| Abstrakt: |
Gretchen Murphy's book, "New England Women Writers, Secularity, and the Federalist Politics of Church and State," explores the role of women writers in shaping theological and political authority in the early national and antebellum United States. Contrary to the belief that women writers fled from politics and contributed to the decline of theology after church disestablishment, Murphy argues that they actively participated in restructuring these domains. The book examines the works of Judith Sargent Murray, Sally Sayward Wood, Lydia Huntley Sigourney, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, highlighting their efforts to infuse private morality into public life and promote liberal, privatized Christianity as essential for American self-government. The book provides valuable insights into the history of religio-secular accommodation in the United States and challenges the secularization thesis. [Extracted from the article] |
