Document Type
Book
Publication Date
2002
Published In
Reforming Men And Women: Gender In The Antebellum City
Abstract
Before the Civil War, the public lives of American men and women intersected most frequently in the arena of religious activism. Bruce Dorsey broadens the field of gender studies, incorporating an analysis of masculinity into the history of early American religion and reform. His is a holistic account that reveals the contested meanings of manhood and womanhood among antebellum Americans, both black and white, middle class and working class. "Combining stories of both ordinary individuals and major reformers with an insightful analysis of contemporary songs, plays, fiction, and polemics, Dorsey exposes the ways race, class, and ethnicity influenced the meanings of manhood and womanhood in nineteenth-century America. By linking his gendered history of religious activism with the transformations characterizing antebellum society, he contributes to a larger quest: to engender all of American history.
Published By
Cornell University Press
Recommended Citation
Bruce Dorsey. (2002). Reforming Men And Women: Gender In The Antebellum City.
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-history/154
Comments
The prologue of this work is freely available courtesy of Cornell University Press.
Copyright (c) 2002 by Cornell University. Published by Cornell University Press. All rights reserved.