Introduction: political theory and the founding of American feminism
Lifting the "Claud-Lorraine tint" over the Republic: Frances Wright's critique
Of society and manners in America
Harriet Martineau on the theory and practice of democracy in America
Facing the "sledge hammer of truth": Angelina Grimke and the rhetoric of reform
Sarah Grimke's Quaker liberalism
"The most belligerent non-resistant": Lucretia Mott on women's rights
Elizabeth Cady Stanton's rhetoric of ridicule and reform
The shadow and the substance of Sojourner Truth
Conclusion.