Women and the Election of 1816
Daughters of Columbia (Zagarri 128), women of this land of liberty: We, the Federalist Party, need your unwavering support. As the Presidential Election of 1816 approaches, we need you to reach the ears of your husbands, the voters. Although you are not enfranchised, your patriotism is valued and the presence of your support would only validate our political claims (69). We appreciate the support of such a prominent female figure as Judith Sargent Murray, who understands the need for a strong central government with a chain of subordination in order to maintain liberty (91). I encourage you to use the arenas of print and public speech to voice your opinions as Mrs. Murray has. Express yourselves like the Federalist female supporters who gave voice to the necessity of declaring war against those Jacobins in France back in 1798 (93). We understand the affecting power of feminine influence on the lives of men and children (129). Do not forget that you all play a vital role, more indirectly than you may know, in the political success of the Federalist Party and in the preservation of this union.
I do not want to see this developing nation go so quickly to ruin by the whims of the irresponsible Democratic-Republicans. Are you aware that the man that these Democratic-Republicans praise, the man that we had to suffer under his presidential reign for eight long years, Thomas Jefferson, does not even care about the education of women? The man himself did not believe his own daughters should have the right to educate their sons (158). How could women be the teachers of virtue to our sons if they were to remain in a fixed state of ignorance as Jefferson would have favored? Can you trust a man that nearly led our nation to economic ruin through his disastrous Embargo of 1807? If not, then how can you possibly side with the political party that supported this man?
My name is Rufus King and I approve this message.