CONTRIBUTIONS BY WOMEN TO EARLY AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY Anne Bradstreet, Mercy Otis Warren, and Judith Sargent Murray

“Although Bradstreet, Warren, and Murray lived and wrote well before there were feminist and women’s suffrage movements in America, such movements cannot be properly understood or appreciated without study of these women’s writings and influences, and those in turn must be understood within the broader context of the American intellectual life in which these women wrote and to which they contributed. Thus, Dykeman’s present work, by not only helping to recover the works of these early American women philosophers but also demonstrating their participation in and contributions to the conversations of their day that would shape the American mind for centuries to come, is a vital contribution to both a more nuanced understanding of those conversations and to a richer understanding and appreciation of the foundations for more recent American feminism.” – Prof. Kenneth W. Stikkers, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

“In short, this work is extremely valuable and will enrich the study of philosophy both scholars and the interested lay reader. It will also be of particular value to upper level undergraduates and graduate students in the discipline.” – Prof. Dorothy Rogers, Montclair University

“One of the virtues of Dykeman’s work is that it brings to the fore the efforts of three women thinkers whose thought, in general, is little known. It is not only the case that these women—Anne Bradstreet, Mercy Otis Warren and Judith Sargent Murray—deserve further study and appraisal, but, in addition, drawing attention to them as individuals also draws much-needed attention to the American colonial period, an area not heavily investigated in the “recovery project” currently under way. With a careful meshing of biographical and scholarly source material, Dykeman brings to light the thought of each woman, compares that thought with a prominent male of the period (in order, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson), and then includes original work by each woman, and, in an appendix, shorter versions of published work by the celebrated male thinkers.” – Prof. Jane Duran, University of California, Santa Barbara

“This book helps historians and philosophers see the continuous nature of women’s activism in the United States, illustrating that the feminist movement did not start with the Seneca Falls convention.” – Prof. Judy D. Whipps, Grand Valley State University

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Seventeenth Century Philosophical and Political Environment
1. Anne Bradstreet 1612/3-1672 Puritan Ethicist
Chronology
Biography
Introduction to and Analysis of Texts
Text: Meditations Divine and Moral
Bibliography
2. Anne Bradstreet and Benjamin Franklin
Introduction and Analysis
Moral Virtue
Politics
Bibliography
Eighteenth Century Philosophical and Political Environment
3. Mercy Otis Warren 1728-1814 Political Theorist
Chronology
Biography
Introduction and Analysis of Texts
Text: Observations on the New Constitution…
Bibliography
4. Mercy Otis Warren and John Adams
Introduction and Analysis
Moral Virtue
Politics
Bibliography
5. Judith Sargent Murray 1751-1820 Enlightenment Feminist
Chronology
Biography
Introduction and Analysis of Texts
Texts: “On Blending Spirit and Matter,” “On the Equality of the Sexes,”The Gleaner: Essays 23, 24, 27, and Essay 88 “Observations on Female Abilities”
Bibliography
6. Judith Sargent Murray and Thomas Jefferson
Introduction and Analysis
Moral Virtue
Politics
Bibliography
Afterward
Appendix:
Part I Benjamin Franklin
From Autobiography
From Poor Richard’s Almanac
Proposed Articles of Confederation 1775
Part II John Adams
Thoughts on Government 1776
Defense of the Constitution of Government of the United States 1786
Part III Thomas Jefferson
A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge 1778
Notes on the State of Virginia 1785
A Summary View of the Rights of British America 1774
Index

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