The First Woman in the Republic

by Carolyn L. Karcher

Taking its title from the accolade William Lloyd Garrison bestowed on Child - "she is the first woman in the republic" - this innovative cultural biography recreates the world as well as the life of a major nineteenth-century figure whose career encompassed issues central to American history. Carolyn L. Karcher captures the throes of a tumultuous era that saw the mass transfer of many Native tribes, ferocious mob violence against abolitionists and African American communities, bitter dissension among reformers over tactics and principles, a dramatic transformation in women's lives, a Civil War unprecedented not only for its carnage but also for its character as a liberation struggle, and a tragically aborted Reconstruction. She explores the key role Child played in shaping American culture at a formative moment in its development and reveals her impact on almost every facet of nineteenth-century letters. She also takes readers into the private life of a complex woman, riven by deep con