women‟s History, Vol. 19 No. 3, 2007. 49 33 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, May 1742. In The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):16 14 were also specifically intended to be recognized by botanic authorities such as Linnaeus.

Cadwallader was, however, able to publish many other works on various aspects of natural philosophy that he could investigate from his home. Of these writings, his essays on what would now be termed physics but was seen as natural philosophy and medicine garnered the most attention internationally. Although not well received in England, Colden‟s work on natural philosophy is also the most important in an Atlantic context since those texts are some of the few works of scientific theory published by a colonist and therefore challenged contemporary assumptions about the poor state of science in the colonies. Cadwallader‟s foray into what was very advanced science for his age was shocking for two reasons. The first was that although European audiences accepted new works on botany and biology from the colonies, since scientists in these areas had better access to new species, they assumed that the removal from centers of learning that brought colonial collectors closer to the natural world would divide them from the advances of civilized centers of learning. Colonial scientists certainly had a harder time accessing the latest data or tools, but Cadwallader and his compatriots managed to overcome this problem nonetheless by commissioning scientific contacts in Europe to acquire materials for them.34

Colden‟s major work An Explication on the First Causes of Action in Matter was also rather shocking to the broader Atlantic community, because many read it as a challenge to Newton‟s ideas.35 Cadwallader wrote later that in most ideas, he followed Newton and “had the greatest esteem if Sir ‟s knowledge… [but] take[s] the liberty to differ from his in some points” following with an adage that everyone makes mistakes.

34 Some tools, however, were refined in the colonies such as the method of printing trigonometric tables that Benjamin Franklin refined which he mentioned in correspondence with Cadwallader on the state of science in the colonies and abroad. Colden, Cadwallader. The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. Vol III:New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37,38 35 Cadwallader‟s main divergence from Newton concerned his conception of matter, Newton argued that matter was passive, hence his first law of motion. Cadwallader, on the other hand, thought that matter is active because even when still, and object has a resistant force to anything that tries to move it. 15

The general scientific community rejected his ideas.36 This was due not only to a bias against colonials and a reverence for Newton, but also to the circumstances surrounding the publication of the Explication. It was first published in England in 1746 without Cadwallader‟s consent from a copy he had sent to friends for review and criticism, knowing that it had the potential to be controversial. Since his ideas were already public, Cadwallader then revised and expanded the Explication into the Principles of Action in Matter hoping that the hype surrounding his work would result in a sharing of ideas or practical tests of his theories, not just criticism.37

Instead, the work was attacked for deviating from accepted theory. For example, Cadwallader disagreed with Newton and his followers about the existence of a vacuum stating that “we can have no conception of an absolute void…we cannot affirm anything of it, for the moment we do, it must be something.”38 He instead believed that the space between perceived objects was in fact a medium with “elasticity” that would react and transmit changes between physical objects. Cadwallader then further confused maters, however, by calling this medium “aether” which already had many attached connotations in the physics of the day.39 After the poor reception of the Explication, Colden‟s other forays into natural philosophy were more narrowly focused, and tended more towards biological subjects as per his training in medicine.

Cadwallader‟s works on medicine and the natural world more broadly, however, still reflected some of the ideas of his physics. For example, Cadwallader‟s 1745 Reflections on Dr. Berkley's Treatise on Tar Water, adapted to Diseases frequent in

36 Cadwallader Colden to Samuel Johnson, June 2, 1746. In The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):193 37 Roy N. Lokken, “Cadwallader Colden's Attempt to Advance Natural Philosophy beyond the Eighteenth-Century Mechanistic Paradigm” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 122, No. 6 (Dec. 18, 1978):365-376, 369 38 Cadwallader Colden, The Principles of Action in in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002): 86 39 Roy N. Lokken, “Cadwallader Colden's Attempt to Advance Natural Philosophy beyond the Eighteenth- Century Mechanistic Paradigm” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 122, No. 6 (Dec. 18, 1978), pp. 365-376. 371. Lokken further argues that Cadwallader Colden‟s writings in physics were heavily influenced by his philosophy of medicine and that he should be understood as an iatrophysisist who later adopted a modified iatrochemical perspective. Lokken argues that Cadwallader Colden‟s writings in physics were heavily influenced by his philosophy of medicine and argues that he should be understood as an iatrophysisist who later adopted a modified iatrochemical perspective 16

America is primarily his medical evaluation of this miracle cure. It also references, his belief in human ability to make reasoned discoveries based on the senses and within the limits of current science. Therefore, he argues, it is silly to evaluate “scientifically the Vertues [sic] of any Plant or Drugg [sic], otherwise than by Experience of its Use and Effects."40 Cadwallader then mirrors this idea in his discussion of the senses in The Reading of an Elaborate treatise on the Eye where he writes “[a]ll the knowledge we have of things is external to us is from our senses” and that if it was not so “we might be fine philosophers but we would not be men.”41 In both works Colden focuses on the ability of human reason to synthesize perceptions and his belief that things should be defined by their properties and interaction with other objects.42

The varied interests of Cadwallader‟s writings on physical science reflect his interest in better understanding the world, and he thought that science would lead to a more complete knowledge which he valued both for its own sake and on a metaphysical level. Like most men of his age, he saw the world as divinely ordered, but perhaps because he assumed this view, he rarely discussed his belief in much detail. The Explication, in fact, avoids direct mention of the divine although some short sections hint at such a worldview. On the other hand, The Principles of Action in Matter, the Gravitation of bodies, and the motion of the planets, explained from Those Principles, on the other hand, more directly addresses the role of the divine. One reason for this inclusion was the force of convention since most contemporary works on astronomy and gravitation had to address the religious implications of a heliocentric universe and Newton‟s universal laws of gravitation. Cadwallader, like many others, fit these new discoveries into an acceptable religious worldview by appealing to God‟s ordering of the universe. He explains how

40Cadwallader Colden, Reflections on Dr. Berkley's Treatise on TAR-WATER, adapted to Diseases frequent in America. New York: Printed and sold by J. Parker, at the new printing office in Bever-Street [sic], 1745. Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800); no 5539, 10 41 Cadwallader Colden, The Reading of an Elaborate Treatise on the Eye by the Learned and Ingenious Dr. Porterfield is the Occasion of the Following Reflections in, in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):., 121- 123 42 Hence Cadwallader‟s issue with the whole idea of a void mentioned earlier in this paper. 17

the first formation of all kinds of material systems, the greatest and the least, was made by some intelligent being; that some being formed the grand solar system, the more particular system of this earth, and all the small systems on it, whether animal, vegetable or mineral: that the same intelligent being governs the great and small, each according to its nature, as is most conductive to the well being of every intelligent individual, and of the universal system of nature.43

Not only does this reveal his belief in a God very active in the world, but also faith in the benevolence of divine working. He had less faith in public religion, as evidenced by a short critique of hidden wisdom at the end of this work and in his educational writing, but the philosophy behind his science was in keeping with common teleological Christian principles of the time.44

In not drastically pushing the boundaries of science or religion in this text, Cadwallader was also able to reach out to more people through his work. Although people were curious about the intricacies of the natural world around them, questions about God‟s place and influence in the new science had the broadest appeal. Because of the subject, of all of Colden‟s work, The Principles reached the largest popular audience, as it was serially published in the Gentleman’s Magazine from 1752-1753.45 Of the First Principles of Morality or of the Actions of Intelligent Beings, paired with his correspondence to close friends, however, reveals more details of Cadwallader‟s thoughts on the relationship between God, man, and nature than this short treatise. Both sources reveal his commitment to rationalism, and the letters also reveal touches of Christian natural philosophy, which Cadwallader mused on in his more personal letters.

43 Cadwallader Colden, The Principles of Action in Matter, the Gravitation of bodies, and the motion of the planets, explained from Those principles. in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):90 44 See chapter 3 45 "A succinct account of a book intitled[sic]; The principles of Action in Matter, the Gravitation of Bodies, and the Motion of the Planets explained from those principles; by Cadwallader Colden Esq.," The Gentleman's Magazine 22 (November, 1752) : pp. 498-500; 22 (December, 1752): pp. 570-571; (supplement) 18

One element of Christian natural philosophy particularly evident in Cadwallader‟s work is his belief that the structure and design of nature could reveal not only expanded knowledge, but sacred knowledge. It, like the bible, could be „read‟ as revealing God‟s plan for the world if only looked at correctly. The search for God‟s plan as revealed in nature is, for him, motivated by "the pleasure we have in discovering truth… and by the pursuit of this pleasure we form true notions of the Deity and are thereby in less danger of falling into false notions of religion."46 In expressing this idea, Cadwallader showed his general acceptance of natural theology just as many scientists before and after him. Cadwallader‟s dabbling in many fields also highlights how there was still a general unity among intellectual pursuits as science, religion, and philosophy all supported each other in this era before the emergence of scientific and professional specification.

On a more practical level, Cadwallader‟s worldview also reflected a firm belief in hierarchy and order. He was ready to make use of observations of the lower classes and recognized that they had valuable knowledge, but reserved final evaluation to those trained in a specific field. He writes in Reflections on Dr. Berkley's Treatise on Tar- water "The Discovery of the Virtues of the most valuable Medicines, now in Use, are owing to the Observations of the Vulgar" but offers as reliable support the studies of disease completed by "Dr. Douglas of Boston" alongside those of "Dr Warren of Barbadoes.[sic]" 47 Likewise, he remained a loyalist amidst debates about independence during his later years and suffered the deprecations of angry mobs when serving as a tax collector. At the same time, Cadwallader worked towards increased access to education and promoted changes to the topics of study emphasized in schools.

