| Andrea Milne Feminist- Isabella Alden Franklintown 1778-1836 |
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Isabella Ann Alden was born on a chilly winter morning inside the home of
her parents, Elizabeth and James Alden; she was the first of three daughters.
She was born in Colonial Litchfield, Connecticut on January 12th,
1778. Her father was a prominent
federalist politician, and she lived a life of wealth and luxury.
As a child she was content with the life she had, and the future that she
held. Little did she know that her
entire life would be spent fighting for freedom and equal rights for women all
around the world.
At a very early age, Isabella stood out from the rest of the Alden
daughters, by age nine she was an avid reader and she excelled in everything she
did. She was a virtuous and pious
young girl, who focused much attention on the Methodist Church she attended.
She was complemented frequently on her stunning beauty, even as a child.
She was overall a perfect daughter in a respectable family.
Because of her craving for knowledge, James agreed to allow her to attend
Glenwood Hills, a boarding school for affluent young ladies where they received
teaching in all areas that were proper for the weak minded woman, such as
dancing, French, sewing and needle point, as well as manners and how to appear
desirable to men. Isabella excelled
in this environment, and soon returned home.
Not to her surprise when she
arrived home her father’s political status had risen, and now they were
frequented with visitations from numerous politicians.
As was customary, she would sit by the fire and do needlepoint, until a
subject of interest was discussed in the group.
Alden would propose ideas that held much validity, and refused to leave
the room despite the severe temper of her father and the irritation of the other
politicians. When Alden discovered
that it was her gender that caused her opinions to be outrageous, she became
more and more defiant. She pushed her opinions on the men until they had no choice
but to use a different residence as a meeting place. Her father was so angered by her insolence that he decided to
marry her off. It would not be
difficult to find a husband for Isabella. Her
pale white skin and dark brown hair were incomparable to anyone in the
community. Her brooding face and
delicate figure made her the object of many a man’s affection.
However, her own knowledge of the
horrors of marriage kept her from ever wanting or developing an intimate
relationship with any man. She flat
out refused this proposal of marriage, so he confined her to the house, and
found a husband for her. The man
her father found was Thomas Berk. Thomas
Berk was the owner of a gigantic factory down town, and his prestige was not
matched among other businessmen. He
was honored to receive Isabella, and so she was married a week after the
engagement at age seventeen. Isabella
wept ferociously at the wedding and refused him many times until her father
threatened her, at which point she solemnly wedded Thomas, and became Isabella
Alden Berk. Her spite stayed with
her and she was disobedient to her husband.
Her refusals to submit to him ended up nearly destroying her; Berk threw
her into an asylum. She refused to
remain idle, and eventually broke out. She
crept into his house, stole enough money to live on for approximately a month,
and fled Litchfield.
Not a week later she arrived in
Franklintown, and changed her name back to Isabella Ann Alden.
She began working as a seamstress in a dress making shop.
She never regained the wealth she had before, but found happiness.
She established herself in the Methodist Church, and became an active
speaker on women’s rights. She
idolized Mary Wollstonecraft and frequented New York to be part of conventions
and political debates. She wrote
many pamphlets and with her knowledge of politics made attacks on democracy that
could not be refuted by politicians. She
was a powerful activist during the Temperance Movement.
Isabella used her hatred of men as a motivation, and became a very famous
woman. She gave a speech in
Franklintown that she called The Abomination of Male Domination, which
roused the women of Franklintown. She
wrote a book entitled Men: Tyranny and Irony In the New World, which was
a best seller for six weeks, and the less popular Male Domination In America:
Strict Constructionists to a Hypocritical Constitution.
Her thoughts were finally known to the masses, and she took comfort in
her strength. She was courted
several more times in her life (her beauty made her the target of the very men
she attacked), all to no avail. Alden
feared the thought of childbirth after she learned of Mary Wollstonecraft’s
death, and vowed never to have children.
She made her mark on the world through her perseverance in the face of
adversity, and her integrity. But,
like all humans, male or female, great or insignificant, her life did come to an
end. In December of 1835, she
caught a chill that never left her. She
died alone in her home on November 7th, 1836 in Franklintown.
She was fifty-eight, childless, and was considered husbandless by all who
knew her and the memories she blocked out of her life.
Her death was like her life, independent, and lonely, but never empty.
Her legacy lives on, and she will forever symbolize the power of women
and the power of freedom.