Meddling in Politics: Clarina Howard Nichols and Antebellum Political Culture

In March 1853, Clarina Howard Nichols of Brattleboro VT, editor of the Windham County Democrat and social activist, explained that as the "guardian angels" of the "sanctity of home," women had much to do with politics. Her story affirms that party realignments in the 1850s facilitated women's access to political power, and it provides new evidence of the range of options women exploited to effect legislative change during the decade. In an effort to legitimate women's rights through female respectability, she developed a nonpartisan, motherly persona that allowed her to address partisan issues and challenge the patriarchal construction of the law without losing moral authority. Blackwell examines Nichol's political style and effectiveness within the context of partisan politics in Vermont and Kansas.