Liberal Woman: Julia Ward Howe
Who was the this woman who wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic? What were some of her other accomplishements? Read on for some answers.
This amazing woman was as liberated as any woman from the 19th century could ever have been, both in thinking and in deed. She was the daughter of a well to-do banker, and when her guardianship fell to a liberal-minded uncle, her thinking about he world and her place in it was altered forever from the strict Calvinist thinking of her parents. She married a radical thinker, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, who introduced her to the world of Transcendentalism and a marital state rife with violence and infidelity. Although he admired his wife for her brilliant mind and quick wit, Howe firmly believed that married women should not have a life outside the home and this was very stifling to Julia who was gifted and caring and very much connected to the injustice around her.
Julia became a Unitarian and even though she was deeply religious, she did not, as so many others of that ilk, believe that her faith was the only path to salvation. With all of her heart, she believed that religion was a matter of deed and not creed. She found consolation from her unhappy marital life in the world of her of philosophy, writing and self-education as well as the education and care of her own children.
She was an immensely talented writer and poet, and as her published word began to spread, she was approached to write the words to a song already set to music by William Steffe that would not only soar her to the ranks of immortality but would also become the most popular song for the Union cause, "The Battle Hymn of The Republic".
After the war, Julia focused her attentions on humanitarian causes and was at the forefront of movements promising equal rights and suffrage for women and the declaration of Mother's Day as a national holiday.
Read about the life of this brilliant woman who lived and died for all that makes America the greatest country in the world.