Not only did he introduce his daughter to Latin and the Linnaean system of botany, but also encouraged Bartram and Garden in more scientifically patterned studies. He also advocated for education in the sciences to be taught in English so that

46 Cadwallader, Colden, Of the First Principles of Morality in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):113 47 Cadwallader Colden, Reflections on Dr. Berkley's Treatise on Tar-water, adapted to Diseases frequent in America. New York: Printed and sold by J. Parker, at the new printing office in Bever-Street [sic], 1745. Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800); no 5539. 10, 16 19 a greater number of people could benefit from knowledge. Those who were “designed for the learned professions of Divinity, Law and Physic ought to stand the learned languages” but otherwise he saw continued reliance on Latin as an impediment to mankind‟s overall progress because it limited access to knowledge.48Cadwallader even pushed his friend Peter Collinson to compose a description of all the plants in his botanic garden in English because there is “nothing in Botany tolerably well done in English [and]…it will therefore be more useful in America where the learned languages are little understood” even though he thought it was harder to do in a language besides Latin.49

Cadwallader‟s overriding concern in all of his publications is that they “may be of use” to his fellow human beings and his dedication to sharing and expanding knowledge shows that his actions followed belief. He also saw his daughter as having the same impulse to share what she had learned writing to Gronovious that “She will be extremely pleased in being employed by you either in sending Descriptions for any seed you shall desire or dried specimens of any particular plant.” Jane Colden‟s few remaining letters are not so insistent on this topic, but she, like her father, was always careful to share ideas and information.50 Whether Jane adopted these values out of personal conviction or out of a filial sense of duty, it is clear that her role of daughter influenced the shape of her scientific endeavors. Jane was guided not just in the form of her botanic writings, but in how they were supposed to be used. Cadwallader‟s similarly influenced the course of his son David‟s work, but nowhere speaks for him the way he does for his daughter.51 Although Jane‟s botanic work pushed the boundaries of acceptable female

48 Cadwallader Colden to Benjamin Franklin, November, 1749 in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002): 273 49Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, November 13, 1742. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37 Vol. II, 282. 50 Papers of C. Colden 5: 30 printed in Marry Harrison, “Jane Colden, Colonial American Botanist” Arnoldia: The Magazine of the Arnold Arboreum of Harvard University, (Volume 55 Number 2, Spring, 1995): 24 51 David Colden wrote "A Supplement to the Principles of Action in Matter” at his father‟s urging, but elsewhere pursued his own interests. See Jones, Alfred E. “Letter of David Colden, Loyalist, 1783” in The American Historical Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Oct., 1919), pp. 79-86

20 behavior, and was a unique accomplishment for woman in the 18th century, it was made acceptable only through close paternal guidance.

Colonial Science advanced rapidly during the Coldens‟ lifetimes as colonists had more leisure time to dedicate to scientific inquiry. The Coldens, however, still had to contend with a bias against any knowledge produced in the new world because European centers ruled on what was legitimate. For the most part, the colonies accepted this arraignment which reinforced associations between the pursuit science and a more refined society which made the activity attractive for colonists seeking to establish an identity as learned even while living on the fringe.

21

CHAPTER THREE

THE IMPORTANCE OF GENDER AND FAMILY

The Colden family was fairly typical of the Colonial elite living in New York in the mid 18th century although remarkable in regards to the intellectual contributions of its members. Cadwallader and his wife Alice were born in great Britain and both immigrated to the colonies from Scotland, establishing a large family in the Americas. Prior to earning a place in the government of New York, Cadwallader worked as a merchant and as a doctor in Philadelphia, but eventually established himself as a propertied member of the intellectual elite in the new world. How Cadwallader and Jane navigated social expectations while in pursuit of their scientific endeavors reveals interesting and changing attitudes towards both science and gender roles in the colonies. By the time Jane had come of age, the ability to commit leisure time to research into scientific phenomena came to be seen as a cultural marker of the upper class, which then reinforced the social acceptability of such pursuits for men and women alike. In recognition of the tension inherent in this kind of change to accepted social activates, especially in regards to behavior shifts for women, multiple narratives emerged in both England and the American colonies, to justify this change and place it in an understandable context. Some of Cadwallader‟s contemporaries saw scientific participation and the establishment of colonial intellectual endeavors as a way to reinforce national identity and others viewed it as a natural extension of Enlightenment thought. All of these shifts, however, also have to be understood in the context of colonial family structure and interactions which dominated daily life for most colonists.

It is also important to look at how these changes in the colonies reflected the intellectual culture of the broader Atlantic world. In the 18th century the dominant scientific activity was the attempt to systematically catalogue the entire natural world, including plants, animals, stars, and rocks. People living on the edges of the “known world,” such as the American colonists, were a critical part of this endeavor because of

22 their increased access to the unknown. Contrary to many accounts, however, colonial science did not revolve wholly around the collection natural oddities and plants to be shipped back to Europe. The 18th century saw a great increase in research and scientific writings that reflected the more established nature of the colonies. Many did participate in collection in order to help with the systematic description of nature so important to the furthering of natural science at this time, but colonials also engaged with rationalist thought on a practical, religious, and theoretical levels level. Although the influence of the Royal Society of London and other old world philosophical institutions was tremendous, colonial science was not wholly derivative. Colonial networks of support for the sciences existed, in part, as a way for colonists to show how civilized and fully English they really were.

These networks of personal correspondence, libraries, and small clubs existed prior to the revolution and often without any intent to foster separatism. The move towards greater participation in the sciences and the establishment of scientific institutions was, for many, constructed as a way to emphasize similarities between colonial elites and the English gentry who colonials tended to imitate in manners and consumption. Cadwallader commented on the formation of the American Philosophical Society. For example, he noted that colonists in American had “for some time past made grade progress in aping the luxury of our Mother Country” and was “glad that some now indeavour [sic] to imitate some of its excellencies.”52 Just as Americans of wealth increased consumption of English goods to reinforce their status as members of the British upper class, they also followed the latest intellectual fashions. 53

Although natural science was a popular pastime among wealthy Englishmen on both sides of the Atlantic, very little is written about how science was viewed and participated in by the many „amateur scientists‟ in the colonies who collected natural

52 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, June 174. in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):269 53 T.H Breen,The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) And Brendan McConville, The King's Three Faces: The Rise & Fall of Royal America, 1688-1776. (Chapel Hill: Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, , by the University of North Carolina Press, 2006) 23 specimens, made observations about the environment around them, attended lectures, and corresponded widely with each other and the Royal Society of London.54 This is in contrast to a strong historiography on the development of taste and sensibility in England and in the American Republic. 55 More recent works that take the Atlantic World as an organizing theme are starting to move away from these trends, but the dichotomy between American focus on practical sciences/invention and English contributions to „pure science set up by earlier authors has remarkable staying power in the literature because of the way it reinforces an American narrative of progress and technical superiority.‟ The Coldens, who both produced „new knowledge‟ according to the definitions of the day, are but one example of how this was not the case.56 As a prominent loyalist, Cadwallader‟s involvement in the promotion of science in North America also highlights how for many, engaging in scientific pursuits was a sign of Englishness and building up American institutions of science as a way to bring American culture more closely in line with that of Britain.

Examination of the connections between English and colonial American science are critical to understanding this period, but so too is the role of family and religion in shaping American notions about participation in the new science. The Coldens‟ philosophical and scientific beliefs were dominated the idea that human society would be furthered through application of reason, practical experimentation, and the systematic collection of knowledge. They, however, lived during an age filed with many mixed and competing beliefs about the role of science and nature in expanding human

54 Raymond Phineas Stearns, Science in the British Colonies of America. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970) In counter to narratives that focus on prominent American men, Stearns takes correspondence with the Royal Society as an organizing principle for his book emphasizing Imperial concerns in the colonies. 55 Some of the major recent works on the subject of sensibility and taste are John Brewer‟s Pleasures of the Imagination which focuses on the emergence of high culture in England based on upper class th arbitration of taste and familiarity with the arts. in the 18 century and Sarah Knott‟s Sensibility and the American Revolution which explores the notion of sensibility in relation to American identity. For France, one can also look at Jessica Riskin‟s Science in the age of Sensibility: The Sentimental Empiricists of the French Enlightenment which looks at how sensibility and emotion influenced scientific understanding and visa versa, 56 New knowledge is the term I apply to theory or data that could be presented to the larger scientific community in a recognizable and understandable form. The collection of plants, for example, did not create usable new knowledge, but descriptions of a new plant, hopefully in conjunction with a sample, was new knowledge because it could be fit into a larger theoretical framework that made information about the plant readily accessible. 24 understanding of the world. Both the colonies and England were the site of contention concerning the subject. Many were still guided by Christian natural philosophy which saw increased investigation into the natural world as a way to more closely study God‟s creation that could yield insight into the Creator‟s plans for mankind.57

As women participated in science in greater numbers, religious ideas which were part of familiar morality became increasingly important as society dealt with cultural and social change involved in changing gender roles.58 This step in increased intellectual involvement for colonial women has been especially overlooked because of the drastic shift in women‟s intellectual culture that accompanied the idea of Republican Motherhood in early America after the revolution. The increased access to education and hetero-gender space for intellectualism based on English models of enlightenment culture in the colonies, however, provided space for future Americans to work out some of their concerns about changing roles for women and views about their intellectual capacity.

