Elizabeth Margaret Chandler
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler (24 December 1807 – 2 November 1834) was a noted poet and writer of Pennsylvania
and Michigan
. She became the first woman writer in America to make the abolition
of slavery
her principal theme.
, on Christmas Eve
, 1807 to Thomas Chandler (1773–1817) and Margaret Evans (1778–1808). She had two older brothers, William Guest Chandler (1804–1873) and Thomas Chandler (1806–?). They were members of the Religious Society of Friends
(or Quakers), and they lived the strict, orderly and disciplined life of a Quaker family.
By the time she was nine years old she had lost both her parents, she and her brothers were living with their grandmother, Elizabeth Guest Evans (1744–1827), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Elizabeth attended a Quaker school and there embraced the Quaker view of antislavery. Elizabeth started writing poems at a very early age. She left school when she was about twelve or thirteen (sources differ), but continued to read and write with a passion.
when she was eighteen years old, her emotional poem, "The Slave-Ship", was published and drew national attention. After reading that poem, she was invited by Benjamin Lundy
, a well known abolitionist and publisher, to write for his periodical, The Genius of Universal Emancipation
. She wrote for and edited the "Ladies' Repository" section of his newspaper. She used her appeal to women to demand better treatment for Native Americans
and the immediate emancipation
of slaves. She became one of the most powerful women writers of her time. She often used the tragic example of women slaves being torn away from their children and their husbands to gain sympathy from her female readers. When told that women did not have the power to abolish slavery, Chandler responded that, as mothers, women are in the unique position:
It is hard to say exactly how influential her writings were to the public at large. However, many of her articles were copied and circulated in the most popular newspapers of the time. She also introduced one of the most famous abolitionist images, the kneeling female slave with the slogan "Am I not a Woman and a Sister". Taken from the image depicting a male slave for the seal of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade designed by Wedgwood
. Two years later, William Lloyd Garrison
editor of The Liberator, and a leader in the abolitionist movement, adopted this symbol and slogan to head the ladies department of the paper, one of the most prominent abolitionist papers of the time.
in Lenawee County, about sixty miles south-west of Detroit, in order to start a farm. They called the place Hazlebank.
Chandler participated in national discussions and debates through her articles and poems about Abolitionism. She continued to edit Benjamin Lundy's Abolitionist Journal.
While living in Philadelphia, Chandler had been a member of a Female Anti-Slavery Society, although she was not very active. After she moved to Michigan, she established the Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1832 with her friend and neighbor Laura Smith Haviland
. She wrote:
The Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society organization established a main link in the Underground Railroad
to Canada
.
, and the proceeds from the sale of those books went to the cause of abolition.
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. She became the first woman writer in America to make the abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
her principal theme.
Early life
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler was born in Centre, DelawareDelaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, 1807 to Thomas Chandler (1773–1817) and Margaret Evans (1778–1808). She had two older brothers, William Guest Chandler (1804–1873) and Thomas Chandler (1806–?). They were members of the Religious Society of Friends
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(or Quakers), and they lived the strict, orderly and disciplined life of a Quaker family.
By the time she was nine years old she had lost both her parents, she and her brothers were living with their grandmother, Elizabeth Guest Evans (1744–1827), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Elizabeth attended a Quaker school and there embraced the Quaker view of antislavery. Elizabeth started writing poems at a very early age. She left school when she was about twelve or thirteen (sources differ), but continued to read and write with a passion.
Career
At the early age of sixteen, Elizabeth Chandler's romantic verses on nature were first published. In 1825,when she was eighteen years old, her emotional poem, "The Slave-Ship", was published and drew national attention. After reading that poem, she was invited by Benjamin Lundy
Benjamin Lundy
Benjamin Lundy was an American Quaker abolitionist from Ohio who established several anti-slavery newspapers and worked for many others...
, a well known abolitionist and publisher, to write for his periodical, The Genius of Universal Emancipation
Genius of Universal Emancipation
The Genius of Universal Emancipation was an abolitionist newspaper from Mount Pleasant, Ohio run by Benjamin Lundy.Elihu Embree established the Manumission Intelligencier in 1819 which became The Emancipator in 1820. In 1821 the paper was bought by Benjamin Lundy and renamed Genius of Universal...
