Religion, education and gender in eighteenth century Rhode Island: Sarah Haggar Wheaten Osborn, 1714-1796

The life of Sarah Haggar Wheaten Osborn (1714-1796) bespeaks the transformative power of evangelical religion in the lives of eighteenth-century women and points to the overall feminization of American religion before the nineteenth century, while at the same time pointing to the importance of religion as a primary factor in development of gender roles. While studies on American women focusing on the political realm have argued gender distinctions were deeply embedded in the eighteenth-century, the study of women's roles within the religious context significantly challenges this thesis. Through the interplay of religion and education Sarah Osborn exceeded the traditional gender roles of her society, while pursuing a socially acceptable means to exert her leadership abilities and gain influence. Through her educational efforts and under the guise of religion Sarah Osborn became the focus of a religious revival; exerted influence in her congregation and community; founded a female society continuing into the nineteenth century; carried out educational and benevolent work; initiated antislavery efforts; and served as mentor to both clergy and laity.;Osborn's circle of distinguished clergy and laity included Samuel Hopkins, Susanna Anthony, Joseph Fish, as well as the poet Phillis Wheatley. These relationships between religious women like Sarah Osborn and their ministers created preconditions for the disestablishment of the nineteenth century; ministers grew to increasingly rely on the female members of their congregations, as women formed the majority of church membership.;Rather than a gradual waning in religious belief, Osborn's experience suggests that Christian women, beginning with the Great Awakening through the revolutionary era, often expressed their patriotism in religious terms, not as republican wives or mothers, but as Christians whose duty it was to pray for the conversion and repentance of America. Though a life-long Congregationalist, Osborn's awakening moved her from religious convention to extraordinary consciousness; trusting in her own abilities and teaching others to do the same.