Because few women had the resources or freedom of movement to delve into natural science on their own, increased participation in the sciences started at the family level in the 1700s. Family had such a large impact on this trend because colonial women in general could only gain access to formal scientific circles through the influence of a male relative. This was especially true in the earlier and mid 18th century because society as a whole was only beginning to grapple with the Enlightenment‟s push for increased education for both genders.59 Nevertheless, the comments on this

57 This was a commonly held belief among many Protestant denominations, including the Presbyterianism of the Church of Scotland to which the Coldens belonged. Cadwallader‟s father, Alexander, was a pastor in the church. Cadwallader himself seemed to have deist leanings as reflected in his philosophical writings, but in general the letters and publications of Cadwallader make relatively few references to religion. 58 Lyons offers one look at changing gender expectations in Philadelphia in an emerging „pleasure culture‟ where self-expression was important for both men and women in the pre-Revolutionary era. Clare A. Lyons, Sex among the Rabble: An Intimate History of Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730–1830, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, VA, 2006)

59 Prior to this change, the greatest movements for increased education revolved around Protestant values that encouraged literacy as a tool to enrich one‟s spiritual life. 25 change which appeared in the popular literature of the time reveal that people in general were concerned to work out the morality and justification for such change.

Without the connections and continued involvement of her father, Jane would not have been able to build such a large correspondence network, let alone write to renowned botanists with her argument for the recognition of a new species.60 Furthermore, if Jane had developed an intense interest in a subject still seen as masculine without any sort of male guidance, it would have seemed rather unnatural as an activity removed from general female concerns at the time. Because it was a topic of interest to her father, however, society was able to understand her engagement with botany as stemming in part from filial devotion or duty, making her interest entirely acceptable. 61 Botany as a science also paired nicely with gardening which has a long tradition of female involvement and so could be linked with traditional female space. Women‟s use of plants in daily life as healers and for various household uses also contributed to the acceptance of female interest in botany. 62 although he two pursuits did not necessarily overlap. In the Colden family, the distinction between the two activities is made clear in a letter Jane Colden wrote to her mother inquiring how she had been " imploy'd in improving your Garden, as I know the pleasure you take in it” although the two never exchanged letters on any sort of classification of plants.63

Many women in their roles as daughters or wives during the colonial period participated in family businesses, so this supporting role was not considered unusual. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich describes this phenomenon by focusing on how wives could serve as “deputy husbands” in most legal matters when the husband was absent since they, and their children, were legally subsumed under the identity of the male head of

60 The Gardenia plant. See Parrish, 197 61 Jane‟s interest in Botany preceded the subject becoming truly fashionable by about 50 years. On Jane‟s work as an extension of her father‟s see Parrish p. 199-200 62 Laurel Ulrich. A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812. (New York: Knopf, 1990) 63Jane Colden to Mrs. Colden, September 2, 1753. The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711- 1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37 Vol. IX): 126. 26 household.64 Though a daughter would rarely assume legal power, involvement in her father‟s activity was seen in a similar light. Yet, unlike most women in such a helper capacity, Jane did not assisted her father in his main profession as would a merchant‟s daughter running the shop. 65 She instead dedicated herself to the study of plants that her father was fascinated by but often had to neglect in favor of his political duties. If she had not created her own work, Jane Colden would likely be just another name in an elite family-register.66 Instead, she is regarded as one of the first American botanists.

During the early 1700s in colonial America gender roles still generally reflected those of the pre-modern world in other ways as well. Women‟s space was not yet limited to a strictly domestic sphere although it tended to be circumscribed by family. This left Jane a great deal of freedom of personal movement on the family estate as well as freedom of correspondence among her father‟s associates. Nowhere was this more important than at the Colden‟s semi-rural home dubbed Coldenham by her father. Both Cadwallader and Jane were able to capitalize on the wonderful opportunity to expand the scope of systematic human knowledge presented by the vast array of species, some unknown, to be found within a few miles of their home. Although subjects of study were easy to come by, funding was much harder to find. Cadwallader writes sadly about the lack of patronage available for the work that he would like to carry out and the necessity of spending a great deal of time on matters of business and the duties of daily life. Cadwallader was clearly appreciative of the opportunities in natural philosophy available to him in rural New York and in some ways, idealized his home as a retreat from the pressing concerns of the city, but was also aware of the challenges presented by living on the frontier. Writing to a friend, Cadwallader recounted that before he built up his home the land “was the habitation of…wild animals” that he had to

64 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England 1650-1750. (New York: Vintage Books, 1982): 35-50 65 Sarah Fatherly, Gentlewomen and Learned Ladies: Women and Elite Formation in Eighteenth Century Philadelphia. Studies in Eighteenth-Century America and the Atlantic world. ( Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 2008): 56. Fatherly recounts daughters from Elite merchant families contemporary with the Coldens engaging in business on behalf of fathers who were away trading in other cities. 66 Many histories of science and biographies of women in science record the names of women who similarly aided male relatives with their work. See Margaret Alic, Hypatia's Heritage: A History of Women in Science from Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1986) 27 work and build upon in order to turn it into a “habitation for a civilized family."67 This was hardly the atmosphere that the upper class had to deal with in Europe.

The ability of colonial scientists to live on the edge of the classified world was also socially important. Without access to new plants presented by their location in the new world, many scientists in Europe would have had far less interest in any of their fellows across the Atlantic.68 There was also a reciprocal interest in the trans-Atlantic exchange of specimens, since some collectors sent plants to Europe unclassified. Cadwallader wrote to his contacts in England many times concerning questions about American plants that shared names, but not medical properties, with like named species native to Europe. Also, because the Colden family owned a great deal of land it opened up plenty of space for Jane to work within her expected physical boundaries without risk of being accused of impropriety. Many women and men both walked and gardened as part of their leisure, which made botany fit easily into a gentile lifestyle. For those in the Americas, it was an added bonus that lands even very close to civilization could still furnish species unknown to Western scientists.

In the mid 1700s Cadwallader and the broader scientific community more generally started see the utility available in capitalizing on elite female leisure time for the study of nature. Cadwallader Colden brought up the fact that women could be a great help in scientific work if they had access to scientific books in English. He wrote to his friend Peter Collinson that just as Jane helped him, he hoped that Collinson‟s wife “who has the same taste of pleasures with you…will with pleasure save you some trouble” in the production of guide to the many plants in Collinson‟s garden which Colden encouraged him to publish. Cadwallader Colden perhaps had an idealized view of the impact women‟s participation in the natural sciences could have on the furthering

67 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, May, 1742. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol.II): 263. 68 See chapter three of this thesis on Atlantic collector culture 28 of science since he then wrote that they “procure more assistance in bringing this knowledge to perfection, but Jane‟s activities surly furthered his notion”69

Jane‟s Botanic Manuscript, for example, contains pictures and descriptions in the Linnaean fashion of three hundred and forty species of plant native to New York including the first scientific description of at least two plants.70 Jane‟s colonial status and home-based study clearly limited her subject matter, but also presented an opportunity for detailed study. Her descriptions of plants, for example, reflect her ability to make observations in multiple seasons, whereas European collectors could sometimes only observe dried specimens or a plant grown from seeds shipped from the colonies. Both she and her father also had access to the knowledge of other settlers, including many poorer people who learned about North American plants through trial and error or through interaction with native tribes. For example, in the section on „butterfly-weed‟ she mentions that the plant is “an excellent cure for the Colick,” and that the “cure was learn'd from a Canada Indian” following the assertion with confirmation of the cure‟s effectiveness by citing the testimony of white doctors.71 Cadwallader, of course, had far greater freedom to search out new plants or botanical information from local tribes, but since he was generally engaged in formal duties when traveling New York, very little botanic information is present in his other writing on the people and land of the colonies more generally.

One of Cadwallader‟s major works, The History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada, contains little that concerns botany although it is filled with details about the cultural and political life of the tribes for whom the natural world had great significance.72 Instead, the work focuses on traditional historical themes of much broader interest to Europeans who were fascinated by a culture that Colden presented as primitive, but noble. By doing so, Colden not only helped to satisfy curiosity, but may have had a

69 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, May,1742. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775, (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. II): 280-282 70 Jane is credited with the first scientific classification of Hypericum virginicum and Coptis groenlandica. Parrish, 196 71 Jane Colden, “Asclepias tuberose” in Botanic Manuscript. (New York: Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties, New York, 1963): 77. 72Cadwallader Colden, The History of the Five Indian Nations, (London: T. Osborne, 1747) 29 practical purpose in mind as well since the Iroquois were poised to become possible English allies against the French and better understanding could only help the situation. As always, Cadwallader hoped to be “useful to his country”.73 On a practical note, Cadwallader also included details on how the Indian nations understood the land and defined geography comparing this to European understanding and naming practices. Cadwallader‟s The State of Lands in the , in 1732 which he wrote while surveyor general of the colony also reflects his freedom of movement around the countryside, but also the restrictions placed on Cadwallader‟s time by his service to the state.74 This work reflects the interests of the government and the concerns of the people in general as opposed to the more specialized interest of the scientist. Cadwallader reports on soil conditions and the history of land grants in the county to aid in the buying and selling of property.