. She wrote for and edited the "Ladies' Repository" section of his newspaper. She used her appeal to women to demand better treatment for Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and the immediate emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
of slaves. She became one of the most powerful women writers of her time. She often used the tragic example of women slaves being torn away from their children and their husbands to gain sympathy from her female readers. When told that women did not have the power to abolish slavery, Chandler responded that, as mothers, women are in the unique position:
Wedgwood
Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
. Two years later, William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
editor of The Liberator, and a leader in the abolitionist movement, adopted this symbol and slogan to head the ladies department of the paper, one of the most prominent abolitionist papers of the time.
Move to Michigan
In 1830, Elizabeth Margaret Chandler moved, with her aunt and brother, to the territory of Michigan. Her brother Thomas Chandler purchased land near Tecumseh, MichiganTecumseh, Michigan
Tecumseh is a small city in Lenawee County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated where M-50 crosses the River Raisin, a few miles east of M-52. Tecumseh is about SW of Detroit, south of Ann Arbor and north of Toledo, OH....
in Lenawee County, about sixty miles south-west of Detroit, in order to start a farm. They called the place Hazlebank.
"From this, her quiet and secluded retreat, emanated some of the choicest productions of her pen." -- Benjamin LundyBenjamin LundyBenjamin Lundy was an American Quaker abolitionist from Ohio who established several anti-slavery newspapers and worked for many others...
Chandler participated in national discussions and debates through her articles and poems about Abolitionism. She continued to edit Benjamin Lundy's Abolitionist Journal.
While living in Philadelphia, Chandler had been a member of a Female Anti-Slavery Society, although she was not very active. After she moved to Michigan, she established the Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1832 with her friend and neighbor Laura Smith Haviland
Laura Smith Haviland
Laura Smith Haviland was an American abolitionist, suffragette, and social reformer. She was an important figure in the history of the Underground Railroad.-Early years and family:...
. She wrote:
"Terrible in crime and magnitude as the slavery of our country is, I do not despair — apathy must — will awaken, and opposition die — the cause of justice must triumph, or our country must be ruined."
The Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society organization established a main link in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Death
Elizabeth Margaret Chandler died from "remittant fever" on November 2, 1834, shortly before her 27th birthday. She was buried near the family farm at Hazlebank. Her articles, poems, and letters were gathered and published as two books, by Benjamin LundyBenjamin Lundy
Benjamin Lundy was an American Quaker abolitionist from Ohio who established several anti-slavery newspapers and worked for many others...
, and the proceeds from the sale of those books went to the cause of abolition.
Further reading
- Marcia J. Heringa Mason, editor. Remember the Distance That Divides Us: The Family Letters of Philadelphia Quaker abolitionist and Michigan pioneer Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, 1830–1842. Michigan State University Press, July 2004. ISBN 978-0870137136
Books by Chandler
- Essays, Philanthropic and Moral - Publisher: Lemuel Howell (1836)
- The poetical works of Elizabeth Margaret Chandler: With a memoir of her life and character - Publisher: Lemuel Howell (1836) ASIN: B0008BINBE
External links
- Michigan Women's Hall of Fame http://hall.michiganwomenshalloffame.org/honoree.php?C=36&A=20~114~96~172~79~2~62~113~46~80~3~152~167~74~138~63~92~196~4~32~121~84~48~153~192~41~129~82~69~109~42~93~97~56~175~103~13~207~21~126~104~5~98~131~27~53~38~195~139~219~106~57~22~147~58~107~127~6~173~144~85~17~148~47~208~49~221~43~205~135~168~181~33~115~176~23~14~75~169~130~162~44~198~204~99~7~118~119~8~136~222~50~15~157~65~150~108~24~154~170~163~76~9~209~110~140~70~59~51~155~16~158~156~60~182~191~116~190~28~164~125~160~197~86~193~223~29~134~39~159~111~61~177~132~87~52~199~54~35~210~211~64~112~200~183~165~100~10~122~71~77~94~120~11~36~25~224~151~178~55~88~45~184~128~72~78~171~141~180~206~189~73~123~83~89~145~18~66~26~30~212~188~142~220~90~19~40~161~218~133~81~225~67~37~146~217~91~143~12~31~68~1~213~101~117~214~174~102~137~185~124~95~216~166~187Chandler page].
- Daughters of the American Revolution exhibitions site, for image of Chandler's pin box and purse with the famous "Kneeling female slave" meme.
- ABE books.