The Role of Books in Connecticut Women's Education in the New Republic: As Examined in Sarah Pierce's Litchfield Female Academy and James Morris' Coeducational Academy

The era of the New Republic, from the Revolution through the first quarter of the nineteenth century, was marked by the development of female academies, seminaries, and coeducational academies, founded in support of the ideology of Republican Motherhood. The proliferation of a variety of publications in this period, such as religious and moral works, textbooks, fiction, and periodicals, complemented the increasing focus on academic studies in women's education. Examination of journals, diaries, correspondences, and other primary documents related to students at Sarah Pierce's Litchfield Female Academy, suggest that women's means for acquiring books were similar throughout New England. A comparative analysis of the curriculum and books used at James Morris' coeducational Academy, indicates that male and female students often used the same books, supporting the idea that women's education was incorporating the rigorous academic studies which characterized male education