Martineau, the Press and Jacksonian America

Chapter Two considers Martineau’s American visit, the ways in which the three books she wrote out of it depict the role of education and a free press in the formation of American democracy, and the critical reception they received on both sides of the Atlantic. By contrast with the dichotomous readings of a nation divided between North and South along the lines of slave-ownership that have been the norm in studies of her visit, this chapter argues that the American books offer a more nuanced analysis of a society whose regional variations are most fully understood in terms of the extent to which they either have developed or constrained the development of a free press and a print culture that facilitates the evolution and implementation of liberal ideals. It pays particular attention to Martineau’s representation of the western states and, above all, Cincinnati, which she portrays as an exemplar of economic and moral stadial progress and as a counter to Boston, for her the ‘city of cant’ and an unexpected bastion of resistance to liberal change. Finally, the chapter shows how Martineau returned home committed to finding ways in which her work could participate in and contribute to America’s continuing advance and, in particular, focused upon prospective roles for herself in supporting the interwoven causes of abolitionism and of women’s ability to become agents of social progress.