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Like other writers of the period who championed education for women, the Reverend John Bennett of the Church of England considered educated women to be the measure of a truly civilized society. This argument took on special meaning in the new United States, where influential Americans like Dr. Benjamin Rush argued that the future of the nation and the preservation of republican freedom depended upon an educated and virtuous citizenry. Lyceums and academies flourished as young women prepared for their domestic role as inculcators of Enlightenment principles in the young.

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