Taken together, all of these documents reflect the limits on subjects of study and movement within the New York colony imposed by gender, duty, and survival. Cadwallader could apply his intellect to whatever subjects seemed interesting and could travel to investigate his subjects, but a great deal of his time was spent fulfilling the duties of his various offices. Jane also had household duties, but as her father noted, ladies of her class “were often at loss to fill up their time” which indicates that Jane had ample leisure to dedicate to botany provided she stayed within the respectable bounds of home and family.75 Both Cadwallader and Jane completed systematic studies of plants in the Linnaean system, but Cadwallader had to submit both his and his daughter‟s works for Jane‟s writing to get a fair evaluation. The father daughter pair also presented their work to the wider community in different languages. Cadwallader published his classification of plants in Latin, which meant that his work could be

73 Cadwallader used this phrase many times in his writings as do a number of his contemporaries. It echoes the language of Benjamin Franklin‟s “A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge among the British Plantations in America.” 74 Cadwallader Colden, The State of Lands in the Province of New York, in 1732. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918- 37). 75 Colden to Frederic Gronovious, Oct. 1, 1755. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711- 1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37 vol. V)

30 accepted by the general scientific community of Europe and not just in English-speaking circles. Jane‟s work in English, though it made use of botanical Latin, was not as suited for formal publication the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh published her description of the gardenia after her death. 76

Aside from scholarly works on plants, both of the Coldens also shared plant specimens and seeds with contacts in Europe as a professional courtesy and as a sign of affection. In turn, many European contacts forwarded articles and books on the colonies for the same reasons. Friendships eased the difficulty of working far from institutional centers of learning, but fully participating in the intellectual community was still difficult. Feedback on work or acquisition of a new book could take months because of the time it took letters to cross the Atlantic. The colonial environment, on the other hand, also provided unique opportunities for the advancement of learning. Both of the Coldens took on the role of specimen collector as did so many colonials who took an interest in science. Not only did the idea of finding new species present an enticing objective for the Coldens, but their access to the nature of the new world made the Coldens desirable contacts. Both Jane and Cadwallader exchanged many plant clippings and seedlings with their contacts in Europe and in other parts of the country such as the “seeds enclosed from my daughter” that Cadwallader passed on to his friend Dr. Garden in 1755 with a letter and various “botanical papers.”77

Most of Jane‟s female contemporaries who took an interest in science capitalized on this desire for bits of American nature and used their proximity to unknown species as a way to become involved in the sciences. Though some scientists had concerns about a woman‟s ability to complete such work and the implications it had for female intellectual life and freedom of movement, a number of

76 Philosophical Society of Edinburgh. Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary. Read Before the Philosophical Society in Edinburgh, and Published by Them. Volume III. Vol. 3. Edinburgh, 1771. 3 vols. Vol 2, 1756. Also, it is uncertain how much Jane may have helped with the compilation of information for Cadwallader‟s “Plantae Coldenhamiae in provincia noveboracensi americes sponte crescentes.” Acta Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Upsaliensis, 1743: 81-136 (1749 ed.); 1744-50: 47-82 (1751 ed.). although it was published under his name as would be normal for the time. 77 Cadwallader Colden to Dr. Garden. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V): 175. 31 women such as Martha Daniel Logan who gathered specimens for both John Bartram and Peter Collision, undertook specimen collection. Because this left the heavy intellectual lifting of synthesis to the men who received specimen collections, widows and other women who lacked close male supervision were still able to collect without offending social notions of propriety. When specimens were close at hand, they could collect them, like Jane, on family property or send out servants to gather those in less accessible environments. Collection of natural specimens was enough, or as far as they could progress anyway without male support for their work, like that afforded to Jane.78

With her father, however, Jane managed to go beyond collection and formally organize her work in a way that her contemporaries recognized as the production of new knowledge. Jane not only collected and drew over a hundred species that grew in New York, including a couple of new species, but also named and organized her data in the manner prescribed by Linnaeus‟ system. She even managed to publish her essay on establishing a new genus for the Gardenia in the 1756 Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh. 79 By publishing, Jane broke somewhat from strict social norms, but was accepted since her work was viewed by many as an extension of her father‟s interest. Women all over the Atlantic World more commonly found an intellectual outlet through the exchange of letters and information, either with each other or, before a smaller and often informal audience. Most of Jane‟s work fit within these boundaries. Thus Jane‟s large Botanic Manuscript was not published during her lifetime, though a number of her and her father‟s

78 Martha Logan, like many female collectors, was widowed and so had the personal freedom to become collectors or to send out servants and slaves on their behalf. Lacking direct male guardianship, however, their participation in the larger intellectual world was more suspect than that of a daughter or sister acting in concert with a close male relative. See Parrish, pp. 189-200 79 Philosophical Society of Edinburgh. Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary. Read Before the Philosophical Society in Edinburgh, and Published by Them. Volume III. Vol. 3. Edinburgh, 1771. Vol. 2, 1756. 32 correspondents mention having viewed both her watercolors, now lost, and the manuscript itself. 80

Jane Colden had exceptional access to education and encouragement in botany through her father because of his belief in the benefits of rationalism and scientific thought. Outside of the Colden family, however, there were many other schools of thought on female intellectualism which Jane may have been exposed to since Cadwallader‟s flavor of enlightenment philosophy was far from universal. Many others in the American colonies shared these beliefs, but this school of thought was not overwhelmingly dominant. Many prominent American scholars had a worldview far more influenced by Christianity than that held by Colden thought they too, saw merit in study of nature. Christian natural philosophy, for example advocated that men study the natural world because in studying nature, one studied God‟s creation which was a medium through which humans could see divine workings. This school of thought generally saw nature as complementary to the bible since both could reveal, through study, God‟s plan.81 Therefore most English Protestants, including those who settled in the Americas, saw investigation into natural principles as a virtuous diversion since it could lead to greater appreciation of the divine.

In the early years of the colonies therefore, science and religion worked together as two complementary aspects of elite male intellectual life. The technical innovation of the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment‟s obsession with categorization challenged this worldview, but these ideas persisted, often side by side.82 As more spaces were provided for mixed-gender intellectual activities, the ideas of Christian

80 Alexander Garden to Cadwallader Colden, November 4, 1754.. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V,): 471-3. 81 Jonathan Edwards offered some of the most elegant commentaries on this subject as he crafted theological arguments about God‟s role in the universe that still incorporated principles and ideas of new science. See Theodore Hornberger, “The Effect of the New Science Upon the Thought of Jonathan Edwards” , Vol. 9, No. 2 (May, 1937):196-207; John Hedley Brooke, “Religious Belief and the Content of the Sciences.” Osiris, 2nd Series, Vol. 16, Science in Theistic Contexts: Cognitive Dimensions. (2001), pp. 3-28; or Edward‟s “On Being” and “Notes on Natural Sciences” 82 This blending is seen, especially in an American context by scholars who argue for creation by design using observations that appeal to knowledge gained through the senses. 33 natural philosophy gained more importance amidst concerns about the morality of including women in a previously male-dominated activity. As Caroline Winterer argues, 18th century American society also feared that too much intellectualism destroyed femininity which only contributed to the need for a social narrative that justified female participation in science.83 Christian natural philosophy provided a context which assuaged some of these concerns by providing moral justification for women‟s new interests that also focused their efforts not on production of new knowledge, but on improvement of the soul thereby leaving male prerogative for scientific research in place.

Cadwallader Colden followed this logic and primarily justified his daughter's activities by referencing the how women who engaged in rational science would become better people and less prone to the weaknesses of the female sex as understood in the 18th century. This viewpoint is entirely in keeping with his own belief in the virtue inherent in a rational education and worldview for men. There were aspects of Christian natural philosophy in his works as well which illustrates the blending of scientific worldviews common to this era. Ever the practical man of the enlightenment, however, his writings tend to focus on how a person could be of use to his fellow man. Rather than focusing on abstract moral absolutes, Cadwallader points out how men help elevate society. For example he writes in On the First Principles of Morality that those who are excessively religious “become ignorant of all arts and sciences…[and] become useless members of society” who through excess are “less capable of forming true notions of the attributes of the deity.84 Like many natural philosophers Cadwallader idealized retreat from the hubbub of human society, but as befitted an man of the Enlightenment, argued that a gentlemen had to be engaged in service to his fellow man and have “competent knowledge of the principles of every

83 Caroline Winterer, The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002) Winterer focuses on the social understanding of female education of the early Republic, but many of her ideas reflect the growing social concern about female intellectual space that developed in the decades prior to the Revolution. 84 Cadwallader Colden, Of the First Principles of Morality or of the Actions of Intelligent Beings in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):113 34 branch” of science.85 To Cadwallader, the study of nature is an “innocent pleasure” where a man can free himself from the “dunghill of men‟s passions” but it is unclear whether reason or the restorative powers of God‟s creation are responsible for that peace.86 Either way, he and his fellow rationalists constructed science as a beneficial and improving activity that could discipline the mind and calm the spirit, both of which were ideal characteristics for a man who was engaged in society and working towards its improvement.

