Transcendent reform: Quaker women and social reform during the Hicksite schism.

摘要

This thesis explores the role of Quaker women in social reform during the period from 1790-1920, particularly among the leading female reformers of the Northeast, focusing especially on the reforms of abolition, women's rights and peace witness. Nancy Hewitt's question is addressed; did the Hicksite schism lead to liberal reform among women? That is, were there positive repercussions from the Hicksite schism for women in the sense that the Hicksite schism became the platform for the women's movement, or that Hicksite Quaker women were far more involved in liberal social reforms than their Orthodox Quaker counterparts? 1;The study concludes that Hicksite and Orthodox Quaker women were equally involved in liberal social reform and activism, but that they differed primarily in the expression of their theological beliefs and hermeneutics. Certain radical theological beliefs of the Hicksites may have caused some historians to make assumptions that the Hicksites were more "liberal" in every way than the Orthodox, but in the core Quaker values which unite them in reform---their belief in peace, human equality and social justice, they were actually similar. As for the creation of the woman's rights movement, the study charts two theories of the creation of the women's movement---One that begins in Seneca Falls with the Women's Rights Convention of 1848 which involves predominantly Hicksite Quakers, and the second which sees the creation of the American women's rights movement evolving from the work of female abolitionists. This second theory focuses largely on Orthodox Quaker women.;The study also describes how the creation of the American Friends Service Committee in the early 20th century, as a merger of Hicksites and Orthodox Quakers concerned with peace and international humanitarian reform, served as an early healing of the Hicksite schism and symbolized the core Quaker values that characterized the denomination and united the reformers in their activities throughout the centuries.;1The Quaker denomination split in 1828 into two divisions, Hicksite and Orthodox, and did not officially reunite until 1955. Nancy Hewitt is one of the only historians who suggests there might have been one positive outcome to the schism: women's reform.