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Benjamin Rush, from "Thoughts upon Female Education," 1787


" ... the education of young ladies, in this country, should be conducted upon principles very different from what it is in Great Britain, and in some respects different from what it was when we were part of a monarchical empire.

"There are several circumstances in the situation, employments, and duties of women, in America, which require a peculiar mode of education.

"I. The early marriages of our women, by contracting the time allowed for education, render it necessary to contract its plan, and to confine it chiefly to the more useful branches of literature.

"II. The state of property, in America, renders it necessary for the greatest part of our citizens to employ themselves, in different occupations, for the advancement of their fortunes. This cannot be done without the assistance of the female members of the community. They must be the stewards, and guardians of their husbands' property. That education, therefore, will be most proper for our women, which teaches them to discharge the duties of those offices with the most success and reputation.

"III.. . . a principal share of the instruction of children naturally devolves upon the women. It becomes us therefore to prepare them by a suitable education, for the discharge of this most important duty of mothers.

"IV. The equal share that every citizen has in the liberty, and the possible share he may have in the government, of our country, make it necessary that our ladies should be qualified to a certain degree by a peculiar and suitable education, to concur in instructing their sons in the principles of liberty and government.

"V. (Necessity of attending to the private affairs of their families on account of scarcity and poor quality of servants) - should have great influence upon the nature and extent of female education in America.

"The branches of literature most essential for a young lady, in this country, appear to be,

"I. A knowledge of the English language. She should not only read, but speak and spell it correctly. The usual mode of teaching English syntax by means of rules committed to memory, appears to be as absurd as to teach a child to walk, by instructing it in the names and powers of the muscles which move the lower extremities. . . . Familiar conversations are alone proper for this purpose. . . .

"II. Pleasure and interest conspire to make the writing of a fair and legible hand, a necessary branch of female education. . . .

"III. Some knowledge of figures and book-keeping is absolutely necessary to qualify a young lady for the duties which await her in this country.
. . .
"IV. An acquaintance with geography and some instruction in chronology will enable a young lady to read history, biography, and travels, with advantage; and thereby qualify her not only for a general intercourse with the world, but, to be an agreeable companion for a sensible man. To these branches of knowledge may be added, in some instances, a general acquaintance with the Ant principles of chemistry, and natural philosophy, particularly with such parts of them as are applicable to domestick and culinary purposes.

"V. Vocal musick should never be neglected, in the education of a young lady, in this country. Besides preparing her to join in that part of publick worship which consists in psalmody, it will enable her to soothe the cares of domestick life. The distress and vexation of a husband. . . . (Singing also improves health and counteracts some cases of consumption.)

"VI. Dancing is by no means an improper branch of education for an American lady. It promotes health renders the figure and motions of the body easy and agreeable. I anticipate the time when the resources of conversation shall be so far multiplied, that the amusement of dancing shall be wholly confined to children. But in our present state of society and knowledge, I conceive it to be an agreeable substitute for the ignoble pleasures of drinking, and gaming, in our assemblies of grown people. m

"VII. The attention of our young ladies should be directed, as soon as they are prepared for it, to the reading of history-travels-poetry-and moral essays . . . they subdue that passion for reading novels, which so generally prevails among the fair sex. . . . They (novels) hold up life, it is true, but it is not as yet life, in America. Our passions have not as yet 'overstepped the modesty of nature.'

". . . Let, therefore, all the branches of education which have been mentioned be connected with regular instruction in the Christian religion. . . .The female breast is the natural soil of christianity. . . .
"I beg leave further to bear a testimony against the practice of making the French language a part of female education in America . . . the English language certainly contains many more books of real utility and useful information than can be read, without neglecting other duties, by the daughter, or wife of an American citizen. . . ."


Credit: "Thoughts upon Female Education, accommodated to the present state of Society, Manners, and Government, in the United States of America. Addressed to the Visitors of the Young Ladies Academy in Philadelphia, 28th July, 1787, at the close of the quarterly examination, by Benjamin Rush, M.D.," The Universal Asylum and The Columbian Magazine. April, 1790 (Philadelphia), 209-213; May, 1790, 288-292.
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