Throughout the 18th century others echo this belief that men‟s participation in science is justified by the good their research and activity brings to society whether it was through better crops, a new invention, or a more compete view of creation. Even as men were urged to participate in science to further their reason and increase possible contributions to society, the rhetoric directed towards women was a direct throwback to natural philosophy. Since women were not as engaged with public life, many men did not see how a more rational woman could contribute to society. Instead, female engagement with science was „sold‟ to the public as a moral diversion that did not challenge accepted beliefs about the benefits of religion. The Ladies Library, published in the mid 18th century for example, argued explicitly that women benefited from the study of the natural world because through it they would become more familiar with God‟s grand creation and therefore more pious and humble. Works in this vein often promoted, furthermore, accepted female virtues such as freedom from sloth and activities that could lead to vanity.87 The Increased capability for useful activity and decision-making, both lauded as benefits of rationalism in men, were not mentioned.88

85 Cadwallader Colden, “An Introduction to the Study of Philosophy Wrote in America for the Use of a Young Gentleman” in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):56 86 Cadwallader Colden to William Douglass. Undated, in Of the First Principles of Morality or of the Actions of Intelligent Beings in The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002): 267 87 Sarah, Fatherly, Gentlewomen and Learned Ladies: Women and Elite Formation in Eighteenth Century Philadelphia. Studies in Eighteenth-Century America and the Atlantic World. (Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 2008):87 88 Indeed the active benefits to others that could come out of female participation in science is rarely addressed until it is mixed with the idea of Republican Motherhood and the emphasis placed on women‟s agency as mothers. 35

The other most commonly praised benefit for women‟s increased access to education was that it made them better companions for men. One essay on this topic argued that women “have the same Faculties of Soul with our selves [sic], and the same Capacities of Understanding; otherwise I don't apprehend how they can be styl'd a Help-meet for Us: But 'tis their peculiar, Glory that they make use of these with Discretion, and to good Effect.” 89 Others continued to assert that a woman had no need for such interests nor would they have any desire to be intellectual after marriage. In an advice book the author addresses a young husband stating “Of what use are her accomplishments?...if she be good in her nature, the first little faint cry of her first baby drives all the tunes and all the landscapes and all the Clarissa Harlowes out of her head for ever. [sic]”90 Though very different in opinion about education, both narratives asserted that a women‟s primary duty was to be a mother.

Even for the more practically minded, the moral benefits of science for women were repeatedly emphasized in keeping with older educational traditions that focused on moral rather than philosophical education for women. As presented to the general public the utility in this new pastime was not in how women could make practical use of skills and new patterns of thought acquired in the process of scientific experiments, but how it could save them from frivolous pastime and/or vice. Cadwallader Colden applied this reasoning to Jane‟s situation in a letter to his friend Peter Collinson about how he encouraged Jane in Botany noting that “As it is not usual for woemen[ sic] to take pleasure in Botany as a Science I shall do what I can to incourage [sic] her in this amusement which fills up her idle hours to much better purpose tha[n] the usual amusements eagerly pursued by others of her sex.”91 Whereas Cadwallader‟s words imply genuine care for Jane‟s well being, a number of later advice givers publishing for the general public adopt a much harsher rhetoric towards women. In order to make

89 Philgynes. The Freedom of the Fair Sex Asserted: or Woman the Crown of Creation. c.1700-1799. an electronic edition at the Emory Women Writers Resource Project. 90 William Cobbet, Advice to young men & (incidentally) to young women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life In a Series of letters Addressed to a Youth, A Bachelor, A Lover, A Husband, A Citizen, or a Student. (Clarmont, NH: Clarmont NH manufacturing Co, c. 1830) 91 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, Oct 1755?, in The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden. (New York: New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V): 37 36 their points about the utility of scientific pastimes towards forming proper women, they often highlight the evils of unconstrained female curiosity and downplay the capabilities of female intellect.92

In contrast to this negative narrative was the association between science and an upper-class amusement. Over the course of the 18th century the cost involved in scientific inquiry led the ability to engage in science be understood as an accomplishment that indicated high status in English circles. It was a superior way of expressing one‟s station because the skills needed to engage in research required years to attain unlike tangible signs of wealth that could simply be quickly purchased.93 Investigation that went beyond casual encounters with nature required leisure time, prior education, and often expensive equipment such as microscopes and reference books that also took skill to use. Formal taxonomic classification required adherence to some form of accepted nomenclature as well as advanced literacy that could only be attained by those with connections to the formal scientific community. Women could signify class through this kind of participation as well as men.

It is therefore not surprising that Britons on both sides of the Atlantic came to science as an acceptable avocation for elite women‟s leisure time because accomplishments in such study reflected both high status and sound morality. Women also traditionally did more to indicate and regulate class markers through details of dress, manners, and specific social activities which made their consumption of scientific equipment a logical extension of the same idea. Therefore the activity of science as well as accumulation of scientific equipment and books took on class significance.94 For example, a family often indicated its status and wealth through the quality of dress and ornamentation sported by its members. This practice, however, met with backlash in many parts of the British Atlantic World in the mid 1700s as various Christian

92 Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006):174-182 93 Sarah Fatherly, Gentlewomen and Learned Ladies: Women and Elite Formation in Eighteenth Century Philadelphia. Studies in Eighteenth-Century America and the Atlantic World. (Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 2008):69. 94 This trend originated in England where the British gentry had to try to distance themselves from an increasingly wealthy middle class, but Colonial Americans soon started participating in it is well. 37 denominations and preachers condemned vain luxury, especially in women.95 Acquisition of expensive scientific tools and books, on the other hand, could serve equally well as a sign of conspicuous consumption, while also serving to indicate that the owner had a disciplined mind more concerned with the wonders of the natural world than with vain concerns such as expensive dress. Thus, participation in the sciences took on an understood social role that indicated class and adherence to English standards of fashion and identity in the colonies, although it did not happen without controversy.

Even with the moral overtones attached to botany and other „female-appropriate‟ sciences, there was a great deal of controversy about women‟s participation in these activities on both sides of the Atlantic by both detractors and supporters. Not only were men who favored female participation in the sciences concerned about how to encourage women‟s interest in the subject, but also how it should fit into accepted boundaries of female activity. From the beginning of this movement in the early years of the 18th century male scientists and commentators on decorum tried to dress up certain sciences such as botany in a language of femininity. Just as female education was considered an adornment to her defining characteristic of virtue, her contribution to scientific work was supposed to be secondary and often retained elements of the ornamental. Male writers often emphasized this connection either to make science more appealing, or because it fit new activities into an older belief system. Cadwallader Colden, who believed in Jane‟s great intellectual capacity, still participated in this cultural rhetoric. He connects women‟s suitability to science to more familiar female territory by noting that just as they pay attention to the minutiae of dress and presentation their “natural curiosity & the accuracy & quickness of…Sensations” in women suited them for detailed observation. 96 Appeals to women‟s natural affinity for the beautiful are also seen in the natural subjects women were pushed to study such as botany or the collection of shells, birds, and butterflies all of which were small and

95 T. H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004): 173-4. 96 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, 13 November 1742, In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37 Vol. II): 282-3 38 beautiful.97 On a more practical note, these were often collections they could make near to their home or from objects that were exotic enough to make fine gifts as scientific endeavor became less of a private endeavor and more of a social occupation for members of polite society.98

Jane Colden may have worked primarily by herself, or in the company of her father, but women nearer to population centers turned „botanizing‟ and other group observation activities into a social activity which further legitimized women‟s participation in the sciences. The Female Spectator, a monthly journal targeted towards a female audience which circulated widely in England and its colonies, often mentioned nature walks and collecting as an improving pastime for women that provided mental and physical exercise.99 Because men were also expected to take interest in such subjects, these outings also provided respectable opportunities for mixed gender association in a socially exclusive situation. Unsurprisingly, the social aspects of these events had a large impact on what kinds of knowledge both men and women had to be acquainted with and what skills each should master as gentlemen or ladies since they were not only intellectual events, but part of the leisure activities that indicated one‟s social class.100

In mixed gender company, most deportment manuals of the era urged women to tailor their speech and subject matter to the preferences of their male companions. When conversing on topics such as the natural sciences, women had to speak with extra care so as not to appear and intimidating and unfeminine on account of her

97 Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006):213 Astronomy was also a frequent undertaking as men and women alike were curious about the secrets of the heavens. 98 Royal interest in the later 18th century only emphasized the connection between women versed in botany and upper class sensibility. Queen Charlotte for example patronized many gardens which in turn became the site for informal gatherings on science open to both men and women. 99 Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006):185 100 Sarah Fatherly, Gentlewomen and Learned Ladies: Women and Elite Formation in Eighteenth Century Philadelphia. Studies in Eighteenth-Century America and the Atlantic World. (Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 2008): 96 39 learning.101 Although new avenues of education in inquiry opened up to women in the 17th century once it became a sign of status, many other expectations of women remained the same such as the assumption that they would assume a supporting role for masculine public achievement.

