| Line | Linda Kerber argued in the mid-1980s that after |
| the American Revolution (1775–1783), an ideology |
| of “republican motherhood” resulted in a surge of |
| educational opportunities for women in the United |
| (5) | States. Kerber maintained that the leaders of |
| the new nation wanted women to be educated in |
| order to raise politically virtuous sons. A virtuous |
| citizenry was considered essential to the success |
| of the country's republican form of government; |
| (10) | virtue was to be instilled not only by churches and |
| schools, but by families, where the mother's role |
| was crucial. Thus, according to Kerber, motherhood |
| became pivotal to the fate of the republic, providing |
| justification for an unprecedented attention to female |
| (15) | education. |
| Introduction of the “republican motherhood” |
| thesis dramatically changed historiography. Prior |
| to Kerber's work, educational historians barely |
| mentioned women and girls; Thomas Woody's |
| (20) | 1929 work is the notable exception. Examining |
| newspaper advertisements for academies, Woody |
| found that educational opportunities increased for |
| both girls and boys around 1750. Pointing to “An |
| Essay on Woman” (1753) as reflecting a shift in |
| (25) | view, Woody also claimed that practical education |
| for females had many advocates before the |
| Revolution. Woody's evidence challenges the notion |
| that the Revolution changed attitudes regarding |
| female education, although it may have accelerated |
| (30) | earlier trends. Historians’ reliance on Kerber's |
| “republican motherhood” thesis may have obscured |
| the presence of these trends, making it difficult |
| to determine to what extent the Revolution really |
| changed women's lives. |