Date of Award

Spring 8-1-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

David Nichols

Second Advisor

Christopher Olsen

Third Advisor

Ann Short Chirhart

Abstract

Throughout the 1830s Indiana remained a state composed primarily of frontier communities. By 1860 commercialization had begun to take hold in Indiana. Analyzing women who lived in Indiana from 1800 to 1860 offers a unique insight into how women interacted in public and the marketplace in Indiana's frontier regions and how commercialization altered those interactions. Frontier life often blurred the lines between women's public and private lives. The family farm both provided for the family's needs and produced goods for the market. Indiana women participated in public life through the church and through their jobs as midwives, textile producers, teachers, and nurses.

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