Increased participation in the science by both genders changed ideas about class and proper behavior. As a social element that reinforced upper-class identity, it even acted as a socially conservative force. The increased knowledge of the natural world that came out of this participation, was an influence for change because it supported a belief in women‟s intellectual capability. In recognition of the tension inherent in this shift, multiple narratives emerged in both England and the American colonies, to justify this change in female behavior and place it in an understandable context. For men, society accepted participation in the sciences as a manifestation of Enlightenment values focused on reason. Women‟s participation in the sciences, on the other hand, was often justified through an appeal to natural philosophy or through emphasis on continuity with established beliefs about manners and hetero-gender social interaction. Both of these developments changed the nature of American intellectual culture, but are often overlooked amidst concerns about the development of revolutionary ideology, although the role of science was critical to the intellectual culture of the time.

101 Caroline Winterer, “The Female World of Classical Reading in Eighteenth-Century America” in Reading Women: Literacy, Authorship, and Culture in the Atlantic World, 1500-1800. eds. Heidi Brayman Hackel, and Catherine E. Kelly (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008) 40

CHAPTER 4

EDUCATION IN THE COLONIES AS RELATED TO THE WORLS OF JANE AND CADWALLADER COLDEN

Cadwallader Colden was a man of the Enlightenment in many ways. He had a wide-ranging curiosity about the natural world, and believed that science and rationalist thought would help people live better lives and so became a proponent of improved access to education and better support for the sciences in the colonies. Educated in Scotland as a child, he also retained close ties to many intellectuals in Europe, as did other colonists, and was an active participant in the trans-Atlantic exchange of ideas and natural specimens that marked the 18th century „age of reason.‟ One example of how he promoted his values in the colonies was in the care he took with his children‟s education, particularly that of his daughter Jane who followed him in his love of botany. Examination of this transference of values and education between generations not only reveals a new aspect of family life in the colonies, but also illustrates changing attitudes about participation in the sciences and education that developed over the course of 18th century in the colonies.102 The greatest number of changes to the educational system occurred after the American Revolution, but the foundations for new ideas about education, institutional support of science, and the importance of place for various colonials involved in the natural sciences evolved during the middle of the 18th century.

Changes to women‟s education in England are examined as a phenomenon spanning the entirety of the 18th century, but far less has been done on changes to female intellectual culture in the British colonies for the same period. This is due to the common tendency to focus on works easily classified as dealing with either American or English education. Considering the important Atlantic exchange of ideas in other areas, however, it is important to look at this phenomenon in a pre-revolutionary context.

102 The implications for gendered participation in the sciences and the rhetoric that revolved around this change are explored in the third chapter of this paper 41

Also dominating the historiography is the role of patriotism and national identity in the establishment of American female intellectual culture103 The shift towards an education for women based on study of philosophy and science that occurred in the early 18th century, however, bears looking at because of the change it had on colonial society as a part of the British Atlantic instead of a proto-United States. Republican motherhood is an incredibly important development in American conceptions of women and enlightenment thought which as Linda Kerber argued provided for female political participation in the new republic.104 This cultural idea, however, was preceded by an understanding whereby participation in Enlightenment culture and increased educational opportunities for women marked colonial families as both elite and English.105

In regards to education, American colonists shared very similar beliefs with their contemporaries in England since many grew up on the other side of the Atlantic. Childhood education for males was focused on the acquisition of fundamental literacy, arithmetic, and basic knowledge of the tenants of Protestant Christianity. After this rudimentary schooling, young men and boys from the upper classes could go on to an education in Greek and Latin and later, to advanced studies in law, medicine, or theology. Over the course of the 18th century an increasing number of girls also participated in at least the basic levels of public education previously only offered to males both in the colonies and in England.106 Prior to the expanded educational opportunities of the 1700s, some women had gained literacy at home, but their

103 Take for example, Margaret A Nash Women’s Education in the United States, 1780–1840. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) In her work, Nash does an excellent job tracing the impact of enlightenment thought and religion on women‟s education, but frames it as part of nationalistic cultural change with the emerging United States. 104 Linda K. Kerber, Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America. (Chapel Hill: Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture by the University of North Carolina Press, 1980) 105 Another work that examines the role of women‟s education and intellectual life in the American Republic is Mary Kelley, Learning to Stand and Speak: Women, Education, and Public Life in America’s Republic. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, 2006)

106 E. Jennifer Monaghan Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America (Boston: U. Massachusetts Press, 2007): 109-110. 42 acquisition of such skilled varied greatly by class and family values. With the establishment of more formal education, more advanced intellectual training for women and girls, still lagged and tended to focus on decorative accomplishments in music, dance, and foreign language for women of the upper classes, and practical skills in housewifery for the lower classes. Reflecting the persistence of traditional gender roles, these skills also retained a prominent place in female education even as women ventured farther into more in-depth study of the classics and natural science.

The British Atlantic world shared a basic educational curriculum, but unlike those living in proximity to the major urban centers in England which had established schools for both genders, many colonists still educated their children at home. Formal higher education was reserved for the wealthy in the colonies during this time even as access to basic education soared in the late colonial period. Thus there was a great deal of difference in access to educational institutions in the colonies and England proper, but the educational values and skills taught were similar. Both sides of the Atlantic also saw a drastic increase in the number of schools teaching basic literacy available over the course of the 18th century due in part to the adoption of Enlightenment values that promoted universal education as a way to elevate society. Both girls and boys made advances in basic literacy because of this shift, but higher education remained gender- specific because it prepared men and women for very different roles.

Cadwallader Colden, who was a clear advocate for Enlightenment thought in the Atlantic World, wrote about how education should serve both social needs and improve the person. A good education, he wrote in his Introduction to the Study of Philosophy wrote in America for the use of a Young Gentleman prepares one to “become an useful member of the commonwealth and a private family.”107 He then goes on to advocate for changes in the school system to reflect rationalist thinking rather than emphasizing tradition. Among the changes he saw as most necessary was a turn away from scholastic traditions inherited over the generations from Catholic schools that do nothing

107 Cadwallader Colden, “An Introduction to the Study of Philosophy Wrote in America for the Use of a Young Gentleman” The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):37. 43 but “fill young people‟s heads with useless notions and prejudices, which unfit them for the acquiring of real knowledge.” Instead, Cadwallader Colden advocated for an increased focus on science education because scientific investigation promoted critical thinking and keen observation.108

Although this treatise was written specifically for a young male relative, Cadwallader and Alice Coldens‟ education of Jane and her siblings at home reflects these same values. Cadwallader is silent on the issue of women in this text because of its intended audience, but his letters about and actual provision for Jane‟s education reveal his strong views on the subject of women‟s education. He did not see education as necessary for women to serve their community in the way it was necessary for a man, but it was valuable for their development as individuals.109 He comments on the improving value of science as a pastime writing to a friend that it will “fill up her idle hours to much better purpose tha[n] the usual amusements eagerly pursued by others of her sex.”110The focus on self-improvement was also a common narrative that accompanied female education. Every skill or art a woman could master, was one more distinguishing mark that could serve her socially or in the attraction of a husband and that could keep her from idleness and vice.

Jane Colden grew up amidst these changes in a family who actively encouraged Enlightenment values in education. Like most colonial women of her class, she was educated at home by her parents, Alice and Cadwallader Colden. Alice, the daughter of a Scottish minister, was also educated at home in her youth as was common for females, and so passed on a familiar experience to her children. Cadwallader‟s experience with education, on the other hand, was very different from the one he offered his children since Cadwallader had participated in formal public schools before

108 Ibid, 37-42 109 This is one defining feature of colonial v. early Republican views on women‟s education since the colonial period lacked the focus on women as educators of future citizens that dominated the idea of Republican Motherhood after the American Revolution 110 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Collinson, Oct 1755?, in The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden. (New York: New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V): 37 44 entering the University of Edinburgh intending to study for the ministry. 111 His education in these institutions, however, equipped Cadwallader with an intellectual grounding in the New Science that he passed on to his children, as evidenced by Jane‟s participation in botany as well as her brother David‟s work on electricity. Alice Colden, though a highly literate women as shown by her surviving letters to family, was not necessarily familiar with science which emphasizes how much increased female participation in the sciences was depended on male involvement through which women could gain access to materials and education.

