Learning and Godliness Cultivated Together: Early Eighteenth-Century Samplers from Boston, Philadelphia, and the South Carolina Low Country Open Access
Tinley, Lynn C. (2012)
Published
Abstract
Abstract
Learning and Godliness Cultivated Together: Early
Eighteenth-Century Samplers from
Boston, Philadelphia, and the South Carolina Low Country
This dissertation explores influence and meaning in early
eighteenth-century
samplers worked in Boston, Philadelphia, and the South Carolina Low
Country.
Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of each region's
foundational religion on the
design and content of the samplers, which were worked by elite
girls under the tutelage of
women in a schoolroom setting. The overall pattern uncovered in the
samplers on a
regional basis supports a strong connection between denominational
influence and
sampler design. The ultimate conclusion is that female education,
as evidenced by
samplers, maintained a strong relationship with Puritanism in
Boston, Quakerism in
Philadelphia, and, to a lesser degree, Anglicanism in the South
Carolina Low Country.
The design and content of 69 samplers were thoroughly studied for
this
dissertation. In addition to the actual samplers, the colonial
history of each region and
the social and religious affiliations of the sampler makers'
families were also
incorporated into the analysis. The samplers reveal several layers
of influence and
meaning: as an educational tool they demonstrate religious, social,
and technical
training; as a religious exemplar they signify the piety of the
stitcher and teacher, and the
religious heritage of the region; as an object of display they
provide evidence of elite
status. As a part of the formal process of colonial female
education, the samplers
functioned as a training mechanism for passing on particular
attributes valued as
educationally pertinent, denominationally important, and culturally
acceptable.
Despite vast surveys and research on American schoolgirl samplers,
little work
has been done on the potential for denominational-specific
religious influence on these
important educational tools. The religious nature of samplers has
heretofore been
described in only the most general terms and not with reference to
specific elements
(such as design motifs and stitched verses) or regional
characteristics of samplers. I show
how overall patterns, both visually within the samplers and in
terms of non-visual
considerations such as who worked the samplers and the demographics
of the area in
which they were worked, exemplify female education as preparation
for respectable,
virtuous, and practical adult womanhood.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter One: General Introduction
1
Chapter Two: The First Marriage That Ever Was: Salvation and
28
Original Sin in Boston Samplers
The Samplers
31
Early Boston Demographics
42
Puritan Theology
47
Colonial Boston Schools
51
Adam and Eve Samplers
54
Non-Adam and Eve Samplers
87
Conclusion
97
Chapter Three: Nurturing the Inner Light: Quaker Influence in
Early
102
Philadelphia Samplers
The Samplers
106
Quakerism
122
The Friendly City
128
Education in Philadelphia
133
Quaker Female Education
136
Eighteenth-Century Quakerism
140
Building a Hedge Around the Children
143
Plainness and Sampler Design
145
Education Which Nurtures the Inner Light
147
Non-Marsh School Samplers
154
Conclusion
159
Chapter Four: See How the Lilies Flourish White and Fair:
Samplers
160
from the South Carolina Low Country
The Samplers
167
Early Low Country Education
182
Low Country Colonial Culture
191
Anglicanism in Samplers
201
Conclusion
204
Epilogue
209
Appendices
About this Dissertation
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