Harriet Martineau

Harriet Martineau was a journalistic pioneer from the United Kingdom. Her Father and Mother were Unitarians and raised Harriet and her sisters in a far more liberal fashion than the times otherwise dictated. They were educated in their family home after the fashion of their brothers. But, when they were of appropriate age her brothers went off to college. The sisters were consigned to remain at home pursuing the domestic duties which dominated female life in early 19th century Britain.

Her early trouble hearing progressed into deafness by the time she reached puberty. By her early adulthood she was using an ear horn in order to engage in conversation. Near the end of her life she once stated that her deafness, “…was the best thing that every happened to me….since it provided, “the grandest impulse of self mastery.

Harriet lived in a time when women of the upper classes were denied equal rights, careers, or access to education. They rarely traveled and were dismissed in scholarly circles. Harriet, thanks to her progressive upbringing and indomitable spirit was able to overcome these obstacles and became a recognized leader in her field.

Harriet began her career writing for the Unitarian journal, The Monthly Repository, a fount head of progressive ideals challenging the traditional order.
Much of her early work was written from an early feminist standpoint arguing that the differences between the intellectual capacity of men and women at the time stemmed from educational and societal prejudices. Her other initial efforts were religious in nature and written from the perspective of the progressive doctrines of the Unitarian church.

In 1831 Harriet wrote: “The Illustrations of Political Economy,” a work on politics and economics designed for the lay reader based on the Unitarian principles of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. After arduous efforts on her part Harriet was able to find a publisher for this successful series of books. It brought her national recognition and financial security for the remainder of her life.

With her new found financial security Harriet was able to leave the United Kingdom on an extended tour of the United States. Harriet’s “The Society in America” has become the foundational work for the modern science of Sociology.
She applied observational techniques from which she drew informed conclusions.

In this pioneering work she critized America’s failure to live up to the idealism of the founding fathers. She was particularly critical of the treatment of women whom she found to be treated little better than slaves. She argued for the liberation of women so that, “marriage might not be their only object in life”.

Despite the unique nature of her work and its undisputed originality she has been somewhat ignored and denied credit due her. She is mostly remembered for her translation of “The Positive Philosophy of August Comte,” a pivotal work that she edited and condensed from its original six volumes down to two volumes. She worked resolutely to correctly translate and verify this scientific work allowing it to permeate English circles where it influenced the likes of John Stuart Mill. Today, somewhat after the fact, Harriet Martineau has been given her place in the history books. Today she even has a chair in the University of Massachusetts sociology department in honor of her contributions.