© Copyright 2017 New-York Historical Society T Early Success Economy. Mostly abookofrecipes, Maria Dedicated toThose Who Are Ashamed of Not 1829, shepublishedThe Frugal Housewife: families whocouldnotafford .In servants would getby, especiallypoorandaverage and Maria worriedabouthow families suffered itsfirstmajoreconomicdepression, to come.In the1820s,United States the work thatmadeherfamouswasstill career asawell-known Americanwriter, but Maria waswell onherwaytoanunusual for children, Juvenile Miscellany . and publishingAmerica’s firstperiodical following year first novel, andhersecondappeared the She wasonly22whenshewrote her the topwritersandthinkersofday Through herbrother, shemetmanyof minister, toUnitarianism andconverted . Maria lived withConvers, thenaUnitarian works .In literary herearly20s, important intellectual gifts,andintroduced herto brother, Convers, wasaware ofMaria’s and pronounced itMa-RYE-a .Her older Maria Francis went by hermiddlename, Born inMassachusetts in1802,Lydia both, andtheclashbetween them . social ills.Lydia Maria Childrepresented reformer, energeticallyworking toaddress home, family, andreligion .Theotheristhe middle-class wifetendingtoher women .One istheidealized American nineteenth-century of wo iconsappearinthestory .At 24,shebeganwriting . Lydia Maria Child,1883.LettersofLydia Maria Child , frontispiece .Engraving .New-York Historical Society Library, Lydia Maria Child PS1293 .Z81888 Life Story
1802–1880
Saving Washington: The New RepublicandEarly Reformers,1790–1860 I slavery, andherlifechangedforever won over tothemoralargumentagainst all Christianprinciples.Maria wasentirely wasmorallywrong andagainst that slavery immediate emancipationonthegrounds William Lloyd Garrison, whoarguedfor introduced hertothework ofabolitionist reform-minded politicsintoherlife.He taste,David broughtbroadened herliterary older thanMaria .Asherbrother had educated, well-traveled lawyer, eightyears Her husband,David Child,wasawell- she publishedThe Frugal Housewife. Maria marriedherself when wasnewly HerRaising Voice born ina day. To keep the eviljustwhere in a year, twohundred slaves have been fifty free blackshave beensenttoAfrica one hundred and impractical: “While plan, shesaid,wasbothwrong and for personalprejudice . common, thoughmostabsurd apology, intellectual inferiorityofthenegroes isa attitudes .She wrote, forexample,that“the slavery, shepushedhard againstprevailing the firstAmericanstospeakoutagainst Class ofAmericans Called Africans.One of Child publishedAn Appeal inFavor ofThat books ondomesticsubjects,Lydia Maria spend allyour money “If you are abouttofurnishahouse,donot included otheradviceforyoung housewives: n 1833,aftershehadwrittentwomore
.Begin humbly ” Thecolonization . . ” © Copyright 2017 New-York Historical Society passion wasabolition .In 1841,shebecame glimpseofHeavenperfect . “which themost openstothehumanheart “Home—that blessedword,” shewrote, which improved herstandingwithreaders: 1840s, shepublishedLettersfrom New York, and Through the Woods . is now aholidaystaple:“Over theRiver and shewrote thepoemthat,settomusic, Maria continuedtowritedomesticbooks, . the couple.Theirmarriagestruggled loss ofherincomecreated hardship for was notareliable breadwinner, sothe her booksalesdropped .David Child after parents cancelledsubscriptions,and her especially intheSouth, turnedagainst give advicetomothers.Maria’s audience, to beseenasanextremist whoshouldnot Americans were thinking,andshecame her argumentwasbeyond what most wasmorallywrong .Butthat slavery “moral suasion,” convincingslave owners through was herattempttoendslavery young whenMaria wrote herAppeal. It not bepaid.Theabolitionmovement was immediately, andtheirowners should Appeal wasthis:Allslaves mustbefreed But Maria’s argument inthe primary Paying aPrice oftheworld. thetreasury bankrupt . transported it is,seventy thousandayear mustbe .The Juvenile Miscellany closeddown ” Thecost,shesaid,would ” In themid- ” But Maria’s Biography, “Lydia Maria Child,” ofUnitarian Dictionary andUniversalist (Durham, NC:Duke University Press, 1997);Joan Goodwin, by M. Waters, 11-18-2016). Sources: I role ofwomen(see disarray following amassdefectionover the Society, whichpublishedthepaper, wasin Standard .TheAmericanAnti-Slavery the editorofNational Anti-Slavery in women’s rightsuntil aftertheCivil War reform groups anddidnotbecomeinvolved infighting, shewas reluctant tojoinother the postaftertwoyears .Dismayed by the nor calumnyhadanyweight withher that neitherfame,norgain,danger, abolitionists whohadknown her:“We felt funeral, Wendell Phillips spokeformany several more works againstslavery Fugitive Slave Law, andwhere shewrote toescapethe they sheltered trying runaways moved to Wayland, Massachusetts, where a radicaltroublemaker becausetheauthorwasviewed as partly becauseitwasdated,and of print,partly American Frugal Housewife—went out The Frugal Housewife—then titledThe n 1850,aftermore printings, thanthirty A Lydia Maria ChildReader, Carolyn L.Karcher, ed. http://uudb Lydia Maria Child (accessed .html(accessed .org/articles/lydiamariachild Resource 15 .Maria andDavid ) .Maria left .At her . ”
Life Story . ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ beliefs? women whowere outspokenabouttheir tell usaboutthechallengesfacedby What doesLydia Maria Child’s experience reputation ofadangerous radical? What actearnedLydia Maria Child’s the herself asasuccessfulwriter? How didLydia Maria Childestablish 1802–1880 continued Discussion Questions Saving Washington: The New RepublicandEarly Reformers,1790–1860