Introduction
The work of Sarah Moore Grimké (1792–1873) was shaped by a combination of abolitionist and feminist militancy, since she was an agent of the most radical anti-slavery movement as well as author of one of the very first American texts in favor of extending women’s rights, also influencing the Seneca Falls Convention (1848).
Her contribution was rediscovered and more widely acknowledged after 1967, when the American historian Gerda Lerner brought to light its theoretical importance. Through an analysis of the social environment which reveals the ideology of power and female subordination, Grimké juxtaposed the sexual difference with race, providing a justification for the collective actions and claims.
Anti-Slavery Militancy
Sarah Grimké was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 26, 1792, to John Faucheraud Grimké, a state superior court judge and a plantation owner, and Mary Smith, a direct descendant of Thomas Smith, the first governor of South Carolina. In 1821...
References
Birney CH (1970) The Grimké Sisters: Sarah and Angelina Grimké. The First American Women Advocates of Abolition and Woman’s Rights (1885). Haskell House, New York
Durso PR (2003) The power of woman: the life and writings of Sarah Moore Grimké. Mercer University Press, Macon
Grandjean M (2006) Grimké, Sarah et Grimké, Angelina. In: Gisel P (ed) Encyclopédie du protestantisme, 2nd edn. Labor et Fides, Genève
Grandjean M (2008) Antiesclavagisme et féminisme. Le combat théologique des soeurs Grimké aux Etats-Units dans les années 1830. Etudes théologiques et religieuses 3:317–331
Grimké SM (1838) Letters on the equality of the sexes and the condition of the woman. Addressed to Mary Parker, President of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. I. Knapp, Boston. French ed.: Lettres sur l’égalité des sexes, intr., trad. and footnotes by M. Grandjean, Labor et Fides, Genève, 2016; Italian ed.: “Poco meno degli angeli”. Lettere sull’eguaglianza dei sessi, ed. by Th. Casadei, with a bibliographical note by S. Vantin, Castelvecchi, Roma, 2016
Grimké SM Diary. 19 August 1821–14 November 1828, Weld-Grimké Collection, W.L. Clements Library, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Grimké SM, Grimké AE (2015) On slavery and abolitionism. Essays and letters, introduction by M. Perry. Penguin Classics, London
Lerner G (1971) The Grimké sisters from South Carolina. Pioneers for woman’s rights and abolition. Schochen Books, New York, 1967
Lerner G (1998) The feminist thought of Sarah Grimké. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Nies J (1977) Seven women: portraits from the American radical tradition. Penguin Books, London
Vantin S (2016) I “segreti di Blackstone” rivelati. Abolizionismo, riforma dell'educazione e suffragio femminile in Sarah Moore Grimké (1792–1873), in “Percorsi storici”, 4, 2016. http://www.percorsistorici.it/numeri/26-numeri-rivista/numero-4/162-serena-vantin-i-segreti-di-blackstone.html?layout=edit
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Science + Business Media B.V., Dordrecht.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Vantin, S. (2023). Grimké, Sarah Moore. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6519-1_766
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6519-1_766
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6518-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6519-1
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences