Margaret Fuller 1810-1850
Early Supporter of Women's Rights
When she was growing up in Massachusetts, Margaret Fuller's father wanted her to have a good education. He taught her himself. She learned Latin at age 6, followed by math, history, modern languages, and more. Fuller, however, had a hard time learning to get along with children her age. Her education made it difficult to find things to talk about.
As a young adult though, Fuller's knowledge and intelligence won her a large group of friends. Many were the leading thinkers and writers of her time. The philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote to a friend that Fuller “immediately learned all we knew and had us at her mercy when she [wanted] to make us laugh.” Fuller became a champion of equal rights for women. She wrote a very popular book, Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Fuller also held a series of conversations, mostly for women. They paid to hear Fuller speak and to talk with other women about their ideas and opinions.
Fuller's ideas inspired suffragists, the women who worked to gain the right to vote for women. Her work is a part of the reason women today have gained their rights and freedoms.
Critical Thinking
Why do you think people remember Margaret Fuller today?