Eliza Lucas Pinckney was one of the most accomplished
women in colonial history. It was due to her efforts that the colonial economy of South
Carolina came to be based on the cultivation of indigo. Her experiments with growing
indigo and producing dye showed people how to do those things in South Carolina's
climate and soil conditions.
Pinckney's connection to
republican motherhood comes from the fact that she was, herself, so accomplished. She
managed plantations both before her marriage and after being widowed. She came to be
very well educated, reading many of the classics from her father's library. This was in
line with ideas of republican motherhood, which held that more educated women would make
better mothers.
You can argue that her children proved that
she was a good mother. For example, her oldest son was one of the signers of the
Constitution and was twice a candidate for president. Her other surviving son was
ambassador to Spain. Since their father died when they were 12 and 8 respectively, it
is clear that their mother had much to do with educating them, just as ideas of
republican motherhood said she should.
Eliza Pinckney was a
very accomplished and educated woman whose sons became very prominent themselves. This
is taken as an example of republican motherhood because it proves the idea that more
educated women could do a better job of raising "republican" children who were fit to
participate in a republican form of government.
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