Cadwallader also used his European connections to acquire the best resources for his children. In regards to Jane‟s interest in Botany, Cadwallader asked his friends in England for assistance in getting the must up to date information while acknowledging that he himself may not be fully aware of what was available. He wrote to Peter Collinson

As she cannot have the opportunity of seeing plants in a Botanical Garden I think the next best is to see the best cuts or pictures of them for which purpose I would buy for her Tourneforts Institutes & Morison's Historia Plantarum, or if you know any better books for this purpose as you are a better judge than I am I will be obliged to you in making the choice.112

When he could not acquire anything suited to his purposes, Cadwallader showed typical initiative and created what he needed. For example, Cadwallader believed that his daughter Jane was fully capable of understanding Linnaeus‟ classification for plants, describing her as “a daughter who has an inclination to reading & a curiosity for natural phylosophy [sic] or natural History & a sufficient capacity for attaining a competent knowledge.”113 She could not however engage in this pastime because she never

111 Cadwallader Colden to Peter Kalm in answer to his letter of Jan. 4, 1751 The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):16 Cadwallader Colden later switched to medicine since he did not feel the call of the ministry 112 Cadwallader Colden, in The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York:Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V): 30. 113 Cadwallader Colden, in The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York: Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V): 60 45 learned Latin. Cadwallader therefore “took the pains to explain Linnaeus's system and to put it in English for her use by freing [sic] it from the Technical terms which was easily don [sic] by using two or three words in place of one.”114

Cadwallader‟s actions on behalf of his daughter also emphasized a growing awareness about the issue of language in education. As Caroline Winterer has explored in her works, knowledge of classical language had been a defining characteristic of elite male accomplishment for centuries.115 Over the course of the 18th century, however, more women gained access to a formal Classical education. The uses they made of their knowledge were very different from their male counterparts, but it represented an opening up of intellectual activities to both genders.116 It should be emphasized, however, that even as women engaged in more intellectually rigorous education, there remained a strong cultural emphasis on decorative accomplishment such as painting, singing, dance, and needlework. These two trends were not mutually exclusive and led to some interesting intersections between art and science where women employed skills cultivated for the drawing room in service of science or brought scientific themes into artistic work. Winterer traces this phenomenon in relation to classical texts and images which women were gaining access to at the same time they engaged more broadly in the natural sciences. Because of the prevalence of botanical and natural themes in so many decorative English and colonial handicrafts and art prior to this development it is harder to trace this trend in a broad selection of material culture; but the number of women illustrators for scientific works argues in favor of women merging their talents.

114 Cadwallader Colden, in The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. Vol. V): 61 115 Caroline Winterer, “The Female World of Classical Reading in Eighteenth-Century America” Reading Women: Literacy, Authorship, and Culture in the Atlantic World, 1500-1800. Eds. Heidi Brayman Hackel and Catherine E. Kelly. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008): 105-107. 116 Winterer argues that Classicism created a common cultural framework for the upper classes which contributed to elite male identity. It also influenced the way elite men thought about the world and spoke, and provided the basis for public oratory. For women, classical education was a way to relate to men, but their readings focused more on morality, and less on rhetoric, military movements, and other topics of interest to the British ruling class. 46

Jane Colden‟s incorporation of the artistic talents common to women of her class through the use of drawings in her Botanic Manuscript reflects at least some engagement with this trend. Likewise comments concerning her artistic skill by botanists alongside praise for her science highlight the value society as a whole placed on these female skills. Cadwallader‟s letter about education for his granddaughters also serves as further support for the way Cadwallader promoted an education for his daughter. He advocated for an education that mixed the emphasis on intellectualism that grew out of an education rooted in Enlightenment thought and recognition of colonial sensibility concerning the necessary and/or proper skills for members of each gender. Cadwallader writes, for example, to his “Dear Anne and Alice,” his granddaughters, primarily about what constitutes modesty in a woman when consulted about their education. His letter emphasizes the idea of „nothing in excess‟ but also makes note of how others may judge women based on appearances in dance and dress conceding that his ideals do not necessarily match societal expectations.117 Clearly he sees this focus on outward characteristics as less important the value of a whole person, but recognizes the importance of conforming to societal expectations. He also comments on this need in direct regards to male education as a part of a correspondence with Benjamin Franklin about the ideal set-up for a college.

Cadwallader also argued that a college should be in a rural location so that the students could avoid the temptations of the city, but that this of course meant special attention needed to be given to cultivation of gentlemanly qualities. Cadwallader thought that “the advantage of behavior and dress” that distinguished gentlemen from other classes could be learned through enforced manners and lessons in dance, declamation and theater and need not necessitate an urban location.118 Considering Cadwallader‟s own success in maintaining contacts all over the world and while living the contemplative intellectual life at Coldenham that he always wanted, these suppositions seem reasonable. Cadwallader‟s recognition of the social disadvantages of being

117 Cadwallader Colden to his Granddaughters, undated. The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):274. 118 Colden to Franklin, November 1749. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37.Vol. IV):157-8 47 distant from cultural centers was not just a problem of education, but one of critical importance to the intellectual life of the colonies. He and his contemporaries faced a general disdain on the part of non-colonists for the intellectual work of those living in the colonies and outside of Europe more generally. Though the colonies did not produce a large amount of new research that approached the accomplishments of elite London society, they were not mere consumers of ideas either. Colonial Americans participated in a mutual exchange of ideas with European centers and supplied many natural specimens. The later activity drew in a large number of participants, but it was not the sole method of engagement in the sciences for colonists. For many in the Americas, active collection was highlighted because of the pressing demands required in creating homes and infrastructure in the Americas only allowed for sporadic intellectual engagement with the natural world. For the men and women of this generation, who were faced with the task of fashioning a colonial society they could be proud of, English models of behavior and material culture were viewed as tremendously important as markers of a shared English, upper-class identity. Therefore, a number of elite men, and some women, gravitated towards increased participation in the sciences both because they concurred with the Enlightenment on an intellectual level, and because participation in science marked them as upper class. The Coldens were very much a part of this movement as seen by Cadwallader‟s writings about education and in the care he and his wife put into their children‟s education.

Participation in the international intellectual community by people such as the Coldens also shows that the American colonies did not particularly lag behind Europe in embracing both educational change and a worldview that embraced the new science of Newton and Linnaeus. Because of the remoteness from institutional centers of funding and patronage, however, the colonies by necessity developed different social structures in support of these ideas. For one thing, there were far fewer people in the colonies who had the education or the resources to engage in scientific pursuits, but those who had the funding, leisure, and connections to do so, clung tightly to participation in the sciences as a mark of their upper class status. Such tensions between duty and business and the desire to participate in the sciences was present in England as well,

48 but the established order of elite culture allowed for more free time that possessed by most colonial gentlemen. Although natural science was a popular pastime among wealthy Englishmen on both sides of the Atlantic, very little is written about how science was viewed and participated in by the many „amateur scientists‟ in the colonies who collected natural specimens, made observations about the environment around them, attended lectures and corresponded widely with each other and the Royal Society of London.119

In the years leading up to the American Revolution, participation in the sciences became closely linked with elite colonial identity as the ability to expend time and resources on science was a visible sign of civilization. In the earlier 18th century this was understood as a sign of how „English‟ the colonies had become. In the decades just prior to the Revolution, however, whether colonists saw their intellectual achievements as a sign of close ties to England or as another sign of the self-contained nature of the colonies depended largely on other political views. Ben Franklin and Cadwallader Colden for example, shared research with each other and commiserated about the limits of colonial status, had a gradual falling out over the direction of the colonies and of their intellectual institutions as their larger politics diverged.

Working from the fringe, colonial scientists like Colden and his correspondents were also very conscious of how their work might be judged and/or dismissed as coming from someone outside the formal centers of London.120 Thus many men adopted a diffident tone when presenting observations or specimens to the broader community or apologized for their inadequacies. When his work on The Explication of

119 Raymond Phineas Stearns, Science in the British Colonies of America (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970) In counter to narratives that focus on prominent American men, Stearns takes correspondence with the Royal Society as an organizing principle for his book emphasizing Imperial concerns in the colonies. 120 Some of this tension also came from the odd position colonial Americans who wanted to be included in the Royal Society of London were placed in. They were expected, as English citizens, to participate as full members of the society and pay full dues, although they did not have access to the regular meetings and resources held in London. Other correspondents of the society who faced this geographic barrier, were considered foreign members. Also, some colonial scientists such as Garden who could not gain entrance to the Royal Society while living in the Americas, attained admission once they relocated to England . Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006):27,128. 49 the First Causes of Action in Matter was poorly received by the European community, for example, Cadwallader assumed it was “owing to a defect in the method [he] took in explaining” his principles.121 Part of this statement reflected the rhetoric of humility many men adopted as proper form, but also Cadwallader‟s recognition of his status in the international community. Although he was well respected by a large number of friends and correspondents, colonial status was enough to make others question his capabilities.

While Cadwallader accepted fault for the poor reception of his work when writing to Englishmen, he and his circle of friends were also aware that work by colonial men was not always given a fair shot. Peter Collinson, a friend of Cadwallader in London who was connected to most colonial men of science, even took note of this situation in a letter to Benjamin Franklin. Collinson admitted to Franklin that some people, even while noting flaws in Cadwallader‟s work refused to believe that a work of unique theory could have been written by someone in the colonies. He indignantly tells Franklin that some people were even circulating a tumor that Cadwallader Colden had merely found the “Ship wrack [sic] papers of some Ingenious European” because of their biases.122 Others like Collinson , were happy to see works emerge from the colonies, and seemed to both like and respect their colonial correspondents.

Since many colonial men of science depended on intermediaries in Europe to hear the latest scientific news and to acquire books for them, these positive trans- Atlantic relationships were also marked with a good deal of mutual exchange. In return for scientific updates and equipment only available in Europe, American colonists often sent gifts of American natural specimens that Europeans could only get with great trouble. 123 As rare objects, these gifts of plants often grew into “memorials of

121 Cadwallader Colden to Samuel Pike. 1753. The Philosophical Writings of Cadwallader Colden, ed. Scott L. Pratt, and John Ryder (Amherst, N.Y.: Humanity Books, 2002):210 122 Collinson to Franklin, April 1747. Reprinted in Susan Scott Parrish, American Curiosity: Cultures of Natural History in the Colonial British Atlantic World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006):28 123 American colonists also received gifts of plants and seeds from Europe, or from other parts of the world via Europeans which led to incredibly varied research gardens 50 friendship”124 that not only reinforced bonds between these scientists who had often never met, but also served to reinforce the status of the European collector just as the goods they sent to America reinforced that of the colonists. In turn, the Coldens and others who participated in the broader Atlantic network of scientific exchange then passed on these benefits to others in the colonies.

