Frances Wright

Hi, my name is Frances Wright. I am a women and I was born in Scotland where I was fascinated about books about the United States. When I was in my mid-20s, I took a two year tour around the United States. After this tour I was able to gather enough information about Americans and their attitudes to write a book in 1821 called Views of Society and Manners in America that stated their ideas about American patriots. When I again returned to America I bought land in Tennessee called Nashoba where I recruited slaves and abolitionists because I planned to have the slaves work for their emancipation but this ended up failing because I encouraged free love. However, I did later pay for slaves to be transported to Haiti where they were free. I went on an anti-clerical tour against religion and this made me unpopular. During these speeches I talked about how capital punishment should be abolished and how there should be women’s rights. I was well received in New York City however, and I moved there and became a leading figure in the progressive working class politics. In 1831 I married Guillaume D'Arusmont and had a child which died shortly after. My husband and I divorced in 1852 and I stopped lecturing.