Motherhood and Domestic Authority in British and Colonial Quakerism, c.1650–1775

Abstract This article explores how women, as mothers, acquired international influence within British and North American Quakerism between 1650 and 1775. It has been well established that Quakerism disrupted traditional domestic hierarchies, but less is known about the ways in which maternity provided agency for female Quakers in their everyday lives. This article focuses on the labors and experiences of women who did not undertake transatlantic travel, whose lives were primarily centered around raising their children and supporting the Quaker community. It shows how the evolving Religious Society of Friends enhanced the status of mothers in important ways, enabling women’s “reproductive labor” to be the subject of veneration and recognition. Using the journals and writings of traveling ministers, as well as correspondence exchanged between ministers, their hosts, and other members of the Society of Friends, it shows how women’s domestic roles provided a vital function for the transatlantic Quaker community.