Cadwallader Colden especially embraced this role as an intermediary between England and the colonies and was a strong advocate for intellectual growth in America sharing theory and research received from his contacts in Europe with the North American Community. Not only did he freely exchange ideas and information with other erudite men, but also sought to establish a formal institution to better serve the intellectual community. Colden‟s many connections with the intellegencia of the British Atlantic world make him an excellent subject through which to examine the scientific community as a whole. This desire to support a stronger intellectual community that could mirror English establishments, shared by other prominent colonial intellectuals, was just part of changing attitudes towards education and science present in the North American colonies as colonists sought recognition for their intellectual accomplishments, and to make their homes and communities more recognizably English.125 Also, even as these men tried to support the intellectual life of the colonies, those of high -enough status remained a part of networks centered in London, and more specifically, around the activities of the Royal Society.

Just as those living in the colonies developed different forms for correspondence with the wider Atlantic community because of their remote location, they also developed slightly different social and institutional structures to support intellectual gatherings though still modeled on English examples. In England, men had access to varied public spaces where they could meet and discuss science or philosophy such as the generally

124 Collinson to Colden, March 1759 In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37. vol. 5): 298. 125 In the years right before the revolutions some men, institutions such as the American Philosophical Society took on added political connotations. Among founding members, however, all sides of the political spectrum were represented with Franklin at one end of the pro-Independence side and Colden as a staunch loyalist. 51 masculine space of the coffee house, or in the mixed gendered company of salons formed on the French model. In the 18th century, however, these, centers of exchange were only beginning to appear in the colonies. In more religious communities, the male- dominated space of coffee houses also seemed morally questionable as a site of idleness even as they became locations for intellectual debate. As a counter to this social uneasiness, colonial elite society tended to focus their intellectual efforts around gatherings open to both genders which by the inclusion of women of high standing, were made reputable. They also tended to establish formal organizations for the promotion of knowledge with a defined purpose, or relied on informal gatherings between associates hosted in private homes.

There are no accounts of Jane Colden attending any of these science-focused gatherings in New York or Philadelphia, but at times Coldenham served as a gathering place for botanists. John and both came to the Colden estate on multiple occasions to view the gardens collected and maintained by the father-daughter pair.126 In 1754, the Coldens also hosted Alexander Garden who regularly corresponded with Jane and her father. In recognition of her role in maintaining plant cultivation and collections on the Colden estate Garden also sought specimens from Jane .127 Samuel Bard, a New York Physician, also stayed with the Coldens for a time when he was a teenager and noted that Jane introduced him to the study of botany which became a life-long interest.128 These home-based gatherings of the Coldens were based more on friendship that fashionability, but family connections were an important aspect mediating gendered participation in the sciences.129 The small nature of the Coldens‟ gatherings is also a reflection of their relative social isolation at Coldenham which was removed from the bustle of cities and political life precisely to foster a quit

126 See John Bartram to Peter Collinson, Fall 1753, inThe Correspondence of John Bartram, 1734-1777. Eds. Edmund Berkley and Dorothy Smith Berkely (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 199):.360 127 Alexander Garden to Cadwallader Colden, 4 November 1754. In The Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden 1711-1775. (New York, Printed for the New York Historical Society, 1918-37 vol. IV):471–73. 128 Sara Stidstone Gronim, “What Jane Knew A Woman Botanist in the Eighteenth Century” Journal of Women’s History, (Vol. 19 No. 3, 2007):33–59 See also John McVickar, A Domestic Narrative of the Life of Samuel Bard, M.D., LL.D.(New York: A. Paul, 1822), 9. 129 See chapter 2 52 place for the contemplation of nature. The fact that even with limited social connections, colonial scientists managed to come together for mutual support and exchange of ideas, also emphasizes the flexibility of colonials who participated in the scientific community as they were able.

Large scale support of science really only came to the colonies after independence when the development of such institutions were used to highlight civilized aspects of American society for the world at large. Because people like the Coldens laid the foundations for better education by bringing new ideas to the colonies and helping to form networks of support, they never got to take advantage of a sizable American scientific community. To this end, Cadwallader served as a proponent of new sciences in the colonies and although he supported inter-colonial connectives, it was through a desire to emulate English establishments and thereby gain better acceptance in the British Atlantic World for colonial achievements, not out of any sense of colonial nationalism. Likewise major changes to education occurred in the post-Revolutionary years, but were based on developments that manifested in the 1700s. The most important shift for this era, as illustrated by the Colden family‟s approach to and participation in education, was increased education for women and a move away from moral-based education to one grounded in philosophy and science.

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CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

Though peripheral to many developments in Europe, Cadwallader Colden contributed to the foundation for intellectual culture in North America. This was accomplished through scientific innovation, promotion of education, and participation in a broader Atlantic network of scientific and philosophical exchange. Jane Colden also participated in these developments, though her experience differed from her father‟s in many important ways. Examination of their work and correspondence together not only presents a clearer picture of colonial scientific life, but also of the role of gender and family in mediating participation in the scientific community and access to education in the 18th century. It also shows a rich father-daughter bond that included a mutually supportive intellectual relationship that emerged from family education which is not commonly seen in this era.

Cadwallader‟s role in promoting science in the colonies highlights the importance of personal connections in the growth of American science and the spread of ideas within colonial networks. Nowhere is this more evident than in the care Cadwallader took to introduce his daughter to the study of botany and his adaption of Linnaean taxonomy into English terms for her use. Cadwallader was directly responsible for introducing this theory into his circle of influence in the colonies; he also presented it in a usable form to for those lacking more formal education. His desire to focus on content and ideas rather than formal structures was also manifest in his educational philosophy. Not only does this reflect the Enlightenment‟s break with older educational norms, but also an adaptation prompted by the limitations of a colonial environment. Because colonial contributions to science are often passed over for this period, the Coldens‟ role as innovators and promoters of knowledge takes on special importance.

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Jane‟s engagement with botany should also be understood as an early manifestation of a trend towards the feminization of botany and certain other sciences generally linked with the 19th century. The language and arguments Cadwallader adopts to justify his decision to introduce Jane to the subject follow the same lines of thought as those that appeared in popular press with increasing frequency over the next century. Although the number of women involved in botany was not significant until the 1800s, women such as Jane Colden are clearly part of this same trend. Like those who came after her, Jane capitalized on the changes in educational philosophy that came out of the Enlightenment that emphasized science and philosophical education.

Father-daughter collaboration in science was an exception rather than the norm, but Coldens‟ relationship gives a clearer picture of how women participated in activities of male relatives given the opportunity. It reinforces the idea that paternal authority helped regulate colonial society since his support of Jane allowed others to see her botanizing as socially acceptable even though it transgressed normal gender boundaries. This understanding of gender roles is particularly important for the scientific development of this period because it is something of a pre-modern way of looking at gender roles whereas the development of science is more commonly looked at in a modern context.

As with any colonial figure who fulfilled many „roles‟ there are both limitations and advantages to approaching either of the Coldens as primarily a „scientist,‟ „governor,‟ or „daughter.‟ Here, Jane and Cadwallader are looked at primarily in regards to their roles as father and daughter, and as scientists. This approach allowed for an examination of changing gender roles in 18th century scientific circles, but skims over what could be a rich history of the Colden family beyond the relationship between Jane and Cadwallader. Because their participation in the sciences is what makes the Coldens stand out among their contemporaries, it is, however, what is initially engaging in the collected papers of the Colden family. Another topic of interest for any further study of the Colden family is the impact of their loyalist stance on their place in the scientific community. This would likely necessitate a change in focus to Jane‟s siblings, perhaps

55

John or Alexander Colden, because of her death prior to the American Revolution and her father‟s death in 1776. Neither of her brothers had as much of an international or pan-colonial presence in the scientific community which would hamper such a study which could, however, make much better use of the political documents relating to Cadwallader‟s long career in the government of New York.

The Coldens lived in an important era of transition as the influence of natural philosophy waned but before the professionalism of science that occurred in the 19th century. Their writing therefore reflects some of the tension inherent in such a shift which is even more apparent among competing ideas about the role women should play in the emergence of new science in education and as a social activity. Focusing on figures in the transitory period such as the Coldens helps to create a more complete picture of the 18th century which includes the longevity of natural philosophy in American circles as well as a turn towards rational education that pre-dates the American Revolution. They also bring colonial contributions to the development of science into a complementary narrative to the history of science which is very heavily focused on Great Britain in the 18th century.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Colleen Beck-Kaplan

In Spring, 2005, Colleen- Beck-Kaplan graduated from New College of Florida with a B.A. in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. She later earned an M.A in history at Florida State University in Spring, 2010. Her research interests include environmental, gender, and intellectual history.

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